We sing Bring Flowers of the Fairest during May to crown Mary in our home. About ten years ago, I made a little crown from a wooden circle wrapped in white ribbon, with glued on paper flowers. Ever since, we’ve been welcoming May with a small ceremony that includes praying the Sub Tuum Praesidium, singing Bring Flowers of the Fairest, and putting the homemade crown on Mary. I look forward to this every year!
This devotional hymn was composed by Mary E. Walsh, and was first published in Wreath of Mary in 1871. She was a pupil of the Sisters of Nortre Dame, who compiled the Sunday School Hymn Book.
If you’d like to listen to a selection of Marian hymns, I made a Spotify playlist just for you!
Sheet Music and Audio
- Bring Flowers of the Fairest (Sheet music PDF) from Musica Sacra.
- Audio on Spotify
Lyrics
1. Bring flow’rs of the fairest,
Bring flow’rs of the rarest,
From garden and woodland
And hillside and vale;
Our full hearts are swelling,
Our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest
Rose of the vale.
O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May,
O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May.
2. Our voices ascending,
In harmony blending,
Oh! Thus may our hearts turn
Dear Mother, to thee;
Oh! Thus shall we prove thee
How truly we love thee,
How dark without Mary
Life’s journey would be.
O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May,
O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May.
3. O Virgin most tender,
Our homage we render,
Thy love and protection,
Sweet Mother, to win;
In danger defend us,
In sorrow befriend us,
And shield our hearts
From contagion and sin.
O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May,
O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May.
4. Of mothers the dearest,
Oh, wilt thou be nearest,
When life with temptation
Is darkly replete?
Forsake us, O never!
Our hearts be they ever
As Pure as the lilies
We lay at thy feet.
O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May,
O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May.
This was always my favorite May Crowning song.
Welcome to the St. Blog’s directory. I’d like to invite you to participate in Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival. We are a group of bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other. This week’s host post is at http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/2014/05/sunday-snippets-catholic-carnival_17.html
Thank you for the invitation, RAnn! I will think about it! I don’t post every week, so I’ll look and see if the carnival is right for me. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!