NINA'HUYONG YU'US TÅTA

 

This is a big favorite among many people. 

The nice melody has a lot to do with it, but the words are very meaningful and have a lot to say about who Mary is for us Catholics. I'll get to that later in this blog post. But first the audio :

And to share the way it is sung in Saipan, which is basically the same melody as Guam's but with some slight variations. The Saipan recording is special to me because this is the sound we all heard when we were kids; no organ, no piano. Just Chamorro women singing full throttle the hymns from memory :

LYRICS

1. Nina’huyong Yu’us Tåta, sinantusan i anti-mo, sen masåmai bula gråsia, tai isao i ha’ani-mo. Ennao mina’ man sineyo as Yu’us i taotao siha, ya ha ågang man sen magof ini na Abe Maria.

(O daughter of God the Father, your soul is holy, very beautiful, full of grace, your life is sinless. That is why the people were sealed by God, and they called out most joyfully this Ave Maria.)

2. Nånan Yu’us i Lahi-ña, iya hågo nai in li’e’ na gaige si Jesukristo i Yu’us i ginefli’e’. Hame nai in taitai på’go ayo na finiho siha na sinangan i Atkånghet as Gabriel: Abe Maria.

(Mother of God the Son, in you we see present Jesus Christ the God of love. We now pray those words spoken by the Archangel Gabriel : Ave Maria.) 

3. I Tetsero na petsona i Espiritu i Tata ha na’huyong iya hågo i patgon-mo ni Saina-ta. Ennao gue’ man ga’chong-måme i tres na Petsonas siha ya in sangan gi me’nå-mo ta’lo i Abe Maria.

(The Third Person the Spirit of the Father brought forth in you your child who is our Lord. Those are our companions, the Three Persons, and we say before you again the Ave Maria.)

MEANING OF THE HYMN

This hymn is about Mary in relation to the Three Persons in one God; the Most Holy Trinity.

Mary is DAUGHTER of God the Father. That is why, in the first verse, she is called Nina'huyong Yu'us Tåta. Nina'huyong means "creation." Mary is sinless and most holy, but she is not God. God is uncreated and existing from all eternity, without beginning or end. God created Mary, just as God created all of us. We are God's sons and daughters, and He is our Father.

Mary is MOTHER of God the Son, and so she is called in the second verse. Mary is not the Mother of God in the sense that she gave Jesus His divinity; of course not. But Jesus was conceived in her womb; lived there for nine months, nourished by her body; and was born of her. And since Jesus is fully God, in that sense we can say she is Mother of God. Mary gave Jesus His blessed humanity, His human flesh; and brought Him into the world.

Mary is SPOUSE of God the Holy Spirit. The conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary was not accomplished with the help of a human father, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. So Mary is in that sense the spouse of the Holy Spirit.

When the Archangel Gabriel greeted Mary with his "Ave," or "Hail," he was speaking the words of God, for an angel is God's messenger and only says and does what God instructs him to say and do. So when you and I say, "Hail Mary," we are only repeating what Gabriel said, and what the Three Persons in One God said through Gabriel. God Himself chose Mary to be His daughter and spouse, and prepared her from her conception to be the sinless Mother of Jesus. God honored Mary, and when we honor her, we only do what God Himself did.

*** Agradesimiento para si Señot Lawrence Borja para i audio files.