Scripture Verse

A sword shall pierce through thy own soul. Luke 2:35

Introduction

portrait
Edward Caswall
(1814–1878)
National Portrait Gallery

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Words: Va­ri­ous­ly at­trib­ut­ed to Greg­ory I, Ber­nard of Clair­vaux, Pope In­no­cent III, Bo­na­ven­tu­ra, Ja­co­po­ne da To­di, Pope John XXII, Pope Gre­go­ry XI & oth­ers (Sta­bat ma­ter do­lo­ro­sa). Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Ed­ward Cas­wall and the com­pil­ers of Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern.

Music: Sta­bat Ma­ter (Dykes) John B. Dykes, 1875 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

  • Stabat Ma­ter (Mech­lin) pro­per Mech­lin me­lo­dy (🔊 pdf nwc)
portrait
John B. Dykes (1823–1876)

Lyrics

At the cross, her sta­tion keep­ing,
Stood the mourn­ful mo­ther weep­ing,
Where He hung, the dy­ing Lord;
For her soul of joy be­reav­èd,
Bowed with ang­uish, deep­ly griev­èd,
Felt the sharp and pierc­ing sword.

Oh, how sad and sore dis­tress­èd
Now was she, that mo­ther bless­èd
Of the sole be­got­ten One;
Deep the woe of her af­flict­ion,
When she saw the cru­ci­fix­ion
Of her ev­er glo­ri­ous Son.

Who, on Christ’s dear mo­ther gaz­ing
Pierced by ang­uish so am­az­ing
Born of wo­man, would not weep?
Who, on Christ’s dear mo­ther think­ing
Such a cup of sor­row drink­ing
Would not share her sor­rows deep?

For His peo­ple’s sins chas­tis­èd,
She be­held her Son des­pis­èd,
Scourged, and crowned with thorns en­twined;
Saw Him then from judg­ment taken,
And in death by all for­sak­en,
Till His Spir­it He re­signed.

Jesu, may her deep de­vo­tion
Stir in me the same emo­tion,
Fount of love, Re­deem­er kind,
That my heart fresh ar­dor gain­ing,
And a purer love at­tain­ing,
May with Thee ac­cep­tance find.

illustration
The Crucifixion
Carl H. Bloch (1834–1890)