I was born 16 years after my sister. There are no other siblings inbetween us so you can probably guess how much of a surprise I was for my parents. God blessed me with beautiful parents...but being born so late in their lives meant that I never knew any of my grandparents. I remember asking my mom if she missed her mom since she died so long before I was born. I can almost hear her saying to me, "I will always miss my ma and I still love her so very much, but time dulls the edge of the sorrow...and I know that I will see her again someday."
Today at Church we sang two songs that were sung at my parents' funeral Masses. 'How Great Thou Art' was sung at my father's Mass. I was caught of guard a bit because it isn't a hymn that you hear very often at Mass. But then the closing song...oh my, the thoughts of my dear mom came flooding back to me...'Holy God We Praise Thy Name'. This was the song I chose to be sung at mom's funeral as she was taken out of the Church for the last time. I remember so clearly following her casket down the very long aisle of St. Jerome's Church in my home town. I chose the song because mom used to keep a song book open to that song on our old piano after my dad died. I asked her why she always had the book open to that hymn. She said that as a young girl, she lost my grandma at 14 yrs old. Her whole life was thrown into a horrible, terrifying spin. She was displaced out of her home and had to live as a maid and nanny. She turned to Christ and the Blessed Mother for strength to help her through that hard time. She spent a lot of time in Church because she felt 'at home' there. :) One day, while walking into the Church, she heard the last line "Infinite thy vast domain, everlasting is thy reign." She thought that at that time, that group of words was the most beautiful, most comforting words she had ever heard. I remembered that and thought that she would have loved to have that hymn as her last one while here.
I love you mom.
The words are beautiful...and comforting. Thank you God, for giving me such beautiful, faithfilled parents. I miss them so much, but I let the words of this hymn comfort me too. Read them slowly, and thank God if you still have a mom and a dad to talk and listen to on the telephone. Call them up tonight and just ask how they are doing. Pray for them.
Jesus, I trust in You!
Holy God, We Praise Thy Name
Holy God, we praise they name; Lord of all, we bow before thee!
All on earth thy scepter claim, All in heav'n above adore thee;
Infinite, thy vast domain,
Everlasting is thy reign.
Infinite, thy vast domain,
Everlasting is thy reign.
Hark! the loud celestial hymn Angel choirs above are
raising; Cherubim and Seraphim, In unceasing chorus praising;
Fill the heav'ns with
sweet accord: "Holy, holy, holy Lord!"
Fill the heav'ns with
sweet accord: "Holy, holy, holy Lord!"
Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit, Three we name thee; While in
essence only One, Undivided God we claim thee;
And adoring, bend
the knee, while we own the mystery.
And adoring, bend
the knee, while we own the mystery.I want to give proper credit for the words written here. It's written in German but I believe it was written by Grosser Gott in the 1800's.
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