Searching for song with words "Mary, my mother, my queen, my love"
Lillian wrote:
I am looking for lyrics and music for a song with the words "Mary my mother my queen my love". It was written by a brother or Jesuit from Rochester, NY, who was a guest at our church many years ago. He wrote and sang this song and I fell in love with it right away. I wish I could remember the exact title.
Can you help Lillian identify the song? I asked her if this is the song but she said it is not:
My Queen, My Mother (Consecration to Mary)
Please comment here or send an email to info@topcatholicsongs.com
Edit 1: We have located the composer of the song. Fr. Warren (Barry) Smithbower was a Capuchin Franciscan with the Province of St. Mary. He passed away in 2005. Now we need to contact the Capuchin Franciscan order (Province of St. Mary, Northeast United States) to see if they have an archive of the songs Fr. Warren wrote and sang.
Warren (Barry) Smithbower was born on 06 August 1916 and died on 16 February 2005 at the age of 88 in Ringwood, New Jersey.
A gregarious man, our friar could do anything well that could be spoken or sung. His powerfully resonant voice was his trademark and made him one of the most renowned preachers in the province. All this happened in spite of his weak eyesight, which became a case of ‘tunnel vision’ that grew worse with each successive year until his condition reached total blindness. Warren was born in Hamilton, Ontario, but moved to Buffalo NY after graduating from Cathedral High School. Before entering the Order in 1938, he managed a restaurant for two years while attending Canisius College to study Greek and Latin. Ordained in 1945, his first assignment was at the minor seminary in Garrison NY, where among other subjects he taught speech and debate.
His preaching ministry was begun in earnest out of Sacred Heart, Yonkers NY from 1948 to 1955 with retreats, parish missions, conferences and other forms of spiritual discourse. He was in great demand and his preaching continued even when he became lector of homiletics at the house of theology. His failing eyesight demanded a change of responsibility, so for six years he served as spiritual director at the minor seminary, and then six more in charge of the newly-ordained priests in what was known as their ‘fifth year’ of study. His preaching resumed when he adjusted to a total loss of vision. At Mary Immaculate Friary in Garrison on familiar terrain, he was driven by car to his assignments, or placed on a train or bus. To keep up on new spiritual books, he would ask others to read them to him, and in preaching at a new place would be led through the sanctuary or hall area ahead of time to become familiar with the location of chairs, lecterns and microphones. His determined sense of independence and zeal for God’s word was an inspiration. He would join the other friars at prayer in the morning and evening, and in his turn even celebrated the community Mass. Any friar who greeted him with just a few words was easily recognized by his voice.
Through it all he maintained his remarkable sense of humor. His hearty laugh could be heard from the friars’ recreation room when he and others joined in a game of cribbage. A special set of cards was required and his companions had to call out each play. Nothing stopped him until a stroke led to total debilitation and constant care in several nursing homes. Shortly before his illness, he was publically honored by the province for twenty-five consecutive years of offering the annual retreat to each novitiate class. During his ten years in nursing homes, this prayerful friar practiced faithfully what he had so often preached, maintaining a cheerful disposition throughout his sufferings and cooperating in his care with holy patience.
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Mary My Mother
- by Fr. Warren Smithbower
(refrain)
Mary, my Mother, my queen, my love
Mary, my Mother, the mother of God.
Keep me close to Your Son above,
Mary, my Mother, my queen, my love.
Jesus told me, you were a queen,
When at the wedding in Cana, Galilee.
He took your word from His Father above
And changed the water to the wine of love. (refrain)
In Nazareth town, He when young
Called you mother in Aramaic tongue
On Calvary's height, He saw you there
And gave us all into your care. (refrain)
God so loved the world, He gave His Son
You, His mother, were not outdone.
You gave Him too, that we might live
Now teach us how, in love, to give. (refrain)
Mary, my Mother, my queen, my love
Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com
Mary, My Mother
"Mary, My Mother" was written by my Uncle Barry, Father Warren Smithbower. It was a dedication to his Mother, Lucinda Barry. We sang it at her funeral.
Cheers,
Theresa Moorcroft
Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com