Great Mother

“ Strange but beautiful is the strength of maternal affection. This object to all others so hideous—that for earth to hide his deformity, for death to close upon his afflictions, seems a boon to be prayed for, a mercy to be acknowledged with thankfulness—in the eyes of his mother is one of hope and of interest as great as the most perfect. ”

“ Picture a sleeping babe and its mother for sale at auction! To you, gentle mothers of darling babes, I am now addressing my simple words. If the heart of man should be cast of iron, or carved out of granite, a loving mother’s heart is soft, like pure melted wax, and always susceptible to every impression of goodness and of compassion. She alone can tell how great is the pain to see her darling babe suffer. She alone can understand the sufferings of other unfortunate mothers. ”

“ All my days and surroundings were coloured by this gentle, dark-eyed mother of exquisite loveliness and delicate refinement, whose only failing was too great a devotion to her husband and boy. I was an only surviving child, and for that reason doubly precious to my parents. A little daughter had first been born to them; a child, I have heard, the very counterpart of her mother—frail, delicate, and too good for earth; her soul too pure and her face too fair. At the age of three, when she was budding into loveliest rose-blossom, she went back to the angels. ”

“ I will go back to the great sweet mother,
Mother and lover of men, the sea.
I will go down to her, I and none other,
Close with her, kiss her and mix her with me;
Cling to her, strive with her, hold her fast:
O fair white mother, in days long past
Born without sister, born without brother,
Set free my soul as thy soul is free. ”

“ My earliest recollections were of my old black mammy, who used to croon to me, in a voice that was always soothing. I was taught to believe that the world was at my command; a mother’s care I never knew, for my advent into this world cost her her life. Ah, sir, I have often longed for a real mother, one to whom I could go and tell all my little secrets, one who could feel the love for me which my nature seems to crave.
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“My father was a most indulgent parent, but I fear that in his great goodness he failed to conceive the emotions of a girl’s heart. ”

“ Blessed by special graces received in the sacrament of matrimony, motherhood goes forward as the great stabilizing and refining force of the human race. And the virtues of the true mother, whose ideal is ever the Blessed Mother, have contributed all throughout the centuries in Christian lands to the culture of succeeding generations. The true mother always basks in the reflected glory of the Mother of God—stabat juxta crucem—and with her true mother's love brings comfort and solace to her erring children because of her mercy and tenderness of heart. ”

“ There was never a great man who had not a great mother—it is hardly an exaggeration. ”

“ The children of the Flat, long housed in close, cramped quarters, were hilarious at sight of the brown Mother Earth; and this great-hearted Mother to whom they turned instinctively never fails and never disappoints, but remains always heart to heart with the best in human nature. ”

“ Notwithstanding the efforts which during numberless ages were made to dethrone the female principle in the god-idea, the Great Mother, under some one of her various appellations, continued, down to a late period in the history of the human race, to claim the homage and adoration of a large portion of the inhabitants of the globe. ”

“ The ordinary idea is rather the more exalted; for that always, in a sense, makes the mother superior to the son. The proverb that great mothers conceive great sons has really more poetry in it than the Roman Catholic doctrine that Mary was the Mother of God. ”

“ I find everywhere the great men of the world paying loving tribute to these mothers, and after all there is only one real perfect, true and faultless mother in all the world and that is our own mother, whether she be gone before or whether she be still with us. ”

“ If they climb to the height of honor and fame, They should whisper, in credit, the dear mother name. Her love inspires all that is noble and good, And Purity reigneth o’er sweet mother-hood. Tho’ the great word applaud, the praise of another Is nothing compared with the praises of mother. The earth home is dreary, when she is away, Her presence adds sunshine to each changing day, And Heaven, in it’s glory, will be the more fair, When the spirit of mother shall find entrance there.
[Pg 9]
HIDDEN TREASURES.
Beneath the waves of ocean blue, The precious pearls are lost from view ”

“ In the meantime, it is your duty and privilege to endeavour to take your sainted mother’s place. You might exercise a great influence over your brothers and your little sister—you might be a true mother to them. ”

“ The truth is, that all great men have had great mothers. Great women have had, as a rule, great fathers. ”

“ Mother was a woman of remarkable sweetness of 17 disposition and intelligence, and had great executive ability, which latter quality was indispensable in the mistress of a large household of children and servants. ”

“ Wesley. “The more duty you pay her,” he writes to his son Samuel, “and the more frequently and kindly you write to her, the more you will please your affectionate father.” His picture of a good wife is an ideal description of the blessed virgin; but there is reason to believe that the original from which it was drawn was the rector’s own wife.
A GOOD MOTHER. Who can over-estimate a woman’s worth in the relation of mother? The great Napoleon said: “A man is what his mother makes him.” ”

“ "If you knew how great is a mother's love," Wendy told them triumphantly, "you would have no fear." ”

“ Strangers to her have been kind to her; but her own father—Mr Frank, I am her nurse, and I love her, and I tend her, and I would do anything for her that I could. Her mother's heart beats as hers beats; and, if she suffers a pain, her mother trembles all over. If she is happy, it is her mother that smiles and is glad. If she is growing stronger, her mother is healthy: if she dwindles, her mother languishes. ”

“ "That is to run the better, my child."
"Grandmamma, what great ears you have got!"
"That is to hear the better, my child." ”

“ I have seen a young and beautiful mother, herself like a brilliant and graceful flower. Nothing could divide her from her infant. It was to her as a twin-soul. She had loved society, for there she had been as an idol. But what was the fleeting delight of adulation, to the deep love that took possession of her whole being? ”

“ In their pictures of Mary, the virgin mother, the beauty which melts and subdues the gazer is that of the soul and the affections, uniting the awe and mystery of that mother's miraculous allotment with the irrepressible love, the unutterable tenderness, of young maternity,—Heaven's crowning miracle with Nature's holiest and sweetest instinct. ”

“ Had she lived she would have brought the greatest blessings to the house it would have been her lot to enter, as wife, mother, and mistress of a household. She would have created round herself an atmosphere of peace and content which only those who can love unselfishly are able to evoke. Your mother--of far greater beauty, exceptionally distinguished in person, manner, and intellect--had a less easy disposition. Being more brilliantly gifted, she also expected more from life. ”

“ Then, with a natural and remorseful rush of love for one who had been as tender towards her as a mother since that mother commended her to his care, she put her arms around him and whispered, "I am not afraid, father. Mother and heaven may be nearer than we think." ”

“ This high-minded, glorious young couple, resplendent with promise of future excellence, and the noble mother, her handsome face expressing wisdom in every glance—at this moment lustrous with admiring love as she reads her daughter's innermost thoughts, its wonderful beauty unmarred by debasing cares, or cause for sad memories. They must be of noble blood. ”

“ If you fear and love Him, you will be rich enough. I entrust you to a heavenly Mother who will amply make up to you for my loss, for her power to serve you is far greater than mine. Love that dear Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary; be faithful to her; call on her as your Mother; turn to her in all your wants, reminding her that you are her child, and that she is bound to take care of your interests, and be sure that she will never forsake you. ”

“ The honour of motherhood lies in this, in the calling of her name in deep, sorrowful hours. Why do we not call upon our father—why just our mother? Because we feel from childhood, instinctively that Mother, means a world of love and devotion. ”

“ Half fearing lest the High and Holy One,
⁠Should deem her earth-born wayward thought too bold.
When, lo! she sees among the seraph bands
⁠Her angel child in spotless garment drest,
Who calls her “Mother,” stretching out his hands,
⁠And nestling like a bird upon her breast. ”

“ As every being emerges out of her womb clothed with form, she is the Mighty Mother, and as mother of all she is that divine compassion which exists beyond and is the final arbiter of the justice of the gods. ”

“ THE HISTORY OF MY MOTHER.
"I feel an oppression of the heart when I approach the facts I am now to record. The mother is to the man the personification of Providence; is the living earth to which the heart clings as roots to the soil. All who have written of their family, have spoken with tenderness of their mother. ”

“ These are the mothers, who, never having invited the confidence of those young hearts, live to see it bestowed anywhere and everywhere but in accordance with their wishes. Is it, can it be enough to a mother worthy the name, to be satisfied that her daughter's physical wants are cared for? What of that yearning, hungry soul, that is casting about, here and there, for something to satisfy its questionings? ”

“ All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my mother. ”

“ I sing, dear maid, and sing for thee!
ODE LXXI. With twenty chords my lyre is hung,
And while I wake them all for thee,
Thou, O maiden, wild and young,
Disportest in airy levity.
The nursling fawn, that in some shade
Its antlered mother leaves behind,
Is not more wantonly afraid,
More timid of the rustling wind!
ODE LXXII. Fare thee well, perfidious maid,
My soul, too long on earth delayed,
Delayed, perfidious girl, by thee,
Is on the wing for liberty.
I fly to seek a kindlier sphere,
Since thou hast ceased to love me here! ”

“ Now, since nature itself has made the name of mother the sweetest name and in her has established the pattern, as it were, of tender and provident love, our tongue can scarcely express, though pious souls can truly feel, the intense flame of benevolent and active love that burns in the heart of Mary—in her who has been given to us not by men, but by Christ, as our Mother. ”

“ Let us unite in doing all we can to make it a real Mothers' Day, by especially honoring our mothers; in the flesh, those of us who are so fortunate as to have our mothers with us; in the spirit, those who are not so fortunate.
If away from her, write a good, loving letter, or telephone or telegraph to the best mother who ever lived—your mother. ”

“ She is the Mother of so many virtues—of fair love, of knowledge, of good counsel, of holy hope, of divine grace—yes, and the Mother of Sorrows too; but here her children love to call her "Mother of mercy," of pity, for they are exiles, and it is she who can effect their ransom. Mercy—this is what they who say the Salve Regina need. They are poor, banished, weeping children, and they need the pity, the mercy, the sympathy of their Mother. How comes it that there is no sorrow with which the Heart of Mary cannot sympathise? ”

“ This heart-aching, these cares, this weakness,
Draw them off—they are harsh and heavy,
Dewy-handed Mother of mine!
Lave me in purity, lap me in freshness,
Mother mine!
Sing, now! Open my spirit’s portals
Wide; all the bustling thoughts lure outward,
Dulcet-breathing Mother of mine! ”

“ Sooner or later men and probably women learn that the only human tie that even death cannot dissolve, the one reliable chain that [pg 107] no treacherous weak link can impair—is that binding the mother's heart to her child. In desperately bitter trials mother-love is the strengthening angel that sustains, and when the world turned its back upon me, my blessed mother was my sole solace and defender. ”

“ Her good mother, becoming at once an object of political jealousy, removed herself from the old close companionship, though retaining in her heart the old tender solicitude—perhaps feeling herself more than ever necessary to her daughter. Mothers are so conceited. ”

“ And just before I write “good-by from father and the rest,”
I’ll say that “mother sends her love,” and that will please him best.
For when I went away from home, the weekly news I heard
Was nothing to the tenderness I found in that one word—
The sacred name of mother—why, even now as then,
The thought brings back the saintly face, the gracious love again;{85}
And in my bosom seems to come a peace that is divine,
As if an angel spirit communed a while with mine;
And one man’s heart is strengthened by the message from above,
And earth seems nearer heaven when “mother sends her love.” ”

“ A brave mother makes a braver daughter. Guard well your child, and honour her as she deserves to be honoured. A maid who will risk her life for her mother's protection is one to grow up the pride and glory of her house.—-Mistress Mary, I salute you. Farewell; I could almost wish that you had been born a boy, that I might have numbered you among my own picked soldiers! ”

“ While yet their eyes discern;
Why waste their fragrance on the dead
Who no fond smile return?
The heaving breast with sorrow aches,
Comfort the throbbing heart which breaks.
Mother.—Alpha and Omega.
Mother! Mother!
The startled cry of childish fright
Rang through the silence of the night,
As but the mother's fond caress
Could soothe its infantile distress;
And the mother answered, with loving stroke
Of her gentle hand, as she softly spoke:
"Hush, hush, my child, that troubled cry;
What evil can harm thee, with mother nigh?"
Mother! Mother! ”