Te gestientem gaudiis

The gladness of thy Motherhood

The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal

Te gestientem gaudiis,
Te sauciam doloribus,
Te jugi amictam gloria,
O Virgo Mater pangimus.
Ave, redundans gaudio
Dum concipis, dum visitas,
Et edis, offers, invenis,
Mater beata Filium,
Ave, dolens, et intimo,
In corde agonem, verbera,
Spinas crucemque Filii
Perpessa, princeps martyrum.
Ave, in triumphis Filii,
In ignibus Paraclyti,
In regni honore et lumine,
Regina fulgens gloria.
Venite gentes, carpite
Ex his rosas mysteriis,
Et pulchri amoris inclitæ
Matri coronas nectite.
Gloria tibi Domine
Qui natus es de Virgine,
Cum Patre et Sancto Spiritu
In sempiterna sæcula.

The gladness of thy Motherhood,
The anguish of thy suffering,
The glory now that crowns thy brow,
O Virgin-Mother, we would sing.
Hail, blessed Mother, full of joy
In thy consent, thy visit too;
Joy in the birth of Christ on earth,
Joy in Him lost and found anew.
Hail, sorrowing in His agony—
The blows, the thorns that pierced His brow;
The heavy wood, the shameful Rood—
Yea! Queen and chief of Martyrs thou.
Hail, in the triumph of thy Son,
The quickening flames of Pentecost;
Shining a Queen in light serene,
When all the world is tempest-tost.
O come, ye nations, roses bring,
Culled from these mysteries Divine,
And for the Mother of your King
With loving hands your chaplets twine.
We lay our homage at Thy feet,
Lord Jesus, Thou the Virgin’s Son,
With Father and with Paraclete,
Reigning while endless ages run.

Author: Father Augustine Ricchini, O.P., 18^th cent. Meter: Iambic dimeter. Translation by Abbot Hunter-Blair, O.S.B. There are five translations. Liturgical Use: Hymn for Second Vespers on the Feast of the Holy Rosary. Theme: 1st stanza, a summary of the three sets of Mysteries; 2nd stanza, a summary of the Joyful Mysteries; 3d stanza, the Sorrowful Mysteries; 4th stanza, the Glorious Mysteries; 5th stanza, an invitation to gather from these Mysteries roses and weave therefrom a crown for the glorious Mother of fair love.

“We sing thee, O Virgin Mother, as exulting with joy, wounded with sorrows, and robed with eternal glory.”
“Hail, Mother overflowing with joy, when thou didst conceive, when thou didst visit thy cousin Elizabeth, when thou didst give birth to thy Son, when thou didst offer Him, and find Him in the temple.”
“Hail, O suffering Queen of Martyrs, thou who didst endure in thy inmost heart the agony, the scourging, the thorns, and the Cross of thy Son.” Agon, onis, lit., a contest or combat. The reference is to the agony in the Garden of Gethsemani.
“Hail, O Queen refulgent with glory in the triumphs of thy Son, in the fires of the Paraclete, in the honor and splendor of the heavenly kingdom.”
“Come, O ye nations, cull roses from these Mysteries, and weave therefrom garlands for the glorious Mother of fair love.”