Memoráre, o piíssima Virgo María, non esse audítum a sǽculo, quemquam ad tua curréntem præsídia, tua implorántem auxília, tua peténtem suffrágia, esse derelíctum.
Ego tali animátus confidéntia, ad te, Virgo Vírginum, Mater, curro; ad te vénio; coram te gemens peccátor assísto. Noli, Mater Verbi, verba mea despícere; sed áudi propítia et exáudi. Amen.
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.
This is the beloved Memorare — the same prayer treasured throughout the Church — here prayed with a particular intention: the grace of chastity. Its words are perfectly suited to that battle, for at its heart the soul flies for refuge to Mary under her title Virgo Virginum, the "Virgin of virgins." When temptation presses, the surest counsel of the saints is not to argue with it but to flee at once to the Immaculate Mother, whose purity is a stronghold no impurity can enter.
The prayer’s power lies in its opening claim: "never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection… was left unaided." It is a prayer of pure confidence. The tempted soul does not come pleading its own strength — it has none — but throws itself upon a Mother’s help, certain of being heard. This is why it is so often prayed in the instant of temptation: short enough to say in a breath, strong enough to break the assault.
Though tradition long linked the Memorare to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the great singer of Our Lady’s praises, the prayer in its present form was popularized in the 17th century by a French priest, Father Claude Bernard, who spread it widely and attributed his own conversion of many souls to it. Prayed for purity, it places the whole struggle where it belongs — not in the strength of the will alone, but under the mantle of the Virgin most pure.
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.
Memoráre, o piíssima Virgo María, non esse audítum a sǽculo, quemquam ad tua curréntem præsídia, tua implorántem auxília, tua peténtem suffrágia, esse derelíctum.
Ego tali animátus confidéntia, ad te, Virgo Vírginum, Mater, curro; ad te vénio; coram te gemens peccátor assísto. Noli, Mater Verbi, verba mea despícere; sed áudi propítia et exáudi. Amen.
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.