Scripture Verse

He that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Proverbs 23:24

Introduction

illustration
Motherhood
Walter Langley
1852–1922

Words: Chris­tian Burke, De­cem­ber 1903.

Music: Cal­va­ry (Stan­ley) Sam­uel Stan­ley (1767–1822) (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

  • Sicilian Mar­in­ers from The Eu­ro­pe­an Ma­ga­zine and Lon­don Re­view, No­vem­ber 1792 (🔊 pdf nwc)

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Burke or Stan­ley (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Lord of life and King of glo­ry,
Who didst deign a child to be,
Cradled on a mo­ther’s bo­som,
Throned up­on a mo­ther’s knee:
For the child­ren Thou hast giv­en
We must an­swer un­to Thee!

Since the day the bless­èd mo­ther
Thee, the world’s Re­deem­er, bore,
Thou hast crowned us with an hon­or
Women ne­ver knew before;
And that we may bear it meet­ly
We must seek Thine aid the more.

Grant us, then, pure hearts and pa­tient,
That in all we do or say
Little souls our deeds may co­py,
And be ne­ver led as­tray;
Little feet our steps may fol­low
In a safe and nar­row way.

When our grow­ing sons and daugh­ters
Look on life with ea­ger eyes,
Grant us then a deep­er in­sight
And new pow­ers of sac­ri­fice:
Hope to trust them, faith to guide them,
Love that no­thing good de­nies.

May we keep our ho­ly call­ing
Stainless in its fair re­nown,
That when all the work is ov­er
And we lay the bur­dens down,
Then the child­ren Thou hast giv­en
Still may be our joy and crown.