ASAINA BABAYE

Asaina babaye i guinaiya-mo / nu i yiniusan na kalaguak-mo.
(Lord open up your love / from your divine side.)

Guaiya yo' Jesus-ho ni tentago'-mo / ya u ta chasaga gi sanhalom-mo.
(Love me, Jesus, your servant / and let us stay together within you.)

På'go ha' ha sodda' i atadok-ho / ennao i minames na fanatok-ho.
(Only now have my eyes found / there the sweetness of my hiding place.)

Taichii gi tano' i chinatsaga / taihinekkok guennao i ginefsaga.
(Limitless on earth are troubles / endless over there is comfort.)

Ti siña yo' ñålang, ti siña yo' må'ho / sa' si Jesukristo gimen yan na'-ho.
(I cannot hunger, I cannot thirst / because Jesus Christ is my drink and food.)

Gi huisio-mo Saina håye u tacho / yagin un mahettok kalan i acho'.
(In your judgment Lord who can stand / if you become hard like rock.)

U ta hita guine sa' hamlango yo' / gaiase' nu guåho ya na' homlo' yo'.
(Let us be together here because I am sickly / have mercy on me and heal me.)

NOTES

Kalaguak. The word means either side of the upper torso below the collar bone, the left or right sides of the rib cage. When Jesus hung on the cross, a soldier named Longinus thrust a spear between the bones of the rib cage to see if Jesus were still alive. The spear pierced the heart of Jesus and out came blood and water. Jesus was already dead. This piercing of the side (of the heart) is symbolic. It shows how Jesus gave His entire self to mankind to the very last drop of blood and water from his heart. The Heart of Jesus is like an infinite storehouse of love for mankind. Because It was pierced open and can now be accessed, It becomes like a hiding place or a place of refuge for sinners. These idea run through the entire length of this hymn.

Fanatok-ho. Atok means "to hide." Fanatok means "hiding place." The Heart of Jesus is this hiding place, this place of safety for sinners.

Taihinekkok guennao i ginefsaga. In this world of trouble, in the Sacred Heart we find all comfort, spiritual and material resources and everything we need for life and happiness. Chat (defective) and gef (intensifier) added to såga (to stay, pointing to someone's status or condition) mean "poverty, trouble, suffering" or "wealth, ease, happy condition."

Gi huisio-mo. Huisio means "judgment." If the Lord had nothing but justice and no mercy; if He were hard like rock, we would surely be condemned. But because His Heart is merciful, we have hope of forgiveness.

Yagin. Older form of yanggen. Meaning "when, if."

Hamlango. Ha is a prefix that means "often" or "frequently." Hamaleffa means "forgetful." Hamalango means "sickly" and can be shortened to hamlango. We are sickly, not only in body, but also in soul.

ORIGINAL SPANISH HYMN

The Chamorro hymn borrowed the melody from a Spanish hymn composed by Father Nemesio Otaño, a Spanish Jesuit musician and composer of sacred songs.

Here is the original song, "Dueño de mi vida," or "Owner of my life." It, too, contains many of the same ideas or sentiments in the Chamorro version.

Fr. Nemesio Otaño, SJ

Composer

Påle' Román de Vera, OFM Cap

Probably wrote the Chamorro lyrics