Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Rosary of Mary, the Virgin Mother of God.

From her Life and Eulogy.

THE USE AND DESIGN OF THE FOLLOWING ROSARY.

There is in the Sixth Part of this Work a Rosary of the Life of our Saviour Christ, so arranged as to be adapted for daily use. The reflection that a similar work might be not unacceptable to the most blessed Mother of our Redeemer and her worshippers, has been my motive for the composition of the following Rosary.

My first endeavour in both of them has been to give a collective view of the Life of Christ, and of Mary his Mother, simultaneously with the special subjects of their praise, and to furnish at the same time matter for the meditation of good persons, as well as for the arousing of their holy affections.

Let, then, thy mind be exercised alternately with the devout worship of Christ, and of Christ's Mother. And because the endeavour to imitate its objects is the kind of worship most acceptable to them, and most profitable to thyself, I have been careful to point out sufficiently for this purpose the examples which are displayed in them of all the virtues, of which they are the brightest patterns.

In what manner the virtues of Christ are subjects both for our meditation and imitation, has been already set forth in the Sixth Part. But, of the things which specially demand our admiration and imitation in the Mother of Christ, I wish rather to inform thee in the honied words of St. Ambrose. Have, he says, constantly pictured before your mind the Virgin Life of the blessed Mary; for in her are displayed, as in a mirror, all the comeliness of chastity, and all the beauty of virtue. Hence are to be deduced examples proper to a good life; for in her, as in a model of perfection, are delineated those precepts of virtue, by which you are instructed what to correct, what to avoid, and what to retain. She was, not in body only, but in mind a Virgin, humble in heart, grave in speech, wise in understanding, slow to speak, much addicted to reading, assiduous at her work, modest in her language, and habituated to look up to God, and not to man, as the Judge of her thoughts. There was no severity in her look, no boldness in her utterance, no indecorum in her conduct. After much said besides, he adds: Such, in short, was Mary, whose life alone is a source of instruction to every one. Where, then, we disapprove not of the Author, let us approve of the Work; that her example may be copied by all who wish to attain to her reward, &c. ¹

The following is from the Fourth Sermon of St. Bernard upon the Mission of the Angel to the blessed Virgin Mary.

Turn not thine eyes away from this Star (Mary), if thou wouldst not be overthrown by storms. If there arise any winds of temptation, then look up to the Star, invoke Mary, &c. By following her, thou canst not lose thy way; by imploring her, thou canst not despair; by thinking of her, thou canst not wander; when she upholds thee, thou canst not fall; when she protects thee, thou canst not fear; when she guides thee, thou canst not weary; when she is favourable, thou wilt attain thy end, and so wilt thou experience in thyself how justly it was said, “And the Virgin's name was Mary.”

DECADE I.

Hail, Fount of mercy, Mother blest,
Form'd by th' adorable behest
Of God, the Three in One,
To bear the Boundless, Uncreate
Word of the Father, Incarnate,—
The Mother of the Son!

Our Father.

Rejoice, ye Heav'ns, with wonder awed;
Sing, O thou Earth; ye Seas, applaud;
With God let all resound;
Creative Pow'r, all unrestrain'd,
A Creature's birth hath not disdain'd,
And Earth hath gladness found!

Hail Mary.

Oh, happy and illustrious,
To God well pleasing, dear to us,
Birth of th' Immaculate!
Which caused the barren ones to bear,
And us, all stained with sin, to share
Life's marvellous estate.

Hail Mary.

Oh, excellent, and free from flaw,
She who, reversing flesh's law,
Knows nought of shame or taint;
Break forth with joy, ye sullen skies;
A Virgin Mother satisfies
The Patriarch's gasping plaint.

Hail Mary.

Full happily the hour did shine
When first this Morning Star divine
Death's murky shadow scared;
When, now fulfill'd His spotless Birth,
The Sun that should arise on earth
Th' all-beauteous One declared.

Hail Mary.

Oh, blest, and mark'd by destiny,
Mother of God! for us to be
Mother of mercy too;
The Paradise of all delights,
Asylum of recover'd rights,
And Cause of gladness true.

Hail Mary.

Pattern of zeal in childhood's years,
Thy infant form the altar bears,
Oh, Presentation chaste!
Three summers o'er, thy little feet
The number'd stairs surmount, to greet
The Lord with duteous haste.

Hail Mary.

And now, a handmaid at His side,
His House thy home, His work thy pride,
In holy bondage free;
Psalms, prayers, and works of love thy care,
Alike thy Lord and brethren share
Thy ceaseless ministry.

Hail Mary.

The odour of thy virgin grace
Invites to Chastity's embrace
Thy sex's white-robed train;
The fruitful had their praise of old,
But now a Virgin gifts untold
For spotless souls shall gain.

Hail Mary.

Then let us hymn, with glad accord
Of willing heart and thankful word,
Our Saviour's Mother blest;
Her birth was healing medicine,
Her life unsullied, pow'r divine
To weary men distrest.

Hail Mary.

Be to thy prayers the grace supplied
Our bark from storms of sin to hide
In harbour's safe retreat;
The grace of Chastity secure,
Lest he whose head thou crushest, lure
Our souls by fell deceit.

Hail Mary.

Father, of highest Majesty,
Jesus, thou King of clemency,
Spirit, rich Fount of sanctity,
Coequal Three in One;
By gifts of love so rare and blest,
All-bounteous Lord, be thou our Guest,
And fill in goodlier streams the breast
That feels itself alone!

DECADE II.

Hail Virgin, blest by Heaven's salute,
And gifted with the holy Fruit,
Which did our sin efface;
Thou, Virgin, didst the Word conceive,
While Gabriel's voice thou didst believe,—
High Messenger of grace.

Our Father.

The King of kings His Consort meet
In thee beheld, O Lily sweet,
Springing 'mid thorns accursed;
For thou the Son of God didst bear,
When He, our nature's lot to share,
That nature's law reversed.

Hail Mary.

A Virgin, yet to man betroth'd,
In Virgin robe a Mother clothed,
A Virgin bears a Child;
Joseph mistrusts; but now, secure
In heav'nly sanction, takes the Pure
To wedlock undefiled.

Hail Mary.

Of old, with supernatural blush
Of Fire Divine, unburn'd, the bush
'Mid the green foliage glow'd;
Thus, conscious of th' O'ershadowing Power,
Yet safe from harm, the changeless Flower,
A Virgin bare her God.

Hail Mary.

Oh, new and wondrous mystery,
A Mother crown'd with chastity,
E'en by a Son conceived;
Twas Eva dealt the mortal blow;
But Ave, Healer of our woe,
Lost Paradise retrieved.

Hail Mary.

One Mother brought us woe and strife,
The Other yields the Fruit of Life,
To our unending gain;
Eve bound us to a fretting yoke,
But Mary cured our ills, and broke
Th' accursed ancestral chain.

Hail Mary.

Thou, contravening Nature's rite,
Encompassest the Infinite,
Thyself a little one;
Mortal, thy God, her Sire the child,
A man the Virgin undefiled,
The star its ancient Sun!

Hail Mary.

Thou dost enfold, in bosom chaste,
The Lamb and Lion, First and Last,
The Lowly, yet the Great;
Th' Eternal, bow'd to mortal birth,
The Heav'nly One, come down to earth,
The Lord in slave's estate.

Hail Mary.

The knot of this high Sacrament
Yields not to subtle Argument,
Nor Reason's bounded quest;
The mode to fathom is not mine,
I know the reach of Pow'r Divine,
And faith achieves the rest!

Hail Mary.

Who shall not marvel and rejoice?
Who shall not praise with grateful voice
The work of matchless grace?
How guilt-stain'd man ascends on high,
Since stoop'd the Boundless Majesty
In garb of servile race.

Hail Mary.

And thou, O Virgin of renown,
In whom consummated we own
Wonders of God so rare,
Help, for those wonders' sake, we pray,
Thy servants, who these forms of clay
In sin and sadness wear!

Hail Mary.

Father of highest Majesty,
Jesus, thou King of clemency,
Spirit, rich Fount of sanctity,
Coequal Three in One;
By gifts of love so rare and blest,
All-bounteous Lord, be thou our Guest,
And fill in goodlier streams the breast
That feels itself alone!

DECADE III.

Mother of Christ, hail, Maid, to thee,
Virgin, from sin primeval free,
Flow'r of the virgin-band;
Bearing the Gift of priceless worth,
Yielding thy Lord—that peerless Birth,
The Maiden of his hand!

Our Father.

Next traversing the mountain way,
Full of thy Saviour, to display
The Fruit of crowning grace;
Till child unborn and mother blest
Felt thy strong influence, mighty Guest,
Accorded, face to face.

Hail Mary.

Those joyful Mothers greet, and hear
The Heav'n-sent Children's high career,
Taught by a voice divine;
What loving raptures fill their breast!
Around that Virgin-presence blest
What rays of glory shine!

Hail Mary.

Our Lady's salutation threw
On forms which hands prophetic drew
Their sense and substance bright;
And who, of Adam's sinful race,
But from that Lady, rich in grace,
Shall draw converting light?

Hail Mary.

Whoe'er thou art, remember well
What strength, malicious foes to quell,
Our Virgin's love hath brought;
On whom, for man's unworthy race,
Such wonders, by the power of grace,
Th' Omnipotent hath wrought.

Hail Mary.

'Twas she that bruised the Monster's head,
'Twas she whose bridal beauty led,
The King to quit his state;
She braved the Serpent's deadliest ire,
On her innocuous play'd the fire,
Of Envy's searching hate.

Hail Mary.

This is the blossom-bearing Rod;
Oh, joyful earth, which teems with God,—
The Saviour of our love;
This is the strengthening Manna giv'n
To cheer, with antepast of Heav'n,
Souls that unsated rove.

Hail Mary.

This is that Fountain, seal'd secure,
That Garden closed, where fresh and pure
The streams of grace abound;
This is that Fleece that drinks the dew,
That Field enrich'd, whose fragrance flew
Earth's ample space around.

Hail Mary.

This is that Throne of Solomon,
Whose peer in goodly gifts is none,
Native or shaped with care;
The ivory white of chaste desire,
The gold of love's resplendent fire,
Denote those myst'ries rare!

Hail Mary.

The Ark of peace, the Tower of strength,
The banner'd Army's stately length,
In order dread display'd;
Ladder of Heav'n, Life's unctuous Tree,
City, to all the faithful free,
And Fort that none invade!

Hail Mary.

Heav'n's Gate, and God's own Temple blest,
And Ocean's Port, where, moor'd at rest,
Frail sea-tost vessels ride;
Since from the first 'twas never heard
That lowly suit, in need preferr'd,
By her was turned aside!

Hail Mary.

Father of highest Majesty,
Jesus, thou King of clemency,
Spirit, rich Fount of sanctity,
Coequal Three in One;
By gifts of love so rare and blest,
All-bounteous Lord, be thou our Guest,
And fill in goodlier streams the breast
That feels itself alone!

DECADE IV.

Hail, Mother of the Gospel Law,
Who gav'st us, without pain or flaw,
The Saviour of our Race;
A Mother so divinely fair
Must needs that Mother's title wear
Apart from Eve's disgrace.

Our Father.

The Giant swift, the Wrestler brave,
The Prince of peace, who foiled the grave,
The King of boundless might,
Hath come to run His high career,
Foreshewn by voice of ancient Seer,
And types of Legal rite!

Hail Mary.

But oh, the mean, dishonour'd Birth!
Th' Incarnate King of Heav'n and earth
To beggar's state must bow;
He, wont the Angels' praise to share,
Submits to brutes' and shepherds' fare,
Laid in the manger low.

Hail Mary.

A Mortal bears her God,—sustains,
Embraces, fondles, soothes His pains;
Fosters th' all-fostering One;
Feeds the True Bread, supplies the Fount,
Gives life to Life, cradles the Mount,
Illumes the glorious Sun.

Hail Mary.

His gracious lips that Mother fed,
Whose Hands our substance fashionèd,
Who food on all bestows;
Who, born to man, a Brother gave,
Dying, a ransom from the grave,
And glory, when He rose.

Hail Mary.

But, Mother of our King supreme!
How shall obedience thee beseem,
By human laws unbound?
How shall the Pure be purged from stain,
And, in the poor's neglected train,
With sordid gifts be found?

Hail Mary.

Triad of virtues, which imbue
The Hearts of Son and Mother too,
With grace and light serene;
Obedience prompt, affection pure,
And meekness, spirit of the poor,
United here are seen.

Hail Mary.

They whom, by noxious fruit betray'd,
Christ saves, the MAN for sinners made,
In order strange and new;
Old Adam wrought our fall through Eve,
And He who did the loss retrieve,
Death by a Virgin slew.

Hail Mary.

Then shall not sinners, but for whom
No Son had bless'd thy virgin womb,
Be precious in thine eyes?
For, had not slaves been found to free,
No need had been a way by thee
Of freedom to devise!

Hail Mary.

Yes, loving Mother, how thou art
Prompt, with a mother's yearning heart,
To solace the distrest,
Thou shewedst, when, in hopeful sign,
Thou didst the need of strengthening wine
Meek to thy Son suggest.

Hail Mary.

Mother of Love! what streams of hope
Do not thy ready succours ope
To men of ill-estate;
By thee his God the guilty meets,
And God by thee the sinner greets;—
Then be our Advocate!

Hail Mary.

Father of highest Majesty,
Jesus, thou King of clemency,
Spirit, rich Fount of sanctity,
Coequal Three in One;
By gifts of love so rare and blest,
All-bounteous Lord, be thou our Guest,
And fill in goodlier streams the breast
That feels itself alone!

DECADE V.

Hail, Mother, on the Cross descrying
Thy Son outstretch'd for us, and dying,
What grief thy bosom thrills!
That Son thine eyes shall vainly seek,
While in His stead the Follower weak
His high commission fills.

Our Father.

He who in rising death defied,
In Heav'n restores thee to His side,—
Himself at God's right hand;
Where, with maternal honours gifted,
High on thy glorious throne uplifted,
Thou tread'st the star-paved land.

Hail Mary.

That body could not brook the earth,
Which to the Son of God gave birth,—
Saviour of all and Lord;
She rightly flesh's law o'erpass'd,
Who clothed in flesh, for aye to last,
The pure and changeless WORD.

Hail Mary.

Thee, rais'd a Queen above the sky,
With sweet and gladsome melody,
Th' angelic Choir applauds;
For meet it were earth, sky, and sea
Should chant, with universal glee,
Our sweetest Lady's lauds.

Hail Mary.

Then, Virgin, for the love of us,
High above all exalted thus,
Hear meekly, and entreat;
And if the sin-stain'd thou despise,
Remember how three Hierarchies
Bend subject at thy feet!

Hail Mary.

In this sad vale of many tears,
Nought fix'd, nought unobscure appears,
Suspicion lurks around;
For what to us shall seem secure,
When virtue's self its triumph sure
Lacks on this battle-ground?

Hail Mary.

The flesh disdains the Spirit's laws,
And from the world protection draws,
Us to our ruin stealing;
For Satan urges us molesting,
Himself now plainly manifesting,
His fury now concealing.

Hail Mary.

Plied by this fierce and armèd band,
We cannot always upright stand,
Enfeebled by defeat;
'Tis hence so many arrows wound us,
And hence so many snares surround us,—
Frail victims of deceit.

Hail Mary.

But, Mary, Mother of our God,
Next Him, our Anchor sure, and Rod
Of help to man distress'd;
Thou who Consoler art of woes,
The Healer thou of sinners' throes,
Give aid to the oppress'd!

Hail Mary.

Thy fav'ring ear in pity lend
To us who on thy will attend,
Our death-bound spirits free;
The first of all in Heav'n, save One,
Grant us, thy clients, with thy Son,
Co-heirs of God to be!

Hail Mary.

He with th' Eternal Father pleads
His Body pierced, and Heart that bleeds;
But thou, thy Mother's breasts;
And shall such advocates be slighted,
When Love's sweet tokens, all united,
Enforce their strong behests?

Hail Mary.

Father of highest Majesty,
Jesus, thou King of clemency,
Spirit, rich Fount of sanctity,
Coequal Three in One;
By gifts of love so rare and blest,
All-bounteous Lord, be thou our Guest,
And fill in goodlier streams the breast
That feels itself alone!

1. St. Ambros. de Virg. lib. ii.