# Advocata nostra



## poetryadik

Good day, I kind of recall this phrase a part of a Latin song for the church. I would like to inquire what "advocata nostra" means in English and what song this phrase belongs? Thank you.


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## Kevin Beach

It means "our advocate". Because both words end in "a" it is referring to a female.

An advocate is someone who speaks on behalf of somebody else, like a lawyer speaking for her client in court.

If you heard it in church, then it was probably a Catholic church, because few others use Latin.

The Catholic church holds Mary, the mother of Jesus, to be very special. There are many hymns (= religious songs) about her. She is believed to speak for us to Jesus, asking him to have mercy on us. Hence, she is our advocate - *Advocata nostra*.

I don't know the hymn, but googling produces references to settings of a hymn containing those words by the composes Haydn and Handel, both of whom wrote religious music.


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## poetryadik

Kevin Beach said:


> It means "our advocate". Because both words end in "a" it is referring to a female.
> 
> An advocate is someone who speaks on behalf of somebody else, like a lawyer speaking for her client in court.
> 
> If you heard it in church, then it was probably a Catholic church, because few others use Latin.
> 
> The Catholic church holds Mary, the mother of Jesus, to be very special. There are many hymns (= religious songs) about her. She is believed to speak for us to Jesus, asking him to have mercy on us. Hence, she is our advocate - *Advocata nostra*.
> 
> I don't know the hymn, but googling produces references to settings of a hymn containing those words by the composes Haydn and Handel, both of whom wrote religious music.


Thank you I remembered some of the parts too like "misercordae oculus". I don't know if my spelling is right but it seems that it's a hymn for Mary.


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## relativamente

This words belong to the "salve regina" antiphon.You can find it in youtube and also in the wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salve_Regina


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## Kevin Beach

Of course it is!

"Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us
And after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus..."

How on earth could I not have recognised it!


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## poetryadik

O yes. thank you for helping me out. We were made to practice that song during our high school days because it was a Catholic school. They just let us memorize the song without even understanding it.


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## iceblink

hello this words are the first words of phrases on the embleme of the port of "Les Sables d'Olonne" ,his lawyer (maria)save the soul of the dead persons in the sea.


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