Vesper hymn to the Virgin - Hermann Contractus

Mother of majesty, 

God's love adorning, 

Thou that hast oped for man 

Heaven's high door, 

Star of the ocean wave, 

Gate of the morning, 

Look on our wanderings, 

Thee we implore. 

Born without stain of sin, 

Formed for the Holy, 

Gabriel's Ave still 

Rises to thee. 

Virgin and Mother pure, 

Tender and lowly, 

Hear us and plead for us, 

Bowed at thy knee. 

Alma Redemptoris Mater 

(From the Roman Breviary) 

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Hermann Contractus [Hermann of Reichenau] (1013 - 1054) Germany

Translated by Daniel Joseph Donahoe

Source: Early Christian hymns; translations of the verses of the most notable Latin writers of the early and middle ages, edited and translated by Daniel Joseph Donahoe, The Grafton Press, 1908