NANÅ-HO SÅNTA MARIA

Chamorros have traditionally looked to Mary as a protective mother but also as a sorrowful mother who knows our pain (she lost her Son on the cross) and who can thus have the deepest sympathy for us. This song is an example of that Chamorro view of Mary.

1. Nanå-ho Sånta Maria nå'e yo' siningon-ho
(My Mother Mary, give me endurance)

sa' ti hu huhulat sumungon i piniten korason-ho.
(because I am not able to withstand the pain of my heart.)

2. I piniten korason-ho hågo nanå-ho mås tumungo'
(You, my mother, know more than anyone the pain of my heart)

ya an un sotta yo' na måtai, i piniti-ho yo' pumuno'.
(and if you leave me for dead, it is my pain that killed me.)

3. Ai ai puti, puti tåya' familiå-ña
(Oh it hurts, it hurts to have no family)

sa' ni håfa siña bai hu cho'gue pot todo i hu padedese.
(because there is nothing at all I can do about all that I suffer.)

4. Ha na' pinite yo' i mediko sa' ha po'lo yo' gi piti
(The doctor made me suffer because he put me in pain)

ya ni uno gi familia måtto para u fan bisita.
(and not one in the family came to visit.)

5. Singko åños na pinadese gi espitåt i commonwealth
(Five years of suffering in the commonwealth hospital)

ya ni uno gi familia måtto para u fan bisita.
(and not one in the family came to visit.)

6. Puti, puti i tåya' familiå-ña
(It hurts, it hurts to have no family)

sa' ni håfa siña bai hu cho'gue pot todo i hu padedese.
(because there is nothing I can do about all that I suffer.)

7. Hu padese todo klåsen puti, kon todo putin manhasso
(I suffered all kinds of pain, including pain of thought)

sa' hamyo ha' hu hahasso gi todo i manera.
(because I thought of you all alone in all ways.)

8. Ai ai puti, puti tåya' familiå-ña
(Oh it hurts, it hurts not to have a family)

sa' ni håfa siña bai hu cho'gue pot todo i hu padedese.
(because there is nothing at all I can do about all that I suffer.)