Traditional Catholic prayer
Ave Maris Stella: Hail, Thou Star of Ocean
A hymn honoring Our Lady as the Star of the Sea and asking her help, peace, and guidance on the way to heaven.
Source: With God: A Book of Prayers and Reflections (1911), Rev. F. X. Lasance, pages 695-696.
Hail, thou star of ocean! Portal of the sky! Ever virgin Mother Of the Lord most high!
Oh! by Gabriel’s Ave, Uttered long ago, Eva’s name reversing, Establish peace below.
Break the captive’s fetters, Light on blindness pour; All our ills expelling, Every bliss implore.
Show thyself a Mother; Offer Him our sighs, Who for us incarnate Did not thee despise.
Virgin of all virgins! To thy shelter take us; Gentlest of the gentle! Chaste and gentle make us.
Still, as on we journey, Help our weak endeavor, Till with thee and Jesus We rejoice forever.
Through the highest heaven, To the almighty Three, Father, Son, and Spirit, One same glory be. Amen.
About this prayer
Prayer source
With God: A Book of Prayers and Reflections (1911), Rev. F. X. Lasance, pages 695-696.
View the printed prayer page.About our prayer sources- What it is
- Ave Maris Stella honors Mary as the Star of the Sea and asks for help on the journey to heaven. This page preserves all seven stanzas of the English rendering printed beside the Latin in With God (1911).
- Prayer intention
- Mary’s intercession, peace, and purity.
- When to pray
- In Marian prayer, especially when asking guidance through difficulty.
- Languages
- English
- English prayer source
- With God: A Book of Prayers and Reflections (1911), Rev. F. X. Lasance, pages 695-696. View the historical source. View the printed prayer page. Novena Regina provides the explanations above. The prayer text follows the source named here.
Traditional Catholic prayer
Ave Maris Stella: Hail, Thou Star of Ocean
Source: With God: A Book of Prayers and Reflections (1911), Rev. F. X. Lasance, pages 695-696.
Hail, thou star of ocean! Portal of the sky! Ever virgin Mother Of the Lord most high!
Oh! by Gabriel’s Ave, Uttered long ago, Eva’s name reversing, Establish peace below.
Break the captive’s fetters, Light on blindness pour; All our ills expelling, Every bliss implore.
Show thyself a Mother; Offer Him our sighs, Who for us incarnate Did not thee despise.
Virgin of all virgins! To thy shelter take us; Gentlest of the gentle! Chaste and gentle make us.
Still, as on we journey, Help our weak endeavor, Till with thee and Jesus We rejoice forever.
Through the highest heaven, To the almighty Three, Father, Son, and Spirit, One same glory be. Amen.