Mother of Merey.

Mother of Mercy, day by day

My love of thee grows more and more;
Thy gifts are strewn upon my way,
Like sands upon the great sea shore.

Though poverty and work and woe
The masters of my life may be,
When times are worst, who does not know
Darkness is light with love of thee.

But scornful men have coldly said
Thy love was leading me from God,
And yet in this I did but tread

The very path my Saviour trod.

They know but little of thy worth
Who speak these heartless words to me;
For what did Jesus love on earth
One half so tenderly as thee?

Get me the grace to love thee more;
Jesus will give if thou wilt plead ;
And, Mother, when life's cares are o'er,
Oh, I shall love thee then indeed.
Jesus, when His three hours were rùn,
Bequeathed thee from the Cross to me.
How can I rightly love thy Son,

Sweet Mother! if I love not thee?

Immaculate! Immaculate!

O Mother! I could weep for mirth,
Joy fills my heart so fast;
My soul to-day is heaven on earth,
O could the transport last!

I think of thee, and what thou art,
Thy majesty, thy state;

And I keep singing in my heart--
Immaculate! Immaculate!

The angels answer with their songs,
Bright choirs in gleaming rows;
And saints flock round thy feet in throngs,
And heaven with bliss o'erflows.
I think of thee, &c.

O, I would rather, Mother dear!
Thou shouldst be what thou art,
Than sit where thou dost, O so near
Unto the Sacred Heart.
I think of thee, &c.

OI would forfeit all for thee,
Rather than thou shouldst miss

One jewel from thy majesty,

One glory from thy bliss.
I think of thee, &c.

Conceived, conceived Immaculate !
O what a joy for thee!
Conceived, conceived Immaculate !
O greater joy for me!

I think of thee, &c.

0 Purest of Creatures !

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!

Deep night hath come down on this roughspoken world,

And the banners of darkness are boldly unfurled;

And the tempest-tossed Church-all her eyes are on thee,

They look to thy shining, sweet Star of the Sea!

He gazed on thy soul; it was spotless and

fair;

For the empire of sin-it had never been there;

None had e'er owned thee, dear Mother! but He,

And He blessed thy clear shining, sweet Star of the Sea!

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.

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!

To sinners what comfort, to angels what mirth, That God found one creature unfallen on earth, One spot where His Spirit, untroubled could be, The depths of thy shining, sweet Star of the Sea!

O shine on us brighter than ever, then shine, For the highest of honours, dear Mother! is thine;

"Conceived without sin," thy chaste title ever be,

Clear light from thy birth-spring, sweet Star of the Sea!

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!

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!

Hail, Queen of Heaven.

Hail, Queen of Heav'n, the Ocean Star,
Guide of the wand'rer here below!
Tossed on life's surge, we claim thy care,
Save us from peril and from woe.
Mother of Christ, Star of the sea,
Pray for the wand'rer, pray for me.