"Dear is to me the holy Maid."
                       by Martin Luther, 1483-1546
                                      Text From:
                     THE HYMNS OF MARTIN LUTHER
        (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1883), p. 63



	1. Dear is to me the holy Maid,-
	I never can forget her;
	For glorious things of her are said;
	Than life I love her better:
	So dear and good,
	That if I should
	Afflicted be,
	It moves not me;
	For she my soul will ravish
	With constancy and love's pure fire,
	And with her bounty lavish
	Fulfil my heart's desire.

	2. She wears a crown of purest gold,
	Twelve shining stars attend her;
	Her raiment, glorious to behold,
	Surpasses far in splendor
	The sun at noon;
	Upon the moon
	She stands, the Bride
	Of him who died:
	Sore travail is upon her;
	She bringeth forth a noble Son
	Whom all the world doth honor;
	She bows before his throne.

	3. Thereat the Dragon raged, and stood
	With open mouth before her;
	But vain was his attempt, for God
	His buckler broad threw o'er her.
	Up to his throne
	He caught his Son,
	But left the foe
	To rage below.
	The mother, sore afflicted,
	Alone into the desert fled,
	There by her God protected,
	By her true Father fed.

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	Notes:
	Hymn XXX from "The Hymns of Martin Luther"
	Text: Revelation 12: 1-6
	Author: Martin Luther
	Translated by: Richard Massie
	Titled: Sie ist mir lieb', die werthe Magd
	Melody: in Babst, 1545
	Harmony: M. Praetorius, 1610
	1st Published in: Joseph Klug's Gesangsbuch, 1535?
	Town: Wittenberg, 1545
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        by Cindy A. Beesley and is in the public domain.  You may
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        comments or suggestions to: Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther
        Library at Concordia Theological Seminary.

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