Ma

“ Every girl made into one Is Ma. Sweetest girl to look upon Is Ma. Seen 'em short and seen 'em tall, Seen 'em big and seen 'em small, But the finest one of all Is Ma. Best of all the girls on earth Is Ma. ”

“ From time to time a wonderful bird came and sang there. Its feathers were of a golden hue, and its tail as long as its body. Its notes were like the tinkling of jade, very plaintive and touching to listen to. When Ma heard this bird sing, it called up in him recollections of his old home, and accordingly he said to the princess, “I have now been away from my own country for three years, separated from my father and mother. Thinking of them my tears flow and the perspiration runs down my back. Can you return with me?” His wife replied, “The way of immortals is not that of men. ”

“ FATHER and Mother have both given us their full permission. We had expected storms, thunder-claps, and lightning flashes. I cannot yet fully realize it. I had hoped that Father would consent, but I had not dared to dream that Mamma would stand by him. We have never been estranged from one another but things are clearer now between Mamma and us, this has brought us nearer together. ”

“ Ma learns to ride a bicycle and goes pioneering; the Government makes her a Judge again and she rules the people; stories of the Court, and of her last visit to Scotland with a black boy as maid-of-all-work; and something about a beautiful dream which she dreamed when she returned, and a cow and a yellow cat.
Ma settled at Itu in a little mud hut, with a table and chair and a few pots and pans. ”

“ We hail thee, beauteous moon, O Mary most holy, who didst shed light upon a world wrapped in the densest darkness of sin. Humbly prostrate at thy feet, we give thee our homage, and with all our hearts we pray thee to vouchsafe in thy goodness to be born again in spirit in our souls, that led captive by thy loveliness and sweetness they may ever live united to thy most sweet and loving heart. ”

“ The people were rising out of the sleep of centuries, everywhere they were eager to learn, everywhere they cried for teachers and missionaries.
"Oh," cried Ma, "if only I could do more, if only I were young again! If only the Church at home would send out scores of men and women. ”

“ Stealing a glance Ma saw that the princess was endowed with a fairy-like loveliness. When the ceremony was over she retired, and by-and-by the wine-party broke up. Then came several beautifully-dressed waiting-maids, who with painted candles escorted Ma within. The bridal couch was made of coral adorned with eight kinds of precious stones, and the curtains were thickly hung with pearls as big as acorns. Next day at dawn a crowd of young slave-girls trooped into the room to offer their services; whereupon Ma got up and went off to Court to pay his respects to the king. ”

“ I BLESS thee, and I praise and glorify thee, O Virgin Mary, holy Mother of God, for all the good gifts abundantly bestowed upon thee by God; for thy virtues without number; and for the very great privileges of grace, by which thou wast so remarkably distinguished above all the Saints upon earth, in being thought worthy to become the Mother of God, to hold in thy lap, to clasp in thy blessed arms, to lift and to carry about, the Word of God, Who of thy substance had taken Flesh. ”

“ Ma replied that he wasn’t engaged, to which the young lady answered that in a few days a go-between would visit him to arrange the affair. “And what will she be like?” asked Ma. “Why, as your aspirations are for ‘surpassing’ beauty,” replied the young lady, “of course she will be possessed of surpassing beauty.” “I hardly expect that,” said Ma; “at any rate three ounces of silver will not be enough to get a wife.” “Marriages,” explained the young lady, “are made in the moon; [354] mortals have nothing to do with them.” ”

“ Come back here, Maha; sing me the rest of your song.”
Maha obeyed at once, resumed her place at Io’s feet, and with an occasional glance at the picture beside her, went on in the same chanting tone:—
“Father God said, ‘My son and daughter, your Father will make and give you a garden. In the garden are seven different kinds of trees bearing seven different kinds of fruit; among the seven one is not good to eat. Eat not of its fruit; if you eat you will become old and will die: eat not. All I have created I give to you. Eat and drink with care. ”

“ Meta sobbed on. “I want mamma! I want mamma, who talked to me and nursed me. Mamma loved us.”
“Yes, she loved us,” he said, his heart wrung with the recollection of the past: “we shall never find any one else to love us as she loved. Meta, child, listen! Mamma lives still; she is looking down from heaven now, and sees and hears us; she loves us, and will love us for ever. ”

“ Instead of a Mame Dugan to fly from the voracity of man and raise violets, she seemed to be a Mame more in line as God intended her, approachable, and suited to bask in the light of the Brazilians and the Kindler. ”

“ Ma asked: "Did not a man with two pails of water on his shoulder just go in!"
The servant said there had not, but before he had finished speaking a maid came from the house and said: "You need not go to buy incense, for I have found some. And, through the favor of heaven, the child has already come to us." Then Ma began to realize that the water-carrier had returned to be born again into the life of earth, and not to exact retribution. He wondered, though, for what merit of his the former water-carrier happened to be re-born into so wealthy a family. ”

“ Oh most holy Virgin Mary! oh queen of angels! how complete and perfect heaven has created thee! Oh, that I might appear in the eyes of God, as thou dost appear to me! Thou art so beautiful and lovely, that with thy beauty thou dost ravish hearts. When thou dost appear, every thing appears deformed, every beauty is eclipsed, every grace disappears, precisely as the stars disappear at the rising of the sun. ”

“ Mae, as though understanding the silent cry, placed both arms about my neck, looked tenderly into my eyes, and whispered:
"You, too, dearest, will see him soon. He never delays when the time is ripe for his coming. ”

“ At this he sprang to his feet, barking joyously, and gambolled and frolicked before us the rest of the way home, then lay down upon the doorstep, with an upward glance and a wag of his bushy tail, as though to say, "See how I take you at your word!"
"He understands every word we say," said Mae.
"Of course he does; he only lacks speech to make him perfect. ”

“ What relief do I feel in my miseries, and what consolation in my tribulation; what strength do I not find in the midst of temptations, when I remember and call thee, O my Mother, to my aid? O my most sweet and most holy Mother Mary, my own Mother, do thou console me! I see myself loaded with sins and surrounded by enemies, without virtue, and cold in my love towards God. Comfort me, and let me begin a new life, a life which will be pleasing to thy Son and to thee. ”

“ And Mab, his merry Queen, by night
Bestrides young folks that lie upright,
(In elder times the mare that hight) ,
Which plagues them out of measure.
Hence shadows, seeming idle shapes,
Of little frisking elves and apes
To earth do make their wanton scapes,
As hope of pastime hastes them ”

“ But when the flowers were gathered and she and Mae emerged from the secret woods into the lonely twilight that sense of separation returned. Was she actually plainer than Mae, or was it her pride and sense of right that hid from men the inner beauty she possessed? How unseeing men were, and how brazen seemingly delicate Mae who did not hesitate to show her love to Charles. It had been sickening to witness his physical eagerness. Filthy sniffing animals.
I'm glad I said they were for poor Aunt Mabel too. It must be awful to be an old maid. ”

“ Truly worthy then of our veneration is this great mother of God, for God himself could not make her greater than he has done, by making her his mother. Oh, mother of God, and my mother, Mary, I adore thee, and would wish thee to be adored by all hearts, as that exalted Lady thou art. Have mercy on a poor sinner, who loves thee and trusts in thee. Virgin most venerable, pray for us: “Virgo veneranda, ora pro nobis.” ”

“ O most pure Virgin, conceived without sin, and from that very first instant entirely beautiful and without spot, O glorious Mary, full of grace, and Mother of my God, Queen of angels and of men, I humbly worship thee as Mother of my Saviour. Inasmuch as God has taught me by the esteem He has for thee, and by His respect and submission towards thee, what honors and homage I ought to render thee, deign, I beseech thee, to accept this novena which I consecrate to thee. ”

“ She said: "Mama, every one has a gold crown on its head, and they are all dressed in white." I thought that Jesus was coming for her then. After telling me that there were none that she knew she sank back on the pillows exhausted. But in a few moments she raised up again and said: "Oh, Mama, hear that music! Did you ever hear such grand music? Now, do not shut the windows tonight, will you?" ”

“ He responded to my caresses with every expression of delight, and Mae laughed aloud at our mutual joy.
"I have often wondered if I should not some day find him here. He surely deserves a happy life for his faithfulness and devotion in the other life. His intelligence and his fidelity were far above those of many human beings whom we count immortal."
"Hark! 'tis the voice of angels "Hark! 'tis the voice of angels
Born in a song to me,
Over the fields of glory,
Over the jasper sea!" ”

“ Let us look at our lives, and see if we, like Mary, are ever ready to do God's will; ever looking at Our Lord crucified, and willing to bear all the disappointments, trials, and sorrows that He may send us. Let us look at our immaculate Mother, standing patient and resigned at the foot of the cross, looking on the sufferings of her dearly beloved Son, and we will never murmur—no matter how heavy the cross which our good God in His divine providence may place upon our shoulders. ”

“ Ma is also a constructive particle not only in Sunda but in most of the Polynesian languages, and is an inseparable prefix giving a verbale power to a substantive or idiomatic expression, as Mabur, to run away, from Bur, which see.
Ma-akham, burying ground, a place of interment for human beings; a cemetery. Ma-kam, arabic, place, situation. Makamkĕn in Malay, to bury, to inter. (Arab. مَقَامٌ Maqâm remaining at a place; a place) .
Ma-ap, arabic, absolved, pardoned, excused. The word is in common use for asking pardon, or begging excuse in occurrences of every day life. Pardon me; Excuse it. ”

“ We do see the crowns, and we do hear the angelic harps, when and as God wills it, but our best worship is to do his blessed will," said Mae as we turned to go.
"You are wise in the lore of heaven, my child," I answered; "how happy I am to learn from one so dear! Tell me all about your life here."
So as we walked she told me the history of her years in heaven her duties, her joys, her friends, her home—with all the old-time freedom. I found her home was distant from our own—far beyond the spires of the great city across the lake—but she added:
"What is distance in heaven? ”

“ Thou, then, art our mother. Ah, most sweet mother! most amiable mother! thy altars are surrounded by many people who ask of thee, one to be healed of some malady, another to be relieved in his necessities, one prays thee for a good harvest, and another success in some litigation. We ask of thee graces more pleasing to thy heart. Obtain for us that we may be humble, detached from earth, resigned to the divine will. Obtain for us the holy love of God, a good death, and paradise. Oh Lady, change us from sinners to saints. ”

“ But that autumn the serpent got into Meg's paradise, and tempted her like many a modern Eve, not with apples, but with dress. ”

“ MON. Is there marjoram also in the urn, the cyperus with oil of myrrh?
MA. There is in it every fragrant herb and pleasant odour.
MON. Does the urn, beautifully decked, wear a green crown?
MA. As is fitting and right, it wears a laurel-wreath.
MON. What is the reason?
MA. It contains the rejoicing Muses, who celebrate with song the rites of the tender maiden.
MON. Do they sing alone?
MA. Alone? No. Phœbus Apollo in the centre tunes his lyre and performs the mystic rites. ”

“ MARIA One-hundredth part of the land, and a lease for life of the heart of a man I could love, would satisfy me.
VAN ROUGH Pho, pho, pho! child; nonsense, downright nonsense, child. This comes of your reading your storybooks; your Charles Grandisons, your Sentimental Journals, and your Robinson Crusoes, and such other trumpery. No, no, no! child; it is money makes the mare go; keep your eye upon the main chance, Mary.
MARIA Marriage, Sir, is, indeed, a very serious affair. ”

“ Ma and the Ouija Board
I don't know what it's all about, but Ma says that she wants to know
If spirits in the other world can really talk to us below.
An' Pa says, "Gosh! there's folks enough on earth to talk to, I should
think,
Without you pesterin' the folks whose souls have gone across the brink." ”

“ O Mary, great Mother of Our God, and merciful intercessor for us poor sinners! we throw ourselves humbly at thy feet, and we beg thee by the sacred blood of Thy divine Son, which He has shed for us, and by the prayers of St. Catharine of Bologna, that thou wilt infuse into our hearts the true spirit of devotion in this little exercise and give us the grace to imitate the virtues of that saint, under whose protection we say this prayer. Think not of our unworthiness and our ingratitude, but let us feel the depth of thy great love for us ”

“ O God, our refuge and our strength! Look down with favor upon Thy people crying to Thee; and through the intercession of the glorious and immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of her spouse, blessed Joseph, of thy holy apostles Peter and Paul, and all Thy saints, mercifully and graciously hear the prayers which we pour forth to Thee for the conversion of sinners and for the liberty and exaltation of holy mother Church. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
St. Michael the archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. ”