XLIII. ST. PHILIP'S HOME. Recordare, Virgo Mater, in conspectu Dei, I. Missale Romanum. O Mary! Mother Mary! our tears are flowing fast, For mighty Rome, St. Philip's home, is desolate and waste; There are wild beasts in her palaces far fiercer and more bold Than those that licked the martyrs' feet in heathen days of old. II. O Mary! Mother Mary! that dear City was thine own, And brightly once a thousand lamps before thine altars shone; At the corners of the streets thy Child's sweet Face and thine Charmed evil out of many hearts, and darkness out of mine. III. By Peter's Cross and Paul's sharp Sword, dear Mother Mary! pray! By the dungeon deep where thy St. Luke in weary durance lay, And by the Church thou knows't so well beside the Latin Gate, For the love of John, dear Mother! stay the hap less City's fate. IV. For the exiled Pontiff's sake, our Father and our Lord, O Mother! bid the Angel sheathe his keen avenging sword; For the Vicar of thy Son, poor exile though he be, Is busied with thine honour now by that sweet southern sea. V. O by the joy thou hadst in Rome, when every street and square Burned with the fire of holy love that Philip kindled there! And by that throbbing heart of his which thou didst keep at Rome, Let not the spoiler waste dear Father Philip's home! VI. O by the dread basilicas, the pilgrim's gates to heaven, By all the shrines and relics God to Christian Rome hath given, By the countless Ave-Maries that have rung from out its towers, By Peter's threshold, Mother! save this pilgrimplace of ours! VII. By all the words of peace and power, that from St. Peter's Chair Have stilled the angry world so oft, this glorious City spare! By the lowliness of him whose gentle-hearted sway A thousand lands are blessing now, dear Mother Mary! pray. VIIL By the pageants bright whose golden light hath flashed through street and square, And by the long processions that have borne thy Jesus there! By the glories of the Saints, by the honours that were thine, By all the worship God hath got from many a blazing shrine, IX. By all heroic deeds of Saints that Rome hath ever seen, By all the times her multitudes have crowned thee for their queen, By all the glory God hath gained from out that wondrous place, O Mary Mother Mary! pray thy strongest prayer for grace ! |