We sing the Marian anthem in the parish after sung Masses, after Benediction on Friday evening, and after the Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour on Saturday.

From the first Sunday of Advent until the feast of Candlemas (2 February) the Marian anthem is the Alma Redemptoris Mater (“Loving Mother of the Redeemer.”)

This beautiful chant, dating back to the 11th century, is mentioned in the Canterbury Tales. Here is the Latin text:

Alma Redemptoris Mater, quæ pervia cæli
Porta manes, et stella maris, succurre cadenti,
Surgere qui curat, populo: tu quæ genuisti,
Natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem
Virgo prius ac posterius, Gabrielis ab ore
Sumens illud Ave, peccatorum miserere.

and here is an English translation:

Loving Mother of the Redeemer,
gate of heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again.
To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator,
yet remained a virgin after as before.
You who received Gabriel’s joyful greeting,
have pity on us poor sinners.

Here is a link to download a copy of the text and translation with musical notation. In the video above, you can hear the anthem sung by the Benedictine monks of Ganagobie in France.