Blessed Herman the Cripple, the Salve Regina and 40 Days for Life.

Each time we pray the Hail Mary, we need to remember that Blessed Herman the Cripple,  was the author of the Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen) we sing, or say, at the end of this prayer.

Blessed Herman the Cripple, monk 1013-1054, is living proof why we value each life. According to our new Saint, Mother Teresa, "Each one of them is Jesus in disguise" instead of the seeing any human as a burden on our "environment".

Archbishop Sample has a few churches sing the Salve at the end of mass in Latin.
                                                                     

Blessed Herman was born with a cleft palate, cerebral palsy, and spina bifida to a farm family. His parents cared for him until the age of seven, but in 1020 they gave him over to the abbey of Reichenau Island in Lake Constance, southern Germany; he spent the rest of his life there.

He became a Benedictine monk at age twenty. A genius, he studied and wrote on astronomy; theology; math; history; poetry; Arabic; Greek and Latin. He built musical instruments and astronomical equipment. In later life he became blind and had to give up his academic writing.

The most famous religious poet of his day, he is the author of the hymns: Salve Regina and Alma Redemptoris Mater.

Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiæ,

vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.

Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevæ,

Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes

in hac lacrimarum valle.
Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuo.
misericordes oculos ad nos converte;
Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.

O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, 

our life, our sweetness and our hope'

To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; 

to thee do we send up our sighs, 

mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. 

Turn then, most gracious advocate,

thine eyes of mercy toward us; 

and after this our exile, 

show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us O holy Mother of God,
R. that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 

Herman The Cripple
by
William Hart Hurlbut, M.D.

I am least among the low,
I am weak and I am slow;
I can neither walk nor stand,
Nor hold a spoon in my own hand.

Like a body bound in chain,
I am on a rack of pain,
But He is God who made me so,

that His mercy I should know.

Brothers do not weep for me!
Christ, the Lord, has set me free.
All my sorrows he will bless;
Pain is not unhappiness.

From my window I look down
To the streets of yonder town,
Where the people come and go,
Reap the harvest that they sow.

Like a field of wheat and tares,
Some are lost in worldly cares;
There are hearts as black as coal,
There are cripples of the soul.

Brothers do not weep for me!
In his mercy I am free.
I can neither sow nor spin,
Yet, I am fed and clothed in Him.

I have been the donkey’s tail,
Slower than a slug or snail;
You my brothers have been kind,
Never let me lag behind.

I have been most rich in friends,
You have been my feet and hands;
All the good that I could do,
I have done because of you.

Oh my brothers, can’t you see?
 You have been as Christ for me.
And in my need I know I, too,
Have become as Christ for you!

I have lived for forty years
In this wilderness of tears;
But these trials can’t compare
With the glory we will share.

I have had a voice to sing,
To rejoice in everything;
Now Love’s sweet eternal song
Breaks the darkness with the dawn.

Brother’s do not weep for me!
Christ, the Lord, has set me free.
Oh my friends, remember this:
Pain is not unhappiness.

This year we start 40 Days for Life two days after his feast day, September 26th and ends on November 6th, two days from the elections.  We believe each life has immeasurable value and we pray for leaders who see that value. 

Click on your area of Oregon for a 40 Days for Life near you.  This year there is a "mission".  This is for the Lovejoy Surgicenter to be closed down.

 Portland    Salem    Eugene   Klamath Falls

Blessed Herman is an inspiration to 40 Days for Life. Pray for us!