A Poem to Our Lady

Ave Maria MeditationsHail, Queen of the heavens, hail Mistress of earth;

Hail, Virgin most pure of immaculate birth:

Clear star of the morning in beauty enshrined;

O Lady, make speed to the help of mankind.

Thee God in the depth of eternity chose,

And formed thee all fair as His glorious spouse,

And called thee His own Word’s true Mother to be

By whom He created the earth, sky, and sea.

Hail, Mother most pure, hail, Virgin renowned,

Hail, Queen with the stars as a diadem crowned;

Above all the angels in glory untold,

Set next to the King in a vesture of gold.

These praises and prayers we lay at thy feet,

O Virgin of virgins, O Mary most sweet:

Be thou our true guide through this pilgrimage here,

And stand by our side when our death draweth near.

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