’Twas in the days of care­less youth,
When life was fair and bright,
And ne’er a tear, and scarce a fear
O’ercast my day and night,
As, in the qui­et ev­en­tide,
I passed her kneel­ing there,
That just one word, my name,
I heard my name in mo­ther’s pray­er.

I thought but lit­tle of it then,
Tho’ re­ver­ence touched my heart,
To her whose love sought from above
For me the bet­ter part;
But when life’s stern­er bat­tles came
With many a sub­tle snare,
Oft that one word, in thought I heard
My name in mo­ther’s pray­er.

I wan­dered on, and heed­ed not,
God’s oft re­peat­ed call
To turn from sin, to live for Him,
And trust to Him my all;
But when at last, con­vinced of sin,
I sank in deep des­pair,
My hope awoke, when me­mo­ry spoke
My name in mo­ther’s pray­er.

That plead­ing heart, that soul so tried,
Has gone in­to her rest,
But still with me for aye shall be
The me­mo­ry of her trust.
And when I cross the Jor­dan’s tide,
And meet her over there,
We’ll praise the Lord, who blessed that word,
My name in mo­ther’s pray­er.