There are four hymns that mark the whole human experience and the life of the entire Church. All these songs are tributes to Mary, the Mother of God. They are chants sung at the end of Vespers or Compline.

What is the logic of singing these hymns in the evening? Saint Bede the Venerable tells us:

Therefore it is an excellent and fruitful custom of holy Church that we should sing Mary’s hymn at the time of evening prayer. By meditating upon the incarnation, our devotion is kindled, and by remembering the example of God’s Mother, we are encouraged to lead a life of virtue. Such virtues are best achieved in the evening. We are weary after the day’s work and worn out by our distractions. The time for rest is near, and our minds are ready for contemplation.

The hymns to Mary become the memory of our theology and remind us of the one blessed among all women.

Tonight and through Candlemas, also known as the Presentation of the Lord on February 2, the whole Church sings the Alma Redemptoris Mater.

This hymn highlights the Angel Gabriel’s message to Mary. She receives the gift of her motherhood. In deep theological thought, Saint John Paul II shares the sentiments of the Annunciation:

The Annunciation, therefore, is the revelation of the mystery of the Incarnation at the very beginning of its fulfillment on earth. God’s salvific giving of himself and his life, in some way to all creation but directly to man, reaches one of its high points in the mystery of the Incarnation. This is indeed a high point among all the gifts of grace conferred in the history of man and of the universe: Mary is “full of grace,” because it is precisely in her that the Incarnation of the Word, the hypostatic union of the Son of God with human nature, is accomplished and fulfilled (Redemptoris Mater 9).

The Virgin’s motherhood is the pinnacle of all motherhood for she gives flesh and blood to the Incarnate Son of God.

With Mary’s motherhood, we also reflect on her as the Gate of Heaven and the Star of the Sea. Through her consent, heaven’s gate are bursted open as Jesus walks among us. In Mary, we will never loose our way. In the deepest valleys and darkest nights, the star will shine. The star will shine bright this winter as our compass. This compass points to heaven. In Mary, we will always find the road to heaven for Mary will always lead us to her Son.

This hymn expresses the importance of the Mother of God, the Gate, and the Star. In the words of this hymn we find assurance that Mary walks with us in all these seasons of life.