Our Morning Offering – 8 December – The Stars Retire, When First The Sun …

Our Morning Offering – 8 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary” and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

The Stars Retire, When First The Sun …
By Fr Frederick Oakeley (1802-1880)

1. The stars retire, when first the Sun
   His giant race essays to run;
   Those lamps that stud the arch of night
   Wax pale before the Fount of Light.
2. One only star nor fades nor sleeps.
   But still her twilight station keeps,
   With eye undimm’d and beams unshorn;
   The bright, the peerless Star of Morn.
3. When Christmas first reveals its light,
   The Church’s firmament is dight;
   Her stars still pave the wintry sky,
   A great and glorious galaxy;
4. Martyrs and Virgins, Pontiffs bold
   And Doctors with their words of gold;
   Then comes a void, as, one by one,
   The stars retreat before the Sun –
5. Save that Apostle, whom his Lord
   From chilling doubt to faith restor’d;
   Who now beside His Cradle pays
   No tardy vows, no faltering praise.
6. But Mary all the while is there,
   In hymn, or antiphon, or prayer;
   Shedding o’er every page and line
   A lustre, only not divine.
7. When Advent lessons first begin,
   We muse on Mary, clear of sin,
   And in the Virgin’s primal grace
   The promise of the Mother trace:
8. And meet it were and duteous, sure,
   That Mother should from stain be pure;
   Who did, by high prerogative,
   The Manhood to her Maker give.
9. For eight full days, with reverence due,
   We linger fondly o’er the view
   Of her, on whom the Father’s Eye
   Dwelt with intent complacency;
10. For, mirror’d in that glass, He saw,
    Undimm’d by cloud, unspoil’d by flaw
    (Albeit in creature’s meek estate),
    The Beauty of the Uncreate.
11. Years roll away—the Virgin pure
    Is stablished, lo, in grace secure;
    Girlhood’s soft bloom still gilds her brow,
    But matron honours crown it now.
12. ‘Mary in hope’—O Mother-Maid,
    What thoughts thy wondering heart pervade!
    But wait awhile and God will ope
    Visions, transcending e’en their scope.
13. Speed on, ye lagging moments, speed,
    Till joy fulfill’d to hope succeed
    And Mary’s patient faith have won
    God for our Saviour and her Son!

This is the original text of this Hymn from Fr Frederick Oakeley’s (1802-1880) Lyra Liturgica (1865) – English Convert, Hymnist, Writer, Translator. It is listed in that Hymnal under the heading “Stella Matutina.”
The content of the Hymn focuses on the Feasts falling during Advent and the role of the Blessed Virgin in the prayers throughout.
The Immaculate Conception is highlighted and so it is an appropriate Hymn for that Feast.
Our Image contains only those most focused on the Blessed Virgin and the Immaculate Conception verses 1,2,6-13.