Suralowe Rajiniye

Queen of the heavenly world,
O Queen of heaven, on this day
we give you thanks with loving hearts
we sing your glory always
we seek your refuge in devotion

Blessing be,
victory and blessing be,
victory and blessing be to you this day
our beloved mother, golden radiant queen,
thanks, always thanks, be to you

From the disc of the moon
your feet shine out
with a crown of stars your head is bright
like the rays of the sun your body glows
in every place in the world your image is praised

This is a Marian hymn, a song of praise and devotion to Mary, honoured in Catholic tradition as the “Queen of Heaven.” It opens by naming her directly, “Queen of the heavenly world,” and offering the whole purpose of the song, “we give you thanks with loving hearts, we sing your glory always.” The tone is warm and filial, addressing her as “our beloved mother,” and the believers “seek her refuge in devotion,” asking her, as Catholics do, to intercede for them.

The middle lines ring with festival joy, “blessing be, victory and blessing be to you this day,” the language of a feast day celebrated in her honour. She is the “golden radiant queen,” and the singers cannot stop returning to gratitude, “thanks, always thanks, be to you.”

The final verse paints her in the luminous imagery drawn from the book of Revelation, where a great sign appears in heaven: a woman “clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” The hymn echoes it beautifully, “from the disc of the moon your feet shine out, with a crown of stars your head is bright, like the rays of the sun your body glows.” What the listener is left with is a portrait of Mary in glory, radiant with moon, stars and sun, honoured as a mother and queen whose image, the song says, “in every place in the world is praised.”