Fr. Frederick William Faber, (1814-1863) | St. Denio |
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1. O purest of creatures, sweet Mother! sweet Maid! The one spotless womb wherein Jesus was laid! Dark night hath come down on us, Mother! And we, Look out for thy shining, sweet Star of the Sea! | 2. Deep night has come down on this rough-spoken world, &-the banners of darkness are boldly unfurled; &-the tempest tossed Church— all her eyes are on thee, They look to thy shining, sweet Star of the Sea! |
3. He gazed on thy soul; it was spotless and fair; For-the empire of sin—it had never been there; None had ever owned thee, dear Mother! But He, And-He blessed thy clear shining, sweet Star of the Sea! | 4. Earth gave Him one lodging; ‘twas deep in thy breast, And God found a home where the sinner finds rest; His home and His hiding place both were in thee, He-was won by thy shining, sweet Star of the Sea. |
5. O blissful and calm was the wonderful rest, That-thou gavest thy God in thy virginal breast; For-the heaven He left, He found heaven in thee, And-He shone in thy shining, sweet Star of the Sea! | 6. To sinners what comfort, to angels what mirth, That God found one creature un- fallen on earth, One spot where His Spirit, un- troubled could be, The depth of thy shining, sweet Star of the Sea! |
7. O shine on us brighter than even, then shine, For-the highest of honours, dear Mother! Is thine; “Conceived without sin,” thy chaste title e’re be, Clear light from thy birth-spring, sweet Star of the Sea! | 8. So worship we God in these rude latter days; So worship we Jesus our Love, when we praise, His wonderful grace in the gifts He gave thee, The gift of clear shining, sweet Star of the Sea! |
9. Deep night hath come down on us, Mother! Deep night, And-we need more than ever the guide of thy light; For-the darker the night is the brighter should be, Thy beautiful shining, sweet Star of the Sea! | Amen. |
The Blessed Virgin said of her Bridegroom at the instant of the Incarnation, “He brought me into the cellar of wine.” The saints who comment on this passage tell us that each of our souls, like hers, must descend with him into that cellar where he will say, “Eat, O my friends, and drink, and be inebriated, my dearly beloved.” The saints refer to this as a definite, necessary stage in the spiritual life. Without it, there is no progress toward the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the only goal of the Catholic life, whose only language is music–the etymological root of which means “silence,” as in “mute” and “mystery.” Music is the voice of silence, and so it follows that to enter with Our Beloved Lord into that prayer of quiet and to pray to Our Blessed Lady that He might lead us there, we must learn to speak that language too, that is, we must know music and especially the music of words which is poetry. – John Senior, The Restoration of Christian Culture
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F. W. Weatherell (1915) | Liebster Immanuel Harmonization by J.S. Bach (1685-1750) |
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1. Mary Immaculate, Star of the Morning, Chosen before the cre- ation began, Chosen to bring, in the light of thy dawning, Woe to the serpent and res_-cue to man: | 2. Here in an orbit of shadow and sadness, Veiling thy splendor, thy course thou hast run; Now thou art throned in all glory and gladness, Crowned by the hand of thy Sav_-iour and Son. |
3. Sinners, we worship thy sinless perfection; Fallen and weak, for thy pity we plead; Grant us the shield of thy sov’reign protection; Measure thine aid by the depth_ of our need. | 4. Frail is our nature and strict our probation, Watchful the foe that would lure us to wrong; Succor our souls in the hour of temptation, Mary Immaculate, ten_-der and strong. |
5. See how the wiles of the serpent assail us, See how we waiver and flinch in the fight: Let thine immaculate merit avail us, Make of our weakness a proof_ of thy might. | 6. Bend from thy throne at the note of our crying, Bend to this earth which thy footsteps have trod: Stretch out thine arms to us living and dying, Mary Immaculate Mo_-ther of God. |
Worship (“worthy-ship”) translates best as “give esteem”. We give adoration, latria, to God alone, we give veneration, dulia, worship, to the Saints–I have seen a stained glass window of John Calvin in Westminster Presbyterian by the California State Capitol–and we give extreme veneration, hyperdulia, to the Blessed Virgin Mary as the creature of God of greater dignity and holiness than all others combined.
Iconoclasts blur these distinctions between the several gradations of piety, despite Adonai’s command to fashion the image of angels on the ark of the covenant, and Adonai’s command in Numbers to set up brass serpents on a pole to be viewed by the people for a cure from the plague punishment for their faithlessness.
Most people who feel scruples that our attention to Mary should not detract from the glory of Jesus, take no account, that it is His own will that we begin our efforts at properly humbling ourselves before Him, by first humbling ourselves to her.
(This is a MIDI sample, placeholder for a future recording session.)
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Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost With the least shade of thought to sin allied. Woman! above all women glorified, Our tainted nature’s solitary boast; Purer than foam on central ocean tost; Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon | Before her wane begins on heaven’s blue coast; Thy image falls to earth. Yet some, I ween, Not unforgiven the suppliant knee might bend, As to a visible Power, in which did blend All that was mixed and reconciled in thee Of mother’s love with maiden purity, Of high with low, celestial with terrene! |
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Fr. Jean Gaignet (1839 – 1914) | Lourdes Hymn |
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1. Immaculate Mary, your praises we sing. You reign now in Heaven with Jesus our King. | Chorus Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! |
2. In Heaven the blessed your glory proclaim; on earth we your children in- voke your sweet name. (Chorus) | 3. We pray for our mother, the Church upon earth, And bless, Holy Mary, the land of our birth. (Chorus) |
4. We pray for God’s glory, may His kingdom come. We pray for His vicar, our father in Rome! (Chorus) | 5. Predestined for Christ by e- ternal decree, God willed you both virgin and mother to be. (Chorus) |
6. To you by an angel, the Lord God made known, the grace of the Spirit, the gift of the Son. (Chorus) | 7. Most blest of all women, you heard and believed, most blest in the Fruit of your womb then conceived (Chorus) |
8. The angels rejoiced when you brought forth God’s Son, your joy is the joy of all ages to come. (Chorus) | 9. Your child is the Saviour, all hope lies in Him: He gives us new life and re- deems us from sin. (Chorus) |
10. In grief and temptation, in joy and in pain, we turn to you, Mary, your favor to gain. (Chorus) | 11. Your name is our power, your virtues our light, your love is our comfort, your pleading our might. (Chorus) |
12. In glory for ever now close to your Son, all ages will praise you for all God has done. (Chorus) | Amen. |
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1. Mother of our Lord and Saviour, First in beauty as in power! Glory of the Christian nations! Ready help in trouble’s hour! | 2. Though the gates of hell against us, With profoundest fury rage; Though the ancient foe assault us, And his fiercest battle wage; |
3. Naught can hurt the pure in spirit, Who upon thine aid rely; At thy hand secure of gaining, Strength and mercy from on high. | 4. Safe beneath thy mighty shelter, Though a thousand hosts combine, All must fall or flee before us, Scattered by an arm divine. |
5. Firm as once on holy Sion, David’s tow-er reared its height; With a glorious rampart girded, And with glist’ning armor bright: | 6. So the’Al-migh-ty Virgin Mother, Stands in strength for evermore; From satanic hosts defending, All who her defence implore. |
7. Through the long unending ages, Blessed Trinity to Thee! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Praise and perfect glory be. | Amen. |
3. Pulchra es, amica mea; suavis, et decora sicut Jerusalem; terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata. | 3 Thou art beautiful, O my love, sweet and comely as Jerusalem: terrible as an army set in array. |
9 Quæ est ista quæ progreditur quasi aurora consurgens, pulchra ut luna, electa ut sol, terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata? | 9 Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array? |
Sweet Morn Thou Parent of the Sun (New York, Catholic Hymn Book, Edward Dunigan and Brother, 1851), arranged to Kingsfold (the theme of Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus by Ralph Vaughan Williams)
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1. Sweet Morn! thou Parent of the Sun! And Daughter of the same! What joy and gladness, through thy birth, This day to mortals came! Clothed in the Sun I see Thee stand, The Moon beneath thy feet, The Stars above thy sacred head A radiant coronet. | 2. Thrones and Dominions gird Thee round, The Armies of the sky; Pure streams of glory from Thee flow, All bathed in Deity! Terrific as the banner’d line Of battle’s dread array! Before Thee tremble Hell and Death, And own thy mighty sway: |
3. While crush’d beneath thy dauntless foot, The Serpent writhes in vain, Smit by a deadly stroke, and bound, In an eternal chain. O Mightiest! pray for us, that He Who came through Thee of yore, May come to dwell within our hearts, And never quit us more. | 4. Praise to the Father, with the Son, And Holy Ghost, through Whom The Word eternal was conceived Within the Virgin’s Womb. Be salvation, honor, blessing, Now and through eternity. Immortal, infinite sublime! Older than chaos, space or time! |
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Fr. Frederick W. Faber | Fr. Charles Raymond-Barker, S.J. |
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1. Sing, sing, ye Angel Bands, All beautiful and bright; For higher still, and higher, Through fields of starry light, Mary, your Queen, ascends, Like the sweet moon at night. | 2. A fairer flower than she, On earth hath never been; And, save the Throne of God, Your heavens have never seen, A wonder half so bright, As your ascending Queen! |
3. O happy Angels! look, How beautiful she is! See! Jesus bears her up, Her hand is locked in His; O who can tell the height Of that fair Mother’s bliss? | 4. And shall I lose thee then, Lose my sweet right to thee? Ah! no—the Angel’s Queen, Man’s mother still will be, And thou, upon thy throne, Wilt keep thy love for me. |
5. On then, dear Pageant, on! Sweet music breathes around; And love like dew distills, On hearts in rapture bound; The Queen of heaven goes up, To be proclaimed and crowned! | 6. On—through the countless stars, Proceeds the bright array; And Love Divine comes forth, To light her on her way, Through the short gloom of night, Into celestial day. |
7. The Eternal Father calls, His daughter to be blessed; The Son His Maiden-Mother, Woos unto His Breast; The Holy Ghost His spouse, Beckons into her rest. | 8. Swifter and swifter grows, That marvelous flight of love, As though her heart were drawn, More vehemently above: While jubilant angels part, A pathway for the Dove! |
9. Hark! hark! through highest heaven, What sounds of mystic mirth! Mary by God proclaimed, Queen of Immaculate Birth, And diademed With stars, The lowliest of the earth! | 10. See! see! the Eternal Hands Put on her radiant crown, And the sweet Majesty, Of Mercy sitteth down, For ever and for ever, On her predestined throne! Amen. |
Thanks so much Hildy ((((((Hugs))))