Spiritual songs > Hymns to the Mother of God

Immaculate Mary (The Lourdes Hymn)

Boh predvicnyj

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Both this hymn and a Slavonic version, Likuj Presvjataja, are local versions of French hymn written in 1873 in honor of the appearance of Mary to a young woman, Bernadette Soubirous, in Lourdes, France in 1858.

The title, "Immaculate Mary", is sometimes seen as controversial in our church, since it is closely connected with Latin theology which in some ways runs counter to traditional Byzantine explanations of our faith. But the fact of Mary's sinlessness, and her intercessory role for the faithful, are held by all Christians, East and West. So while the singing of this hymn may be considered a (slight) Latinizaton, the hymn itself is well-loved, and of the various English verses, we have chosen the ones most in keeping with our own tradition.

This hymn was edited as part of the Hymnal Project of the Metropolitan Cantor Institute. See this blog entry.

Sources

Verses 1 and 2 are by an known translator.

Verse 3 was printed in the Hymns section of Monsignor Levkulic's The Divine Liturgy, a Book of Prayer (1978).