Mother of Christ (What shall I ask of thee)

This is a hymn about Mary the mother of Christ, which is associated with novenas to Our Lady of Perpetual Help

The author is unclear: The 1920 St Gregory Hymn book (editor Nicola A. Montani) credits it to Nicola A. Montani. (ref), while the 1914 American Catholic hymn book (ref) credits it to "S. N. D. " - most likely meaning a Sister of Notre Dame.



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Examples

Choir with organ, professional recording:


Solo singer with piano:


Instrumental - piano:


Instrumental - guitar:


Lyrics

Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
What shall I ask of thee?
I do not sigh for the wealth of earth,
For joys that fade and flee;
But, Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
This do I long to see,
The bliss untold which thine arms enfold,
The treasure upon thy knee.

Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ.
He was all-in-all to thee,
In Bethlehem’s cave, in Nazareth’s home,
In the hamlets of Galilee.
So Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
He will not say nay to thee,
When He lifts His face, to thy sweet embrace,
Speak to Him, Mother, of Me.”

Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
What shall I do for thee?
I love thy Son with my whole strength
My only King shall he be.
Yes, Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
This I do ask of thee,
Of all that are dear or cherished here,
None shall be dear as He.

Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
The world will bid Him flee,
Too busy to heed His gentle voice,
Too blind His charms to see; Then,
Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
Come with thy Babe to me;
Tho’ the world be cold, my heart shall hold
A shelter for Him and thee.

Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
I toss on a stormy sea,
O lift thy child as beacon high
To the port where I fain would be,
Then, Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
This do I ask of thee,
When the voyage is o'er, O stand on the shore
And show Him at last to me.

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3 comments:

  1. I love this hymn which we used to sing in my school days over 60 years ago. I prayed it then and now it is so powerful for me it will always be my childnood reminder.

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  2. My wife started to sing this tonight which I have never heard of before, so I started to look up the rest of the lyrics to the song which has softened my heart tonight,she said it was in a book I had.Can't find the book but found the song on the Internet Wooooooo, thank God I need this.

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  3. I love this song about the Blessed Mother of Christ! It is really a beautiful song and this is the second time I’ve heard of this song. I saved this on my music playlist

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