Salve, Regina

When the Gregorian chants, solemn and simple, of the Salve Regina are sung, both singers and listeners are moved by the dignity and power of the music, even if they can't follow the Latin.  It is, of course, the familiar "Hail, Holy Queen', but we don't even have to advert to it to be caught up in its beauty. It was composed in the 11th century, and as some legends go, in the city of LePuy in France where the First Crusade began.  It was meant to inspire the knights by placing them under Mary as their queen.  Later, it was incorporated into the "Night Prayer", Compline, of the Breviary as the final hymn of the day. St. Marcellin included it in the morning prayer of the Marist Brothers in 1830, to ask Mary's protection during the Revolution of  1830.  It remains part of the Marist Morning Prayer to this day.
Pope Pius XII instated today's Memorial, the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary,  as a follow-up to his proclamation of the Dogma of the Assumption in 1950. It is not a sentimental title, but recalls the Warrior notion of the Old Testament, the bravery and gumption of Queen Esther, the and patroness of the Crusades.  Blessed John Henry Newman balances the warrior image with her beauty:
And now your face and form, dear Mother, speak to us of the eternal; not like earthly beauty, dangerous to look upon, but like the morning star, which is your emblem, bright and musical, breathing purity, telling of heaven, and infusing peace.  O harbinger of day! O hope of the pilgrim! Lead us still as you have led; in the dark night, across the bleak wilderness, guide us on to our Lord Jesus, guide us home.  
Bro. Rene