Roses O Roses

Roses O Roses ―A Rosary Song

A garland of roses, I give unto thee,
Roses O roses, my Rosary...
A garland of roses, petals of prayer,
Roses O roses, to thee do I bear.

O Mary my mother, I am thine
These roses they grow in this garden of mine;
They root in the Gospel, the word of Our Lord,
The life and the death of Jesus adored.

My fingers they move, my fingers they tarry
Upon these beads, O Holy Mary;
I think of thee and of thy Son,
Of what He's wrought and what He's done.                                 Anna Elizabeth Riedell

A garland of roses, I give unto thee,
Roses O roses, my Rosary...
A garland of roses, petals of prayer,
Roses O roses, to thee do I bear.

I think of the nails, the thorns He wore,
The scourge, the flails, the flesh that tore;
I think of the Cross, the Redemptive tree,
And thy Fruit there placed in agony!

One ruby of Blood would have sufficed,
But more He shed, thy Jesus Christ!
On myst'ries more than sorrows I dwell,
I think of the joys and glories as well:

Such as a star, the night He was born,
Wise men from afar and Easter morn;
O tongues of fire, and ascending in air;
And the honor He gave a mother so rare!

In the roses together I may twine,
My life and my thought with things divine;
Value with feeling suff'rings gone through
And the God-given grace that did ensue.

A garland of roses, I give unto thee,
Roses O roses, my Rosary...                                     Erin Riedell. Like her cousin Anna, she liked to put
A garland of roses, petals of prayer,                          Rosaries around her neck. She saw them hanging
Roses O roses, to thee do I bear.                             in her grandparents' home and would ask for them.
                                                                                                           The girls are seven years and a day apart, Anna
                                                                                                           being the younger.
Mother, O mother, mother so rare,
These roses I offer, these roses I bear

Roses O roses, to thee do I bear... ―John Riedell

Properly understood, the Rosary is called a Gospel prayer, and of course is understood by God in any language. Although she speaks English, an older Erin Riedell of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has participated in the Rosary in Spanish while travelling with relatives in Mexico and at the home of her Great Aunt Teresita Gonzalez in Orange Walk Town, Belize. She is shown here reading petitions at a Mass in Belize. Holding the microphone is Sr. Margaret, a friend of the Gonzalez family.

Return to Home Page