Their prayers, and still we see
Calm are the nights and bright the days
Of those who trust in thee.
Around thy starry crown are wreathed
So many names divine:
Which is the dearest to my heart,
And the most worthy thine ?
Star of the Sea; we kneel and pray
When tempests raise their voice;
Star of the Sea! the haven reached,
We call thee and rejoice.
Help of Christians: in our need
Thy mighty aid we claim:
If we are faint and weary, then
We trust in that dear name.
Our Lady of the Rosary:
What name can be so sweet
As what we call thee when we place
Our chaplets at thy feet?
Bright Queen of Heaven: when we are sad,
Best solace of our pains;
It tells us, though on earth we toil,
Our Mother lives and reigns.
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel: thus
Sometimes thy name is known,
It tells us of the badge* we wear,
To live and die thine own.
Our Lady dear of Victories:
We see our faith oppressed,
And, praying for our erring land,
We love that name the best.
Refuge of Sinners: many a soul,
By guilt cast down, and sin,
Has learned through this dear name of thine
Pardon and peace to win.
Health of the Sick: when anxious hearth
Watch by the sufferer's bed,
On this sweet name of thine they lean,
Consoled and comforted.
Mother of Sorrows: many a heart
Half broken by despair
Has laid its burden by the cross,
And found a mother there.
Queen of all Saints: the Church appeals
For her loved dead to thee;
She knows they wait in patient pain
A bright eternity.
Fair Queen of Virgins: thy pure band,
The lilies round thy throne,
Love the dear title which they bear
Most that it is thine own.
True Queen of Martyrs: if we shrink
From want, or pain, or woe,
We think of the sharp sword that pressed
Thy heart and call thee so.
Mary: the dearest name of all,
The holiest and the best;
The first low word that Jesus lisped
Laid on His mother's breast. '
Mary, the name that Gabriel spoke,
The name that conquers hell '
Mary, the name that through high heaven
The angels love so well.
Mary, — our comfort and our hope, --
O may that word be given
To be the last we sigh on earth, --
The first we breathe in heaven.
- Adelaide A. Procter -
Source: The Ideal Catholic Fifth Reader, Imprimatur 1916
A coloring picture can be found below:
may_1st.pdf |