FESTIVAL (1)

FESTIVAL (1)

Blessed he who daily waits
(O clemens, O pia!) [1]

here before your flowered gates.
(O dulcis Virgo Maria!) [2]

Never honey half so sweet

(O clemens, O pia!)

as the Fruit your children eat.

(O dulcis Virgo Maria!)

Yet is hunger never done;

(O clemens, O pia!)

come then, Mother, with your Son!

(O dulcis Virgo Maria!)

Sister M Philip CSC

In: Laube: 1961

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[1] Oh clement, Oh loving

[2] Oh sweet Virgin Mary

SANCTA MARIA, MATER DEI

SANCTA MARIA, MATER DEI[1]

Ah, but Our Lady’s holiness was there,

its quality so fair

He had not found the like in seraphim –

and holiness to Him,

even the least, was fairer far

than star transcending splendrous star.

None may gainsay what Luke has said:

that He had but a manger-bed,

but we may meditate how she

who laid Him there ecstatically

shed her dear radiance over all:

angel and ox, rafter and stall.

Sister M Paulinus

America.  22 December 1951

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[1] Holy Mary, Mother of God

CAUSE OF OUR JOY

                                                                CAUSE OF OUR JOY

Because of the darkness

she gives me a star

to blaze the trail,

for the way is far.

Because of the glaciers

 and drifted snow,

she gives me the warmth

of a fire’s glow.

Because of the crags

on the mountain height,

she gives me a rope

to hold me tight.

Because of the depths,

and the storms above,

she gives me herself

with all her love.

Sister M Philip CSC

In: Laube

1961

WONDERFUL NIGHT

WONDERFUL NIGHT

Later, Our Lady was aware –

or half aware – of angels there;

of high bright wings sweeping a floor

as Gabriel’s had done before.

But in the night, the holy night,

Our Lady had no jot of sight

save for her little lovely Son,

the verily adorable One.

Looking with a joy so new on Him,

how had she noticed seraphim?

Sister M   Paulinus

America.  20 December 1941

A CANDLE HAS BEEN LIT FOR ALL MARIAN PRAISE READERS