""Salve Regina" then means essentially "Save us O Queen" or "O Queen you are our Salvation"
Okay, as I said I'm no Latin scholar. However, I did look it up. Here's what I found:
salv.e ADJ 1 1 VOC S M POS
salvus, salva, salvum ADJ [XXXAX]
well, unharmed, sound; alive; safe, saved;
salv.e V 2 1 PRES ACTIVE IMP 2 S
salveo, salvere, -, - V [XXXBX]
be well/in good health; [salve => hello/hail/greetings; farewell/goodbye];
salve ADV POS
salve ADV [XXXCX]
hail!/welcome!; farewell!; [salvere jubere => to greet/bid good day];
So, of all those possibilities, which is correct?
To translate "salve Regina" as "Save us O Queen" or "O Queen you are our Salvation" seems to me incorrect theology.
Our Lady is not our Salvation. Our Lord is our Salvation. Our Lady intervenes for us and obtains Graces for us, but she cannot save us and is not our Salvation.
Therefore, I think that "salve" is used as a greeting here, rather than in the way you suggest.
Our Lady is not our Salvation. Our Lord is our Salvation. Our Lady intervenes for us and obtains Graces for us, but she cannot save us and is not our Salvation.
In as much as Christ has made St. Mary our Mediatrix of All Graces, she is our salvation. The translation I proposed is entirely apropos, and goes directly to the heart of what is meant by "Salve" and "Hail", which is not "Hello!", which is why the word "Ave" was not used.
"Through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Savior save us!" (Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, First Antiphon)
"O most holy Mother of God, save us!" (Akathist Hymn)
"If anyone shall not confess the holy ever-virgin Mary, truly and properly the Mother of God, to be higher than every creature whether visible or invisible, and does not with sincere faith seek her intercessions as of one having confidence in her access to our God, since she bare him, let him be anathema." (Second Council of Nicaea, Canon 15)