The Song at the Scaffold

Today is the feast of the Carmelite Nuns of Compiegne. Martyred during the French Revolution, their story is beautifully retold by Gertrude Von Le Fort. The Song at the Scaffold was written in 1931, five years after Le Fort converted to Catholicism. How poignantly the author describes these brave young women, sentenced to death, marching courageously towards the guillotine, singing the Salve Regina…a chorus of heavenly voices, silenced one by one.  Though written as a work of fiction on the spiritual journey of a young, frightened Carmelite novice named Blanche, the author faithfully preserves the historicity of the story of the Nuns of Compiegne, and thus leads the reader up the steps of the scaffold…and to eternity.

Here’s a beautiful rendition of the Salve Regina…lyrics, below:

Sing with all your heart…Hail, Holy Queen!

Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae,
vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.
ad te clamamus
exsules filii Hevae,
ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos
misericordes oculos ad nos converte;
et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.
O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

Something About Mary, Day 14 – Salve Regina

SALVE, Regina, mater misericordiae, vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle.	HAIL holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria. Amen.	Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us. And after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Amen.
V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genetrix. R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.	V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Oremus Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui gloriosae Virginis Matris Mariae corpus et animam, ut dignum Filii tui habitaculum effici mereretur, Spiritu Sancto cooperante, praeparasti: da, ut cuius commemoratione laetamur; eius pia intercessione, ab instantibus malis, et a morte perpetua liberemur. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.	Let us pray Almighty, everlasting God, who by the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, didst prepare the body and soul of the glorious Virgin-Mother Mary to become a worthy dwelling for Thy Son; grant that we who rejoice in her commemoration may, by her loving intercession, be delivered from present evils and from the everlasting death. Amen.

From the Roman Breviary.