The Salve Regina begins: ‘Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy!’ These two titles complement each other so well – the regal quality and the compassionate mercy. Both are rooted in Mary’s humility – ‘He has looked on His servant in her nothingness; henceforth all nations will call me blessed’.

St Thérèse wrote: ‘While waiting for Heaven, O my dear Mother / I want to live with you, to follow you each day. Mother, contemplating you, I joyfully immerse myself, Discovering in your heart abysses of love. Your motherly gaze banishes all my fears. It teaches me to cry, it teaches me to rejoice’.

May our blessed Mother watch over us, in her queenly state and in her compassion, and may God bless you this day.