Poems (Procter)/Ora pro Me

by Adelaide Anne Procter

ORA PRO ME.

VE MARIA! bright and pure, Hear, O hear me when I pray!Pains and pleasures try the pilgrim On his long and weary way;Fears and perils are around me,—     Ora pro me.

Mary, see my heart is burdened, Take, O take the weight away,Or help me, that I may not murmur If it is a cross you layOn my weak and trembling heart,—but     Ora pro me.

Mary, Mary, Queen of Heaven! Teach, O teach me to obey:Lead me on, though fierce temptations Stand and meet me in the way;When I fail and faint, my mother,     Ora pro me.

Then shall I—if thou, O Mary, Art my strong support and stay— Fear nor feel the threefold danger Standing forth in dread array;Now and ever shield and guard me,     Ora pro me.

When my eyes are slowly closing, And I fade from earth away,And when Death, the stern destroyer, Claims my body as his prey,—Claim my soul, and then, sweet Mary,     Ora pro me.