O sanctissima

"O sanctissima" (O most holy) is a Roman Catholic hymn in Latin, seeking the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and often sung in various languages on her feast days.

The earliest known publication was from London in 1792, presenting it as a traditional song from Sicily; no original source or date has been confirmed for the simple melody or poetic text.

The tune is often called "Sicilian Mariners Hymn" or similar titles, referring to the seafarers' nightly invocation of Mary as maternal protector:[1] Our Lady, Star of the Sea.

The tune has been notably reused for the German Christmas carol "O du fröhliche" (O, how joyful) and the English recessional hymn "Lord, Dismiss Us With Thy Blessing", and appears to have been adapted as the first half of the American Civil Rights anthem "We Shall Overcome".

An 1820 book claims, without verification, that these words were already engraved at Speyer Cathedral at the time of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153).

[3] "O sanctissima" was published as "The Prayer of the Sicilian Mariners", with text and music for voice and harp, in Edward Jones's Miscellaneous Collection of French and Italian Ariettas.

His undated publication is sometimes estimated as 1785,[4] but his cited position as Bard to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales did not begin until "about 1790".

Herder included the song posthumously in his prominent book of traditional folksongs (Stimmen der Völker in Liedern, 1807),[7] while Haydn (Hob.