Catholic ping!
John Michael Talbot has a song on "The Lover and the Beloved" that would have fit so well into this thread, but I don't know the lyrics any more.
What a wonderful image from St. Maximilian.
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, now and at the hour of our deaths, Amen.
Like the Fragrance of the Rose
Like the fragrance of rose
wafted on the breeze
on a spring afternoon,
sweet,
gentle,
almost unperceived at first,
but growing more precious by the second,
O Maria,
Blessed Virgin,
beloved mother,
you come into my life,
when I need it most,
when I least expect it,
calling me gently home.
How could it be,
that the mother of my Lord
would deign come to me,
with the gentlest of mother's touches
to call me home
in that kindest of ways
never condemning,
ready to wipe my tears
and take me gently home?
O my Lady and my Queen,
Friend and comforter,
too often I have sent you looking for me!
Forgive me,
and thank you
for always keeping me under your mantle,
ready to lead me gently home
to your son Jesus.
Bump
O Virgin conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Not for nothin' but I always thought that Mary could make quite an impression if she appeared to say -Billy Graham.