 |
| St Benedict's School. Our First Communion party in the largest classroom. |
I have selected Marian hymns in order to honour the Blessed Virgin Mary on her great feast day of the Annunciation; and through her to thank Almighty God for allowing me to complete the 33 days of preparation which today find their culmination in an Act of Consecration to Mary.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
For all the priests, teachers, other staff and contemporaries from St Benedict's Church and School:
REQUIEM aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.ETERNAL rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
Out of the mouth of infants
[3] Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise, because of thy enemies, that thou mayst destroy the enemy and the avenger.Ex ore infantium et lactentium perfecisti laudem propter inimicos tuos, ut destruas inimicum et ultorem.[Psalm 8]
I'll Sing A Hymn To Mary
Fr. J. Wyze 1825-1898
I'll sing a hymn to Mary,
The Mother of my God,
The Virgin of all virgins,
Of David's Royal blood.
O teach me, holy Mary,
A loving song to frame,
When wicked men blaspheme thee,
To love and bless thy name.
O Lily of the Valley,
O mystic Rose, what tree
Or flower, e'en the fairest,
Is half so fair as thee?
O let me, though so lowly,
Recite my Mother's fame:
When wicked men blaspheme thee,
I'll love and bless thy name.
O noble Tower of David,
Of gold and ivory,
The Ark of God's Own promise,
The Gate of Heaven to me;
To live, and not to love thee,
Would fill my soul with shame:
When wicked men blaspheme thee,
I'll love and bless thy name.
But in the crown of Mary,
There lies a wondrous gem,
As Queen of all the Angels,
Which Mary shares with them;
"No sin hath e'er defiled thee,"
So doth our faith proclaim:
When wicked men blaspheme thee,
I'll love and bless thy name.
Daily, daily sing of Mary
St. Casimir
Translated by Father Bittlestone
1.
Daily, daily sing of Mary,
Sing, my soul, her praises due;
All her feats, her actions worship
With the heart's devotion true.
Lost in wond'ring contemplation,
Be her majesty confest!
Call her Mother, call her Virgin,
Happy Mother, Virgin blest!
2.
She is mighty to deliver;
Call her, trust her lovingly:
When the tempest rages round thee,
She will calm the troubled sea.
Gifts of Heaven she has given
Noble lady! To our race:
She, the Queen, who decks her subjects
With the light of God's own grace.
3.
Sing my tongue, the Virgin's trophies,
Who for us our Maker bore;
For the curse of old inflicted,
Peace and blessing to restore.
Sing the songs of praise unending
Sing the world's majestic Queen.
Weary not nor faint in telling
All the gifts she gives to men.
4.
All my senses, heart, affections,
Strive to sound her glory forth:
Spread abroad the sweet memorials
Of the Virgin's priceless worth:
Where the voice of music thrilling,
Where the tongue of eloquence,
That can utter hymns beseeming
All her matchless excellence?
This is the image of our Queen
Fr Edward Caswall (1814-78)
This is the image of our Queen
Who reigns in bliss above;
Of her who is the hope of men,
Whom men and angels love.
Most holy Mary, at thy feet
I bend a suppliant knee;
In this thy own sweet month of May
Dear Mother of my God, I pray,
Do thou remember me.
The homage offered at the feet
Of Mary’s image here
To Mary’s self at once ascends
Above the starry sphere.
Most holy Mary, at thy feet
I bend a suppliant knee;
In all my joy, in all my pain,
O Virgin born without a stain,
Do thou remember me.
How fair soever be the form
Which here, your eyes behold;
Its beauty is by Mary’s self
Excelled a thousand-fold,
Most holy Mary, at thy feet
I bend a suppliant knee;
In my temptations each and all,
From Eve derived in Adam’s fall,
Do thou remember me.
Sweet are the flow’rets we have cull’d,
This Image to adorn;
But sweeter far is Mary’s self,
That rose without a thorn.
Most holy Mary, at thy feet
I bend a suppliant knee;
When on the bed of death I lie,
By Him who did for sinners die,
Do thou remember me.
O Lady, by the stars that make
A glory round thy head,And by the pure uplifted hands,
That for thy children plead;
When at the Judgement seat I stand,
And my dread Saviour see,
When waves of night around me roll
And hell is raging for my soul;
Do thou remember me.
Bring flowers of the rarest
Bring flowers of the rarest,
Bring blossoms the fairest,
From garden and woodland and hillside and dale;
Our full hearts are swelling,
Our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest flower of the vale.
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May,
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
Their lady they name thee,
Their mistress proclaim thee,
Oh, grant that thy children on earth be as true
As long as the bowers
Are radiant with flowers
As long as the azure shall keep its bright hue.
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May,
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
Sing gaily in chorus,
The bright angels o'er us
Re-echo the strains we begin upon earth;
Their harps are repeating
The notes of our greeting,
For Mary herself is the cause of our mirth.
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May,
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
Immaculate Mary
Immaculate Mary!
Our hearts are on fire,
that title so wondrous
fills all our desire.
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
We pray for God’s glory,
the Lord’s kingdom come!
We pray for his vicar,
our father, and Rome.
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
We pray for our mother
the church upon earth,
and bless, sweetest lady,
the land of our birth.
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
For poor, sick, afflicted
thy mercy we crave;
and comfort the dying
thou light of the grave.
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
There is no need, Mary,
nor ever has been,
which thou canst not succour,
Immaculate Queen.
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
In grief and temptation,
in joy or in pain,
we’ll ask thee, our mother,
nor seek thee in vain.
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
O bless us, dear lady,
with blessings from heaven.
And to our petitions
let answer be given.
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
In death’s solemn moment,
our mother, be nigh;
as children of Mary —
help us when we die.
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
And crown thy sweet mercy
with this special grace,
to behold soon in heaven
God’s ravishing face.
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
To God be all glory
and worship for aye,
and to God’s virgin mother
an endless Ave.
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
Ave, ave, ave Maria!
Hail, Queen of Heaven
Rev Dr John Lingard (1771 – 1851)
Hail, Queen of Heav'n, the ocean Star,
Guide of the wand'rer here below!
Thrown on life's surge we claim thy care,
Save us from peril and from woe.
Mother of Christ, Star of the sea,
Pray for the wanderer, pray for me
O gentle, chaste, and spotless Maid,
We sinners make our prayers through thee
Remind thy Son that He has paid
The price of our iniquity.
Virgin most pure, Star of the sea,
Pray for the sinner, pray for me.
Sojourners in this vale of tears,
O thee, blest Advocate, we cry,
Pity our sorrows, calm our fears,
And soothe with hope our misery.
Refuge in grief, Star of the sea,
Pray for the mourner, pray for me.
And while to Him who reigns above,
In Godhead One, in Persons Three,
The source of life, of grace, of love,
Homage we pay on bended knee;
Do thou, bright Queen, Star of the sea.
Pray for thy children, pray for me.
Hail, thou Star of Ocean
Anon, transl by Fr Edward Caswall (1814-78)
Hail, thou Star of Ocean,
Portal of the sky,
Ever Virgin Mother
Of the Lord most high!
Oh, by Gabriel's Ave,
Utter'd long ago,
Eva's name reversing,
'Stablish peace below.
Break the captive's fetters,
Light on darkness pour;
All our ills expelling,
Every bliss implore.
Show thyself a mother,
Offer Him our sighs;
Who for us incarnate
Did not thee despise.
Virgin of all virgins,
To thy shelter take us;
Gentlest of the gentle,
Chaste and gentle make us.
Still as on we journey,
Help our weak endeavour;
Till with thee and Jesus
We rejoice for ever.
Through the highest heaven,
To the all-holy Three,
Father, Son, and Spirit,
One same glory be.
O Mother Blest, Whom God Bestows
St. Alphonsus (1696-1787)
Trans: E. Vaughan
O Mother blest, whom God bestows
On sinners and on just,
What joy, what hope thou givest those
Who in thy mercy trust.
Thou art clement, thou art chaste,
Mary, thou art fair;
Of all mothers sweetest, best,
None with thee compare.
O heavenly Mother, mistress sweet!
It never yet was told
That suppliant sinner left thy feet
Unpitied, unconsoled.
Thou art clement, thou art chaste,
Mary, thou art fair;
Of all mothers sweetest, best,
None with thee compare.
O Mother, pitiful and mild,
Cease not to pray for me;
For I do love thee as a child,
And sigh for love of thee.
Thou art clement, thou art chaste,
Mary, thou art fair;
Of all mothers sweetest, best,
None with thee compare.
Most powerful Mother, all men know
Thy Son denies thee nought;
Thou askest, wishest it, and lo!
His power thy will hath wrought.
Thou art clement, thou art chaste,
Mary, thou art fair;
Of all mothers sweetest, best,
None with thee compare.
O Mother blest, for me obtain,
Ungrateful though I be,
To love that God who first could deign
To show such love for me.
Thou art clement, thou art chaste,
Mary, thou art fair;
Of all mothers sweetest, best,
None with thee compare.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
No comments:
Post a Comment