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25.

A Child's Hymn to the
Blessed Virgin.

MAIDEN Mother, meek and mild,
Take, oh, take me for thy child.
All my life, oh, let it be

My best joy to think of thee.

When my eyes are clos'd in sleep
Through the night my slumbers keep,
Make my latest thought to be,
How to love thy Son and thee.

Teach me when the sunbeam bright
Calls me with its golden light,
How my waking thoughts may be
Turn'd to Jesus and to thee.

And, oh, teach me through the day
Oft to raise my heart and say,
"Maiden Mother, meek and mild,
Guard, oh, guard thy little child!"

Thus, sweet Mother, day and night
Thou shalt guide my steps aright;
And my dying words shall be,
"Virgin Mother, pray for me!"

26.

Star of Jacob.

STAR of Jacob, ever beaming
With a radiance all divine,
Mid the stars of highest heaven
Glows no purer ray than thine!

All in stoles of snowy whiteness,
Unto thee the angels sing;
Unto thee the virgin choirs,-
Mother of th' eternal King!
Joyful in thy path they scatter
Roses white and lilies fair;
Yet with thy celestial beauty
Rose nor lily may compare.
Oh, that this low earth of ours,
Answ'ring to th' angelic strain,
With thy praises might re-echo,
Till the heav'ns replied again.

27. Hail, thou Star of Ocean.

HAIL, thou Star of Ocean,
Portal of the sky,
Ever Virgin Mother

Of the Lord most high!

Oh, by Gabriel's Ave,
Utter'd long ago,
Eva's name reversing,
Stablish peace below.

Break the captive's fetters,
Light on darkness pour;
All our ills expelling,
Every bliss implore.

Shew thyself a Mother,

Offer him our sighs;

Who for us incarnate

Did not thee despise.

Virgin of all virgins,

To thy shelter take us;
Gentlest of the gentle,
Chaste and gentle make us.

Still as on we journey,

Help our weak endeavour;
Till with thee and Jesus
We rejoice for ever.

Through the highest heaven,
To the all-holy Three,
Father, Son, and Spirit,
One same glory be.

28. Gratitude for the early Knowledge of God.

AMONG the gifts thy hands bestow
Each day and hour on me,
'Tis not the least, O Lord, to know
That they all come from thee.

How joyfully each day I ought
Thy precepts to fulfil,

Since I have been so early taught
To do thy gracious will!

I cannot tell thee what my heart
Would have me say to thee,
For having taught me what thou art,
And what I ought to be.

O Saviour blest and God ador'd,
Still keep me in thy fear;

And in my teachers' words, O Lord,
May I thy voice revere.

29. Hymn to the Good Shepherd.

LOVING Shepherd of thy sheep,
Keep thy lamb, in safety keep :
Nothing can thy power withstand,
None can pluck me from thy hand.
Loving Shepherd, thou didst give
Thine own life that I might live;
May I love thee day by day,
Gladly thy sweet will obey.

Loving Shepherd, ever near,
Teach thy lamb thy voice to hear;
Suffer not my steps to stray
From the straight and narrow way.

Where thou leadest may I go,
Walking in thy steps below;
Then before thy Father's throne,
Jesu, claim me for thine own.

30. Litany of the Birth of Jesus.

By the word to Mary giv'n,
By thy first descent from heav'n,
By thine infant form so fair,

Trembling in the midnight air,

Chorus.

Babe of Bethlehem, hear our cry!
Thou wert helpless once as we;
Hear the loving Litany

We, thy children, sing to thee.

By thy poor and lowly lot,
By the manger and the grot,
By thy little feet and hands,
Folded fast in swaddling bands,-
Babe of Bethlehem, &c.

By the worship shepherds paid,
By the gifts that sages made,
Gold and myrrh and incense sweet,
Laid in homage at thy feet,-
Babe of Bethlehem, &c.

By St. Joseph's thoughts amaz'd,
When he first upon thee gaz'd,
And his Lord and Maker saw
Laid upon a bed of straw,-
Babe of Bethlehem, &c.

And oh, more than all the rest,
By the joy of Mary's breast
When she, kneeling, first ador'd

Thee, her child and yet her Lord,-
Bate of Bethlehem, &c.

31. Litany of the Childhood of Jesus.

By the name which thou didst take,
Suffering early for our sake;
Name ador'd on bended knee,
Name of grace and majesty,-

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