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Views from the Choir Loft

A hymn for St Mary of the Cross

Veronica Brandt · August 17, 2013

HE WEEKEND BEFORE LAST saw the annual pilgrimage from the Maternal Heart of Mary Church to the shrine of St Mary of the Cross in North Sydney. They set off at about 12 noon aiming to arrive at the tomb of the saint for Vespers at about 5pm. There’s lots of historic sandstone, rosaries, banners, hymns and a walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, then the final climb up Mount St to the Memorial Chapel. God willing I’ll be there next year.

St Mary of the Cross is better known as Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first canonised saint. She founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and set up schools for poor children.

And here is the hymn. Written by Rev. Fr. Dominic Popplewell of FSSP Canberra.

THOU maiden-mother’s progeny,
O Jesu, holy Virgins’ King,
we raise our lowly hearts to thee,
another fruitful Virgin sing.

The glory of her maidenhead
devoted to her Spouse divine,
in wedlock mystical, she bred
the daughters of a noble line.

The ocean vastness braving, fared
her parents to a distant shore,
by faith and love their child prepared
to seek the pearl of hidden store.

The lambs of Christ she saw bereft
of guidance and of nourishment:
his Cross to bear, all else she left,
his Heart to please made all her bent.

His Providence was all her fund,
his Foster-father all her ward;
all other maintenance she shunned:
her spirit, all unladen, soared.

The stroke of gladness or of woe,
when it befell, could never change
her purpose, sway her to forgo
her plighted faith, true love estrange.

O blessed Mary, in the train
of that fair Bridegroom, that great Lord,
the spotless Lamb for sinners slain,
pray him for us, grace to afford.

May he from every fell design
the purchase of his pain defend,
where his device he bids to shine
amid the stars, his mercy send.

The land that owns thy mortal birth
be now the claimant of thy care,
and every clan of men on earth
the heirs of thy deserts and prayer.*

Then to the bounteous One-and-Three
whence all things are, where all things tend,
true Godhead, sovereign mastery,
be praise and glory without end.

Amen.

It is suggested to be sung to the tune Jesu corona virginum (here written out in full for easy singing).

In case 10 stanzas is a little long, here is a four verse hymn I prepared earlier.

* or “gain by thy merits and thy prayer.” as you prefer.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Sheet Music Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
    EVIN ALLEN was commissioned by Sacred Music Symposium 2025 to compose a polyphonic ‘middle section’ for the GLORIA from Mass III, often denoted by its trope name: Missa Kyrie Deus sempiterne. This year, I’m traveling from Singapore to serve on the symposium faculty. I will be conducting Palestrina’s ‘Ave Maria’ as well as teaching plainsong to the men. A few days ago, I was asked to record rehearsal videos for this beautiful polyphonic extension. (See below.) This polyphonic composition fits ‘inside’ GLORIA III. That is, the congregation sings for the beginning and end, but the choir alone adds polyphony to the middle. The easiest way to understand how everything fits together is by examining this congregational insert. You may download the score, generously made available to the whole world—free of charge—by CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED:
    *  PDF Download • Gloria III ‘Middle Section’ (Kevin Allen)
    Free rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #24366. Related News • My colleague, Jeff Ostrowski, composed an organ accompaniment for this same GLORIA a few months ago. Obviously, the organist should drop out when the polyphony is being sung.
    —Corrinne May
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

And since it is becoming that holy things be administered in a holy manner, and of all things this sacrifice is the most holy, the Catholic Church, to the end that it might be worthily and reverently offered and received, instituted many centuries ago the holy canon, which is so free from error that it contains nothing that does not in the highest degree savor of a certain holiness and piety and raise up to God the minds of those who offer.

— Council of Trent (1562)

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday

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