Prayers Marian Prayers The Memorare

The Memorare

The Memorare
Marian 📜 Earliest form: 15th century (as part of longer prayer); 16th–17th century (current form) ✍️ Unknown; traditionally attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux; popularized by Fr. Claude Bernard
Latina

Memoráre, o piíssima Virgo María, non esse audítum a sǽculo, quemquam ad tua curréntem præsídia, tua implorántem auxília, tua peténtem suffrágia, esse derelíctum.

"And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word."— Luke 1:38 (Douay-Rheims)
Meh-moh-RAH-reh, oh pee-EES-see-mah VEER-go Mah-REE-ah, non ES-seh OW-dee-toom ah SEH-koo-loh, KWEM-kwahm ahd TOO-ah koor-REN-tem preh-SEE-dee-ah, TOO-ah eem-ploh-RAHN-tem owk-SEE-lee-ah, TOO-ah peh-TEN-tem soof-FRAH-jee-ah, ES-seh deh-reh-LEEK-toom.

Ego tali animátus confidéntia, ad te, Virgo Vírginum, Mater, curro, ad te vénio, coram te gemens peccátor assísto.

"And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"— Luke 1:43 (Douay-Rheims)
EH-go TAH-lee ah-nee-MAH-toos kon-fee-DEN-tsee-ah, ahd teh, VEER-go VEER-jee-noom, MAH-tehr, KOOR-roh, ahd teh VEH-nee-oh, KOH-rahm teh JEH-menz pek-KAH-tohr ahs-SEES-toh.

Noli, Mater Verbi, verba mea despícere; sed audi propítia et exáudi. Amen.

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."— John 1:14 (Douay-Rheims)
NOH-lee, MAH-tehr VEHR-bee, VEHR-bah MEH-ah deh-SPEE-cheh-reh; sed OW-dee proh-PEE-tsee-ah et ek-SOW-dee. AH-men.
Vernacular

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 with this confidence, I fly to 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.

Prayer History

Listen to Prayer History

The Memorare is one of the most beloved and widely prayed Marian devotions in the Catholic Church — a prayer of extraordinary confidence in the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Its name comes from the Latin word memorare, meaning "remember," the first word of the prayer in its original tongue.

The prayer is traditionally attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the great 12th-century Cistercian abbot and Doctor of the Church whose devotion to Our Lady was legendary — it was his monks who popularized the title "Our Lady" for Mary. However, modern scholarship has established that St. Bernard did not compose the Memorare. The text as we know it is actually extracted from a much longer 15th-century prayer entitled Ad sanctitatis tuae pedes, dulcissima Virgo Maria ("At the feet of your holiness, most sweet Virgin Mary"), whose author remains unknown. By the early 16th century, Catholics had begun to pray the Memorare as a standalone devotion.

The prayer owes its widespread popularity to Fr. Claude Bernard (1588–1641), a French priest known as "the Poor Priest" for his tireless ministry to prisoners and criminals condemned to death. Fr. Bernard had an extraordinary devotion to Our Lady under the title Consolatrix Afflictorum — Comforter of the Afflicted — and he employed the Memorare constantly in his work of evangelization, attributing the conversion of countless criminals to the Blessed Virgin's intercession. At one point, he had more than 200,000 leaflets printed with the Memorare in various languages so he could distribute them wherever they might do good. The similarity of his name to that of St. Bernard of Clairvaux is almost certainly the source of the enduring misattribution.

Fr. Claude Bernard's own faith in the prayer was deepened by a personal experience he recounted in a letter to Queen Anne of Austria: once, deathly ill, he recited the Memorare and immediately began to recover. Initially attributing the cure to natural causes, he was later visited by Brother Fiacre, a Discalced Augustinian, who told him that the Virgin Mary had appeared in a vision, revealed Fr. Bernard's illness, and confirmed that she had cured him. Humbled and ashamed of his earlier doubt, Fr. Bernard publicly acknowledged the miracle.

St. Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, was also deeply devoted to the Memorare. According to his selected letters, when he was tormented by despair as a young student in Paris — fearing he was predestined to damnation — he knelt before the statue of Our Lady of Good Deliverance at the church of Saint-Étienne-des-Grès and prayed the Memorare. The torment ended. De Sales credited the Blessed Virgin with saving him from despair and heresy, and he recited the Memorare daily for the rest of his life.

In more recent times, St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a fervent advocate of the Memorare, teaching it to those she served and relying on it constantly in her own spiritual life. The prayer also played a pivotal role in the conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne, a French Jew who, upon a dare from a Catholic friend, agreed to wear the Miraculous Medal and recite the Memorare for one month — and experienced a dramatic vision of the Blessed Virgin that led to his conversion and ordination as a priest.

📋 Quick Facts

Type Marian Devotional Prayer
Name Meaning "Remember" (Latin)
Traditional Attribution St. Bernard of Clairvaux (likely incorrect)
Actual Origin Extracted from 15th-century prayer Ad sanctitatis tuae pedes
Popularized By Fr. Claude Bernard (1588–1641)
Notable Devotees St. Francis de Sales, St. Mother Teresa, Alphonse Ratisbonne
Indulgence Partial indulgence (Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, 2004)
Liturgical Use Private devotion (not part of the liturgy)

💡 Did You Know?

The Memorare is not actually by St. Bernard of Clairvaux — it comes from a longer 15th-century prayer whose author is unknown. The misattribution likely arose because the priest who popularized it, Fr. Claude Bernard, shared a similar name.
Fr. Claude Bernard had over 200,000 leaflets of the Memorare printed in multiple languages — making it one of the earliest examples of mass-printed Catholic evangelization material.
St. Francis de Sales credited the Memorare with saving him from a crisis of despair in his youth. He prayed it before the Black Madonna at Saint-Étienne-des-Grès in Paris, and the torment lifted immediately.
The Memorare played a role in one of the most famous conversions in Church history: Alphonse Ratisbonne, a French Jew, agreed to recite it for a month on a dare — and experienced a vision of the Blessed Virgin that led to his conversion and priesthood.
St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta prayed the Memorare constantly and taught it to the poorest of the poor in her missions around the world.
The word "Memorare" means simply "Remember" — the prayer's opening word is a bold imperative, asking the Blessed Virgin to remember her own track record of never abandoning those who seek her help.
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The Memorare
The Memorare

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 with this confidence, I fly to 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.

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The Memorare
The Memorare

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 audi propítia et exáudi. Amen.

✠ Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam ✠