To Mother Huberta.
Reading edition
As repeated in chorus on the anniversary of her Names-day by the Sisters of St. Hubert at St. Anthony's Hospital, Denver, Col., Oct. 29, 1900.
Mother, our greetings be to thee, On the glad anniversary Of this, thy festive day; Thy daughters, daughters not of earth, But bound by cords of Heavenly birth, Their love and greetings pay. We thank thee, Mother, for thy care, Thy watchfulness, and fervent prayer; And if 'tis Heaven's will, May many a returning year And namesday find our Mother here, Constant and watchful still. Blest be that autumn brown and sere! Bless-ed the day and blest the year, Of his[C] nativity! Blest be the hospitals, which rise, Resultant of thy enterprise, Thy zeal and fervency. Blest be that hunter[D] saint of thine! Bless-ed the deer, and blest the sign Between its antlers broad! To us, thy daughters, is it given To bless thee, in the name of Heaven, And blessing thee, bless God.
FOOTNOTES:
[C]
St. Hubert.
[D]
St. Hubert, the apostle of Ardennes, a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, the patron of huntsmen. He was of a noble family of Acquitaine. While hunting in the forests of Ardennes he had a vision of a stag with a shining crucifix between its antlers, and heard a warning voice. He was converted, entered the church, and eventually became Bishop of Maestricht and Liege. He worked many miracles, and is said to have died in 727 or 729. Spofford's Cyclopædia, Vol. 4, page 470.