O Mary, star of the sea,
unmatched in piety,
look on us with kindness
and deem us worthy;
and hasten to pity us,
shipwrecked forever.
In this vale of tears
nothing is sweet, nothing dear—
nothing can be trusted.
What is safe for us here,
where neither triumph itself
nor great achievements are secure?
Our flesh is our adversary,
the world of flesh supports
our very destruction;
the vicious enemy invades us,
now showing himself openly,
now hiding his fury.
We sin, and we are punished,
and are trapped by the many
snares of the hunters.
O Mary, mother of God,
after God the highest hope,
you sweet refuge,
so often and so well are we trapped
that we cannot prevail
neither by our strength nor our labor:
consoler of the wretched,
reviver of the dead,
destroy the traps of death!
As we raise our praises to you,
heed us and hear us,
free us from death;
you who are first after Christ in majesty,
include us among
the co-heirs of Christ.
Kind and gentle Jesus
whose name is illustrious,
sweet bearer of redempton,
give us the gift of salvation
and the fullness of your reward
in spite of our failures.
Father, son, consoling spirit,
one God, one giver
of the many forms of grace:
merely by a merciful nod
make us afterward to rejoice
in the hope of the one trinity. Amen.
Translation: Susan Hellauer