The Names of Our Lady by Adelaide A. Procter

from the Art and Literature Reader, Book 4, copyright 1904

Through the wide world thy children raise
Their prayers, and still we see
Calm are the nights and bright the days
Of those who trust in thee.

Around thy starry crown are wreathed
So many names divine;
Which is the dearest to my heart,
And the most worthy thine?

Star of the Sea! we kneel and pray
When tempests raise their voice;
Star of the Sea! the haven reached,
We call thee and rejoice.

Help of the Christian! in our need
Thy might aid we claim;
If we are faint and weary, then
We trust in that dear name.

Our Lady of the Rosary!
What name can be so sweet
As what we call thee when we place
Our chaplet at thy feet.

Bright Queen of Heaven! when we are sad,
Best solace of our pains;-
It tells us of the badge we wear,
To live and die thine own.

Our Lady dear of Victories!
We see our faith oppressed,
And, praying for our erring land,
We love that name the best.

Refuge of Sinners! many a soul,
By guilt cast down, and sin,
Has learned through this dear name of thine
Pardon and peace to win.

Health of the Sick! when anxious hearts
Watch by the sufferer's bed,
On this sweet name of thine we lean,
Consoled and comforted.

Mother of Sorrows! many a heart
Half-broken by despair
Has laid its burden by the cross
And found a mother there.

Queen of all Saints! the Church appeals
For her loved dead to thee;
She knows they wait in patient pain
A bright eternity.

Fair Queen of Virgins! thy pure band
The lilies round thy throne,
Love the dear title, which they bear,
Most that it is thine own.

True Queen of Martyrs! if we shrink
From want, or pain, or woe,
We think of the sharp sword that pierced
Thy heart, and call thee so.

Mary! the dearest name of all,
The holiest and the best;
The first low word that Jesus lisped
Laid on His mother's breast.

Mary! the name that Gabriel spoke,
The name that conquers hell;
Mary! the name that through high heaven
The angels love so well.

Mary! our comfort and our hope,-
O may that word be given
To be the last we sigh on earth,
The first we breathe in heaven.

Adelaide Anne Procter, an English poet, was born in London, October 30, 1852; died in London, February 3, 1864. She was a daughter of the writer Bryan Walter Procter (Barry Cornwall). Her poetry is popular and some of her poems have been translated into several languages. Her first published articles appeared in a magazine edited by Charles Dickens. In the year 1851 she became a Catholic, and from that time on her writings show her bent of mind, the desire to do all things possible for God.