Sequence 38. St. Genevieve

January 3RD.
GENEVIEVE a holy mirth
Brings forth upon her holy day ;
Then let the chastened heart break forth,
The sacrifice of praise to pay !

Blest was that infant's birth of yore,
As Bishop Germain witness bore.

And what in spirit he foreknew
The issue of events proves true.

Upon the virgin's bosom laid,
To mark her spotless chastity,
A medal, that of bronze was made.

Stamped with a cross suspendeth he.
Genevieve he then endows
With gifts that heaven-sent power can boast,
And consecrates through Christian vows 1 5
A temple for the Holy Ghost.

23a S. GENOVEFA.
Insontem manu feriens,
Mater privatur lumine ;
Matri virgo compatiens
Lucis dat usum pristinse. zo
Genovefa magnanimis
Carnem frangit jejunio,
Terramque rigans lacrymis,
Jugi gaudet martyrio.

Coelesti duce prsevio,
For striking at the guileless maid
Her mother's eyes lose all their light \
The virgin, for her mother sad,
Restores to them their former sight.

Genevieve, the great-souled, wears
Her fleshly frame by fasts away,
And joys, bedewing earth with tears,
In martyrdom from day to day.

'Neath angel guidance she surveys
The heavens above and hell below ;
And saves, so fervently she prays.

The people from a barbarous foe.
Long doth she with unearthly power
Some workmen's thirst alleviate ;
And at a mother's tears restore
Her only son, struck down by fate.

At the pure maiden's earliest prayer
Trembles and quakes all Satan's race ;
While rest and peace demoniacs share,
The sickly hope, the guilty grace.

Some waxen tapers in her hand
With heaven-sent flame are made to burn ;
Its waters too at her command
Back to a river's bed return.

She by her merits, — living still
When dead, — cools down "the Ardents' " fire,
Who in herself before could quell
The flames within of hot desire.

Disease, death, powers of the air,
And elements, all own her sway ;
So Genevieve by force of prayer
Makes Nature's laws her will obey.

In very babes Christ's power alone
Works mighty deeds effectually :
To Christ for such great wonders done
All praise and endless glory be ! Amen.