Alma Redemptoris Mater

ALMA  REDEMPTORIS  MATER
An Indulgence of 5 years.
A plenary indulgence once a month on the usual conditions, if the daily recitation of this Antiphon is continued for a month.

This Antiphon is sung from Vespers of Saturday before the First Sunday of Advent
Until the second Vespers of the Purification [February 2].

Alma Redemptoris Mater is one of the four Marian Antiphons.  It is traditionally said or sung after night prayer, immediately before going to sleep.  It tells of Gabriel’s announcement and of Mary’s divine motherhood.  It is said to have been authored by Hermannus Contractus (Hermann the Cripple, 1013–1054), a monk of the abbey of Reichenau, based on the writings of Ss. Fulgentius, Epiphanius, and Irenaeus of Lyons.

English

Mother of Christ!  Hear thou thy people’s cry,
Star of the deep, and portal of the sky!
Sinking we strive, and call to thee for aid,
Mother of Him who thee from nothing made:
Oh, by that joy which Gabriel brought to thee,
Thou Virgin first and last, let us thy mercy see.

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