Ave maris stella
General information
Hymn to the Virgin Mary (8th cent., author anon.)
Liturgical use: Hymn at Vespers on feasts of the Virgin Mary.
Mary's title of stella maris was first proposed by St. Jerome, in his treatise Liber de nominibus hebraicis (probably around AD 390), in which he explains the etymology of Hebrew names. He quotes unidentified sources as explaining the name of Mary as smyrna maris, literally bitterness of the sea. The Hebrew word miriam indeed refers to bitterness - it is explained as such in the anonymous Jewish account The life of Moses. St. Jerome dismisses the 'bitter' etymology, however, and proposes to change her title to stella maris. In order to justify his proposal, he quotes Syrus, most likely his contemporary St. Ephraem Syrus, who had insisted on Mary's status as domina or mistress.
View the Wikipedia article on Ave maris stella.
Settings by composers
Other settings possibly not included in the manual list above
- Anonymous — Ave maris stella 1
- Anonymous — Ave maris stella 2
- Rodrigo de Ceballos — Ave maris stella (even verses)
- Petrus Damiani — Ave maris stella
- Mariano Garau — Ave Maris Stella II
- Iñaki Kareaga — Ave maris stella
- Eduard Perrone — Ave maris stella
- Franciszek Walczyński — Ave maris stella in E Flat
- Franciszek Walczyński — Ave maris stella in E Flat a3
- Franciszek Walczyński — Ave maris stella in F a3
- Vlad Zoborovski — Ave maris stella
Text and translations
Latin text Ave, maris stella, |
English translation Hail, star of the sea,
|
German translation Sei gegrüßt, du Stern des Meeres, |
French translation Salut, étoile de la mer, |
Hungarian translation Tengernek csillaga, |
Dutch translation Wees gegroet, o Zeester,
|
Portuguese translation Ave, estrela do mar, |