Hail Mary, Full Of Grace, Mother In Virginity

Words: English Traditional, Fifteenth Century
Source: Edith Rickert, Ancient English Christmas Carols: 1400-1700 (London: Chatto & Windus, 1914), p. 12.

Hail Mary, full of grace,
Mother in virginity.

1. The Holy Ghost is to thee sent
From the Father Omnipotent,
Now is God within thee went,
    The angel said "Ave."

2. When the angel ave began,
Flesh and blood together ran;
Mary bare both God and man,
    Through virtue and pure dignity.

3. So saith the gospel of Saint John:
God and man is made but one,
In flesh and blood, body and bone,
    One God in Persons Three.

4. And the Prophet Jeremy1
Told in his prophecy
That the Son of Mary
    Should die for us on the Rood-tree.

5. He to us much joy did grant
And of peace on earth no want,
Since the birth of this Infant
    In the land of Galilee.

6. Mary grant to us thy bliss
Where thy Son His dwelling is;
For what we have done amiss
    Pray for grace for charity. Amen.