A sceptre unto thee is given,
Queen of the Sacred Heart! in heaven,
Like His who made, O blest decree!
Thee for Himself, all else for thee!
Mother dearest! &c.
6 O godlike creature! nigh to God!
In whom the Eternal. Word abode !
The mirror of God's beauty thou!
On thee His dread perfections show
So palpably, men's hearts might faint
With an exceeding ravishment.
Mother dearest ! &c.
7 Yet thou didst bloom on earth at first,
In meekness proved, in sorrow nursed;
And heaven must own its debt to earth,
Sweet Flower! for thy surpassing worth;
And angels, for their queen's dear sake,
Our road to thee more smooth shall make.
Mother dearest! &c.
8 O Help of Christians! mercy-laden!
O blissful Mother! blissful Maiden!
O Sinless! were it not for thee,
There were in faith no liberty
To hold that God could stoop so low,
Or love his sinful creatures so.
Mother dearest ! &c.
9 O Mary! when we think of thee,
Our hearts grow light as light can be;
For thou hast felt as we have felt,
And thou hast knelt as we have knelt ;
And so it is, that utterly,
Mother of God! we trust in thee!
Mother dearest! &c.
The Orphans' Consecration to Mary (FOR NORWOOD.)
1 MOTHER Mary! at thine altar
We thy little daughters kneel;
With a faith that cannot falter,
To thy goodness we appeal.
We are seeking for a mother
O'er the earth so waste and wide,
And from off His Cross our Brother
Points to Mary by His side.
2 We have seen thy picture often
With thy little Babe in arms,
And it ever seemed to soften
All our sorrows with its charms;
So we want thee for our Mother,
In thy gentle arms to rest,
And to share with Him our Brother
That sweet pillow on thy breast.
3 We have none but thee to love us
With a Mother's fondling care;
And our Father, God above us,
Bids us fly for refuge there.
All the world is dark before us,
We must out into its strife;
If thy fondness watch not o'er us,
O how sad will be our life!
4 So we take thee for our Mother,
And we claim our right to be,
By the gift of our dear Brother,
Babes and daughters unto thee;
And the orphan's consecration
Thou wilt surely not despise,
From thy bright and lofty station
Close to Jesus in the skies.
5 Mother Mary! to thy keeping
Soul and body we confide,
Toiling, resting, waking, sleeping,
To be ever at thy side;
Cares that vex us, joys that please us,
Life and death we trust to thee; Thou must make them all for Jesus, And for all eternity!
1 THE moon is in the heavens above,
And its light lies on the foamy sea;
So shines the star of Mary's love
O'er this stormy scene of misery.
Our hands to life's hard work are laid,
But our hearts are thine,
Sweet Mother-Maid!
20 thou art bright as bright can be,
And as bountiful as thou art bright;
And welcome is the thought of thee,
As the fragrance of an eastern night.
Our hands, &c.
3 Wide earth can give no place of rest,
And for sorrow's tale it hath no ear;
But thou dost echo in thy breast
Grief's loud cry, and suffering's silent tear.
Our hands, &c.
4 We are no longer desolate,
Though our sins have stricken us at heart; Whom thou didst bear hath borne their weight, And thou wert His partner in the smart. Our hands, &c.
5 Calm as the blessed eye of God
When it looks o'er all this world below,
He bids thee shed His peace abroad,
With a secret balm for every woe.
Our hands, &c.
6 By thee we gain, dear spotless Queen!
Some vision of what our God must be ;
And in thy glory His is seen,
For He shows Himself when He shows thee.
Our hands, &c.
To our Blessed Lady,
FOR THE SOULS IN PURGATORY.
10 TURN to Jesus, Mother, turn,
And call Him by His tenderest names; Pray for the holy souls that burn
This hour amid the cleansing flames. 2 Ah! they have fought a gallant fight; In death's cold arms they persevered; And after life's uncheery night
The harbour of their rest is neared.
3 In pains beyond all earthly pains,
Favourites of Jesus! there they lie,
Letting the fire wear out their stains,
And worshipping God's purity.
4 Spouses of Christ they are, for He
Was wedded to them by His blood;
And angels o'er their destiny
In wondering adoration brood.
5 They are the children of thy tears;
Then hasten, Mother! to their aid;
In pity think each hour appears
An age while glory is delayed.
6 See, how they bound amid their fires,
While pain and love their spirits fill;
Then with self-crucified desires
Utter sweet murmurs, and lie still.
7 Ah me! the love of Jesus yearns
O'er that abyss of sacred pain,
And as He looks His Bosom burns
With Calvary's dear thirst again.
8 O Mary! let thy Son no more
His lingering Spouses thus expect ; God's children to their God restore, And to the Spirit His elect.
9 Pray then, as thou hast ever prayed;
Angels and Souls all look to thee;
God waits thy prayers, for He hath made
Those prayers His law of charity.
Hymn of St. Casimir to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
1 DAILY, daily, sing to Mary,
Sing, my soul, her praises due;
All her feasts, 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 her Maker bore;
For the curse of old inflicted,
Peace and blessing to restore.
Sing in 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?
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