Text set by Giuseppe Verdi for Quattro Pezzi Sacri
Virgin mother, daughter of your own son,
most humble yet highest of any creature,
human heart of the divine mystery,
You are she who so ennobled human nature
that God, the maker of mankind,
would not disdain being made man Himself.
In your womb was rekindled the love,
the warmth of eternal peace, and thus is
sprouted this flower, the Celestial Rose.
For us in heaven your charity blazes
like the noon sun, while among mortals
you are the bubbling fountain of Hope.
Lady, at once so great and so precious,
whoever desires grace but lacks your intercession,
would send that desire aloft as if without wings.
Not only does your kindness succor all that ask,
but you often answer petitions
even before they have been requested.
In you is all mercy, in you is all pity,
in you is all majesty, in you is united
everything of goodness in living creation.