Hail, Holy Queen

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.

Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us,

and after this our exile show us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

This prayer brings me such great comfort. Traditionally said as a part of the rosary, we use this for nighttime prayers in our household.

Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy,

our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

Mary is a mother to us all, a mother to anyone in need of mothering. Mary offers to us whatever it is we need: mercy, reflection, tenderness, affection, affirmation, faith.

To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.

If we are going by the Old Testament's version of creation, then humanity descends from Eve. In the Church we are taught that because of Eve's "original sin," Eve and Adam (and all of humanity) are banished from the garden of Eden.

In Catholicism, we are taught that all babies are born with the mark of original sin, and that baptizing them in the church is the only way to remove this mark. Seems cultish and exploitive to me.

I love Eve. Eve gets so much grief in Christianity. She has been anointed with the full responsibility of humanity's "fall from grace." In the story, they both eat of the fruit, so, I don't understand how it's all Eve's fault.

Also, don't you ever wonder if God knew they were going to eat from the tree? Like maybe this wasn't the epic downfall of humanity but a story to teach people that all actions have consequences??

–It's worth noting that consequences are not inherently positive or negative. If you eat a banana, the consequence is that you are more full and energized than before you ate it. The other consequence is that you no longer have a banana. Consequences are not punishments.—

Anyway. The poor banished children of Eve is us - all of humanity. Or at the very least, all of humanity that has been hurt by the Catholic Church.

From a spiritist-spellcasting perspective, if Mary's realm is of motherhood (which isn't inherently a gendered concept, btw), then by referring to ourselves as children, we have better odds of gaining her attention and grace.

To thee do we send up our sighs mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.

This valley of tears is Earth in this timeline, in this version of reality. A version that is violent, empirical, and exploitive.

Mary welcomes us to send our sorrows to her. She longs to carry the burden of our suffering. Our spirits desire our consent, and the words "to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping" we are intentionally offering them to her.

We are asking Mary for her attention and giving Mary permission to hold these things for us.

Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us,

and after this our exile show us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

We ask Mary to take our sorrows from us, and in their place may we be filled with grace. May we be filled with peace, tenderness, joy, love, faith and hope.

We ask her to please help us to bring about the world after this exile - the Next World, the world after the empires fall. We ask her to watch over us through the transition, too. To give us the promise of the blessings of the Garden, the planet restored to its divine nature, to help us stay loving, focused, and faithful.

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

Spirits love hearing about themselves! Affirming the traits of the spirit you are invoking or petitioning helps you to focus the direction of the magic you are creating. Spirits also appreciate hearing their praises sung, and lines like this do that service.

Reflection & Meditation

We aren't meant to carry our grief all on our own. The Blessed Mother is happy to help us through it, to lessen the burden of our sorrows on our spirits.

I like saying this prayer at night before bed because it gives me the opportunity to turn over my frustrations, my confusion, my pain to The Blessed Mother before I embark on my dreamscape journeys. Better dreams means a better next day.

Say this prayer, and when you sense the Blessed Mother's presence, talk to her about what weighs on your heart.

It's not always about guidance; sometimes it's just about being held while someone listens to us.

Get comfy sitting or lying down, then listen the guided meditation with the Blessed Mother below.