Ave maris stella: the medieval Marian hymn and its meaning
Ave maris stella, origin and authorship
The hymn Ave Maris Stella (“Hail, Star of the Sea”) is one of the oldest and poetically richest Marian texts of the Latin tradition. Musicologists date its composition to between the eighth and ninth centuries, the earliest known manuscript copy being from the ninth century (the St. Gall Codex). Its authorship remains disputed: it has been attributed to Bishop Venantius Fortunatus (sixth century), to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (twelfth century) and to various anonymous authors. What is beyond dispute is its extraordinary liturgical diffusion: it became the hymn of Marian Vespers par excellence and continues to be sung in the Liturgy of the Hours.
Ave, the reversal of Eva
The first stanza of the hymn presents one of the most celebrated patristic etymologies: the “Ave” with which Gabriel greets Mary (Lk 1:28) is read as the inversion of the letters of “Eva.” This wordplay, Ave/Eva, was explored by Saint Jerome and later by Saint Bernard in the Homilia II super Missus est: where Eve led to the fall, Mary, on receiving that same “Ave,” begins the redemption. Mary is the “New Eve” who undoes what the first Eve caused. This typology, present in Justin Martyr and Irenaeus of Lyons as early as the second century, is the theological background against which the hymn was composed.
Maris stella, star of the sea
The title “Maris Stella” has a history that begins with Saint Jerome: in translating the Hebrew name Miryam into Latin, Jerome proposed “Stilla Maris” (drop of the sea), which medieval copyists turned into “Stella Maris” (star of the sea). The interpretation “star of the sea” became the dominant one and was adopted by medieval navigators, who invoked Mary as a guide on stormy seas. Saint Bernard popularized this image in his sermon on Pentecost: “If you do not want to be swallowed up by the storms, do not take your eyes off the brightness of this Star.” The Marian title “Stella Maris” is one of the most universal invocations of Our Lady, patroness of sailors and travelers.
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