Compline was considered the most solemn hour, though canonically minor, of the Divine Office because of its festive character. It concluded with the Salve procession from the choir to the Lady’s altar as a loving tribute to the Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy. The brethren “looked forward to the hour of Compline as to a festival, and directly as the signal was given, they hurried to choir.”[1]

While still the Provincial of Lombardy, Jordan of Saxony adopted a Marian custom from the Cistercian tradition in response to a diabolic episode in Bologna. The evil spirit possessed and tormented Friar Bernard. Jordan, a devotee of the Lady, sought her intercession. He asked the brethren within the province to solemnly sing the Salve Regina antiphon each night to implore the protection of the Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy. “The Virgin could not abandon an Order she had called into existence: she helped it, protected it and presided over even the smallest detail.”[2] She answered their prayers and freed Friar Bernard from the grips of the evil one. Humbert of Romans, the fourth General Master of the Order, later recounted a similar disturbance in Paris quelled at the intercession of Mary.[3] In 1222, Jordan, now as the General Master of the Order, instituted the singing of the Salve in procession to commemorate the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This custom became uniquely Dominican since the Salve was to be sung at the end of each day in contrast to the periodic practice of the Cistercian tradition. The Salve was only sung in processions after Cistercian chapters.  

The Mother of Mercy continued to make known her special patronage to the brethren and devout Christians during the Salve Regina processions. When the friars sang, “Eia ergo, advocate nostra,” Master Jordan saw in a vision of Mary prostrating before her Son seeking the preservation of the Order. [4] As the community continued to sing, “illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte,” a pious woman from Marseilles saw Mary pleasantly smiled at her preachers.[5] Henceforth, the Dominicans have knelt at these words, “Turn then most gracious advocate, thy eyes of mercy on us,” [6] as the hebdomadarian sprinkled the brethren with holy water. The custom of sprinkling of holy water originated from the Cistercian and Premonstratensian observances. Then the friars concluded the hymn begging, “After this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus…O sweet Virgin Mary.” The holy woman again noticed Mary offering the Child Jesus to the brethren.[7] These visions testified to the fact that Mary is pleased with the preachers’ homage and in return she keeps her post as the watchful intercessor.

In life and at the hour of death, Dominicans invoke the intercession of the Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy. When a brother reaches the threshold of death, the friars in the community are summoned by a tabella or clapper. The community surrounds his deathbed and intones the Salve Regina, entrusting his departure to the loving hands of the Mother of God. This ritual originated from the friars in Sandomir, Poland who endured their massacre by the Tatars with the Salve Regina on their lips.[8]

We continue this most beautiful custom of paying homage to the side altar of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the Province, each night after Compline. Together we ask for her tender mercy and maternal protection before we allegorically enters the “tomb.”