O Sanctissima

Our Lady, Star of the Sea

As a Catholic convert whose only experience of our Latin liturgical heritage (aside from a brief period attending the Ordinariate) has been at Novus Ordo parishes, of varying levels of quality and fidelity to Tradition, I am less familiar with pre-conciliar Catholic hymns than I would like to be. Sometimes, I am introduced to traditional hymns through other means – in the case of the hymn chosen for this post, “O Sanctissima,” this other means would be Bing Crosby’s 1945 film The Bells of St. Mary’s, in which his great character, Fr. O’Malley, sings it to help remind a wealthy lapsed Catholic of the beauty of his heritage and his obligation to help build up the Church through his talents. Naturally, Bing Crosby’s voice, one of the greatest in American history, adds a special profundity to the hymn, but its history and lyrics are also rich with meaning.

According to the earliest published source, this hymn was traditional to Sicily, where it was associated with sailors and their nightly invocation of the Blessed Virgin as the Stella Maris: Our Lady, Star of the Sea. Through German adaptations and later English versions, it has also been used as a Christmas carol. Its lyrics, whose first lines are reminiscent of the final verse of the Salve Regina, are heartfelt, the words of a child to its Mother, seeking mercy through her unfailing compassion and shelter in her loving arms from the trials of the world. It highlights Mary’s role as the Mediatrix of All Graces: as the Mother of God, she intercedes for us in all our prayers and, as she did at Cana, she is able to attain all gifts for us from her divine Son if it be God’s will. In this way, we come always to Christ through Mary, to whom He gave the Church as its Mother from the Cross. (Jn 19:26-27)

Mary… is interpreted to mean 'Star of the Sea'. This admirably befits the Virgin Mother… (for) as the ray does not diminish the brightness of the star, so neither did the Child born of her tarnish the beauty of Mary's virginity. (St. Bernard of Clairvaux)

O sanctissima, o piissima,

dulcis Virgo Maria!

Mater amata, intemerata,

ora, ora pro nobis.

Tu solatium et refugium,

Virgo Mater Maria.

Quidquid optamus, per te speramus;

ora, ora pro nobis.

Ecce debiles, perquam flebiles;

salva nos, o Maria!

Tolle languores, sana dolores;

ora, ora pro nobis.

Virgo, respice, Mater, aspice;

audi nos, o Maria!

Tu medicinam portas divinam;

ora, ora pro nobis.

(O most holy, o most loving,

sweet Virgin Mary!

Beloved Mother, undefiled,

pray, pray for us.

You are solace and refuge,

Virgin Mother Mary.

Whatever we wish, we hope it through you;

pray, pray for us.

Look, we are weak and deeply deplorable;

save us, o Mary!

Take away our lassitude, heal our pains;

pray, pray for us.

Virgin, look at us, Mother, care for us;

hear us, o Mary!

You bring divine medicine;

pray, pray for us.)

(Cover image source: By Asia - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61610261)