Text and Translation
The following translation by Edward Caswall is not word-for-word. Instead it has been adapted so as to represent the meter (trochaic tetrameter), rhyme scheme, and sense of the original text.
Marian Prayers |
|
Alma Redemptoris Mater |
Stabat mater dolorosa Cuius animam gementem, O quam tristis et afflicta Quae moerebat et dolebat, Quis est homo qui non fleret, Quis non posset contristari Pro peccatis suae gentis Vidit suum dulcem Natum Eia, Mater, fons amoris Fac, ut ardeat cor meum Sancta Mater, istud agas, Tui Nati vulnerati, Fac me tecum pie flere, Juxta Crucem tecum stare, Virgo virginum praeclara, Fac, ut portem Christi mortem, Fac me plagis vulnerari, Flammis ne urar succensus, Christe, cum sit hinc exire, Quando corpus morietur, |
At the Cross her station keeping, Through her heart, His sorrow sharing, O how sad and sore distressed Christ above in torment hangs, Is there one who would not weep, Can the human heart refrain For the sins of His own nation, She beheld her tender Child, O thou Mother! fount of love! Make me feel as thou hast felt; Holy Mother! pierce me through, Let me share with thee His pain, Let me mingle tears with thee, By the Cross with thee to stay, Virgin of all virgins blest!, Let me, to my latest breath, Wounded with His every wound, Be to me, O Virgin, nigh, Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence, While my body here decays, Translation by Edward Caswall |
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