Memorare
Also known as: Remember, O Most Gracious Virgin Mary
English Text
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.
Translation tradition: Traditional English
Scripture: Luke 1:38
When to pray: Any time, especially in urgent petition; popular in wartime, sickness, and personal crisis.
History & Background
The Memorare in its current form is attributed to St. Claude Bernard (1588–1641), a French priest who promoted it widely. However, the prayer itself is older — a longer Latin original appears in the writings of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) or his school, though some scholars dispute this direct attribution. The prayer gained enormous popularity through the Congregation of Notre-Dame des Victoires in Paris. Pope Pius IX is said to have recited it daily. The Catechism of the Catholic Church cites the Memorare as an example of petition addressed to Mary in confidence (§ 2677). The Latin text «Memorare, o piissima Virgo Maria» is the traditional form, though the prayer is almost universally known in its English translation.
The Meaning of the Memorare
A Prayer Born of Confident Desperation
The Memorare opens with a bold claim: never was it known that anyone who fled to Mary's protection was left unaided. This is not a timid request but a confident appeal rooted in centuries of lived Christian experience. The Latin title, drawn from its first word memorare ('remember'), is itself an act of faith — the soul calling to mind Mary's unbroken record of maternal care and daring her, with filial boldness, to continue it.
Historical Origin: A Prayer Long Misattributed
The Memorare is traditionally, but mistakenly, attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), the great Cistercian Doctor of the Church whose tender Marian devotion shaped medieval Catholic piety. In its present form the prayer is actually much later: it first appears as part of a longer 15th-century Latin prayer beginning Ad sanctitatis tuae pedes, dulcissima Virgo Maria, whose author is unknown. The famous attribution to 'St. Bernard' arose largely from confusion with the prayer's 17th-century popularizer, Fr. Claude Bernard (1588–1641), a French priest known as 'the poor priest of Paris.' Fr. Bernard, who said he learned the prayer from his own father, was devoted to comforting the sick, the imprisoned, and the condemned; he had hundreds of thousands of leaflets printed with the Memorare in several languages and distributed them widely, and it was largely through his tireless apostolate that the prayer spread throughout the Catholic world. Pope Pius IX attached an indulgence to its devout recitation in 1846, fixing the abbreviated text most Catholics pray today. The ancient Greek prayer Sub Tuum Praesidium ('Beneath your protection'), parts of which scholars date to the third or fourth century and which is addressed to Mary as protector, shows that the confident impulse behind the Memorare is far older than any of these figures — reaching back to the earliest Christian centuries.
What the Church Teaches About Asking Mary's Help
The Catechism of the Catholic Church grounds Marian prayer in Mary's unique role in the economy of salvation. CCC 969 teaches that Mary's motherhood in the order of grace 'continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation ... until the eternal fulfilment of all the elect,' and that she 'by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.' It is precisely this uninterrupted maternal office — active in heaven now — that the Memorare invokes. The soul is not praying to a saint who was once powerful and may have moved on; it is calling on a Mother whose intercession the Church declares is ongoing, unwearying, and universally available.
CCC 971 notes that 'from the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of Mother of God, to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs.' The verb 'fly' is deliberate — it captures the urgency and the confidence of Marian prayer, and it echoes the very posture of the Memorare: the soul fleeing, imploring, seeking.
Mary as Transparent Mediatrix, Not Final Goal
A common question about the Memorare is whether it places Mary above Christ. The Catechism answers plainly. CCC 2674 explains that 'Jesus, the only mediator, is the way of our prayer,' while 'Mary, his mother and ours, is wholly transparent to him: she shows the way.' She is never an obstacle between the soul and God but a clear window toward her Son. The Memorare's confidence is ultimately confidence in Christ, whose mercy Mary reflects; every grace she obtains is a grace her Son wills to give. As CCC 2675 explains, prayer to the Mother of God 'alternates' between two movements: the first 'magnifies' the Lord for the great things he did through her, and the second 'entrusts the supplications and praises of the children of God to the Mother of Jesus,' who lays them before her Son. CCC 970 is equally clear that Mary's role 'in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power.'
Scripture Roots: The Advocate at Cana
The Memorare's confident tone finds a scriptural anchor in John 2:1–11, the Wedding at Cana. When the wine runs out, Mary simply tells Jesus, 'They have no wine' (Jn 2:3). She does not command; she intercedes. And Christ, though indicating his hour had not yet come, acts. The Church has always read Cana as a model of Marian intercession: Mary notices human need, brings it to her Son, tells the servants 'Do whatever he tells you' (Jn 2:5), and the miracle follows. The Memorare enacts exactly this dynamic — the soul presents its need to Mary, who in turn presents it to Christ.
Luke 1:38 likewise grounds the Memorare's logic. Mary's fiat — 'Let it be done to me according to your word' — was the consent that made the Incarnation possible. The Catechism draws a direct line from that consent at the Annunciation to her present maternal intercession (CCC 969). Asking her help today is asking one whose entire life was ordered to bringing Christ to the world.
When to Pray the Memorare
The Memorare is prayed in urgent need — illness, grief, temptation, fear — but also in ordinary daily devotion. Fr. Claude Bernard pressed it into the hands of the suffering and the dying because it is short enough to pray in a moment of crisis and dense enough to carry the whole theology of Marian intercession. The Rosary, the Angelus, and the Memorare together form a kind of portable school of Marian prayer: the Rosary meditates on the mysteries of Christ through Mary's eyes; the Angelus recalls the Annunciation that made salvation possible; the Memorare entrusts the present moment — whatever its need — to the same Mother who has never failed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote the Memorare prayer?
The author of the Memorare is unknown. The prayer first appears in its present form as part of a longer 15th-century Latin prayer beginning 'Ad sanctitatis tuae pedes, dulcissima Virgo Maria.' It is traditionally but mistakenly attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153); that attribution arose from confusion with the prayer's 17th-century popularizer, Fr. Claude Bernard (1588–1641), a French priest who said he learned it from his father and who spread it widely by distributing hundreds of thousands of printed leaflets among the sick, the imprisoned, and the dying. So when older prayer books say 'St. Bernard,' they mean Clairvaux, but neither Bernard actually composed it.
What does the Memorare mean?
The title comes from the Latin word for 'remember.' The prayer calls on the Virgin Mary to remember her ancient record of never abandoning anyone who sought her help, and then entrusts the petitioner's specific need to her intercession. Theologically, the Memorare expresses the Church's teaching that Mary's maternal role in salvation 'continues uninterruptedly' in heaven (CCC 969) and that she 'by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.' It is not a prayer that bypasses Christ; rather, it brings our needs before Mary so she may present them to her Son, as she did at the Wedding at Cana (Jn 2:3).
Is it OK for Catholics to pray the Memorare?
Yes. The Memorare is a fully approved and widely encouraged Catholic prayer; Pope Pius IX attached an indulgence to its devout recitation in 1846. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly affirms that 'from the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of Mother of God, to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs' (CCC 971). Asking Mary's intercession is not worship of Mary but an act of confidence in her maternal care and in Christ's willingness to honor his Mother's requests — and the Catechism stresses that her role 'in no way obscures or diminishes' the unique mediation of Christ (CCC 970).
When should you pray the Memorare?
The Memorare is especially suited to moments of urgent need — illness, grief, temptation, difficult decisions, or fear — because it is short, direct, and theologically complete. Fr. Claude Bernard originally distributed it to the suffering and the dying for exactly this reason. It is also prayed as part of a regular Marian devotion, alongside the Rosary and the Angelus. Many Catholics add it at the end of a Rosary, or recite it before a medical procedure, an important meeting, or any moment requiring heavenly help. There is no wrong time to pray it.
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Source
https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html verbatim