I asked my Lord to help me sing;
to help me celebrate.
So from my heart a poem sprang,
as roses bloom in summertime,
to God our Lord I sang.

It rose above, a song of praise,
a song of thanks resounded.
From North to South
from East to West,
all Oblates join in song
- we feel so blessed -
that full of joy we celebrate.

Allow me first, my story tell,
‘tis young and old my story,
with many, many names remembered,
of vocations discerned by one,
Father Louis Marie Parent,
an Oblate Missionary,
so dear to our hearts
our founding father is and was!

Canadian born, his was a strong vocation,
an Institute he founded,
where many souls would strive to seek,
a holy road of growth unique
- a Marian oblation -
a commitment to honor to the end.

With vows we pledge,
Mary intercedes,
for our Oblate consecration,
to spread the love which we receive
from all three Divine Persons,
whose Presence daily we perceive,
the Father’s Will we ought fulfil
through lives of service, lives of peace.

Christ’s charity our aim remains,
with loyal, saving help from Mary.
“Five Points” as attitudes we seek,
our secular charism to live;
we love and pray, we work and strive,
where God us plants in any land,
in any city or countryside.

Our aim? Allow our Lord on High,
to bless us all and sanctify our own
and many other’s lives,
as His Holy Will provides.
To be obedient, chaste, and poor,
within the world may we endure,
this legacy to live.

Day in, day out, trials surmount,
the Present Moment seek,
in such a way, we always may
in God’s hand our own keep.

And so may all of us unite
to Church triumphant up on High,
and join those who before us went
to never ending Life Divine.

May God and Mother Mary
keep us in this Mission while we live,
and in their loving mercy grant,
the day we’re called, each one may find
the doors of Heaven opened wide.

Lourdes López Chaves