I covered this C19 hymn in a desultory fashion once before here, but since my home parish is now Star of the Sea, George Town, Tasmania, I really should do a bit more. We are near the Bell Bay port and many seafarers pass us by and have done so for many years, so here is a prayer for those wanderers.
John Lingard’s text was inspired by the chant Ave Maria Stella. It is set to STELLA by Henri Freidrich Hemy, a gentleman who failed to make his way in Australia in the 1850s and had to settle for a return to England and fame as a musician.
I’m sure this song has more YouTube clips than any other hymn – I have a selection below.
This hymnal has John de Luca’s arrangement, but alas this backing I made is still just my fake BIAB organ.
1 Hail, Queen of heav’n, the ocean star,
Guide of the wand’rer here below:
Thrown on life’s surge, we claim thy care
Save us from peril and from woe.
Mother of Christ, Star of the sea,
Pray for the wand’rer, pray for me.2 O gentle, chaste, and spotless maid,
We sinners make our prayers through thee;
Remind thy Son that He has paid
The price of our iniquity.
Virgin most pure, star of the sea,
Pray for the sinner, pray for me.3 Sojourners in this vale of tears,
To thee, blest advocate, we cry;
Pity our sorrows, calm our fears,
And sooth with hope our misery.
Refuge in grief, star of the sea,
Pray for the mourner, pray for me.4 And while to him who reign above,
In Godhead one, in Persons Three,
The source of life, of grace, of love,
Homage we pay on bended knee;
Do thou, bright Queen, star of the sea,
Pray for thy children, pray for me.
Goodness, this sheet music is in Eb – de Luca sensibly brought it down to C – thanks be to God.
