The "Salve Regina", also known as the "Hail Holy Queen", is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The Salve Regina is traditionally sung at Compline in the time from the Saturday before Trinity Sunday until the Friday before the first Sunday of Advent. The Hail Holy Queen is also the final prayer of the Rosary.
Madonna by Raphael, an example of Marian art
Madonna by Tiepolo, 1760
A painting of the prayer inside Sorrowful Mother Shrine Chapel (Bellevue, Ohio)
Marian hymns are Christian songs focused on Mary, mother of Jesus. They are used in both devotional and liturgical services, particularly by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. They are often used in the month of May devotions. Some have also been adopted as Christmas hymns. Marian hymns are not popular among some Protestants, as they see Marian veneration as idolatry. However, the practice is very common among Christians of Catholic traditions, and a key component of the Eastern Orthodox liturgy. There are many more hymns to Mary within the Eastern Orthodox yearly cycle of liturgy than in Roman Catholic liturgy.
Eastern Orthodox icon of the Praises of the Theotokos, before which the Akathist hymn to Mary may be chanted
Coptic Marian altar at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
The Magnificat on the wall of the Church of the Visitation
Salve Regina manuscript, 1787
