The Memorare

The Memorare is the prayer of desperate confidence to the Blessed Virgin Mary, traditionally attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) and beloved across the Catholic world for nine hundred years. It is the prayer Catholics turn to in moments of great need, when ordinary recourse to the Mother of God is intensified into the kind of urgency that the prayer's opening line itself names: Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection... was left unaided.

Origin and historical development

The attribution of the Memorare to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux is traditional rather than documentary. The prayer in its current form appears in printed Catholic devotional literature from the seventeenth century, particularly in the work of Father Claude Bernard (no relation to the saint), a French priest known as the "Poor Priest" who promoted the prayer extensively in the early seventeenth century. The prayer is drawn from the Marian writings of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and reflects his characteristic confidence in Mary's intercession, but the precise verbal form is later than Bernard himself.¹

The substance of the prayer is what matters, and the substance is genuinely Bernardine. Saint Bernard's Sermons on the Song of Songs and his Marian sermons (especially In Praise of the Virgin Mother) develop the theology that underlies the Memorare: that the Mother of God hears every petition addressed to her, that her intercession with her Son is universally efficacious, and that the soul that flees to her in confidence is never abandoned.

Theological foundation

The Memorare expresses three principles of Catholic Marian theology.

First, Mary's universal intercession: the conviction that the Blessed Mother prays for every soul that turns to her, without exception. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: "This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect" (CCC 969).

Second, the soul's confidence in approaching Mary: the recognition that the Mother of the Word Incarnate is also our Mother by the gift of the Lord Jesus on the Cross. "Behold, your mother" (John 19:27). The confidence of the Memorare is not presumption; it is the proper response of the child to the Mother who has been given to him.

Third, the urgency of the petition: the recognition that there are moments in Christian life when the ordinary recourse to Mary is intensified into a kind of desperate flight. "Sinful and sorrowful", the prayer says: not pretending to be anything other than what we are, and not pretending the situation is anything other than what it is. The Memorare is for these moments.

Line-by-line commentary

"Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary"

The opening word is imperative: the Catholic asks Mary to remember. The word is not a demand but a plea for maternal recollection, as a child might say to a mother, "remember me." The Latin memorare is a familiar rather than formal imperative; the tone is intimate. Saint Bernard's Marian sermons frequently use this rhetorical direct address to the Virgin.

"That never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided"

This line is the theological heart of the prayer. The claim is remarkable: that in the entire history of Catholic devotion, no soul that fled to Mary was ever abandoned. The claim rests not on empirical inventory but on the theological principle of Marian intercession: because Mary is the Mother of God and Mother of the Church, she cannot fail to hear the child who calls to her. Saint Bernard develops this principle at length in his Sermons on the Song of Songs and his Marian sermons.

"Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee"

The word "fly" (Latin curro, literally "I run") captures the urgency. The Catholic does not walk to Mary in the Memorare; the Catholic flies to her, driven by the confidence just named. The verb tense is present: the flying is happening now, in the very act of praying the Memorare.

"O Virgin of virgins, my Mother"

Mary is addressed under two titles at once. Virgin of virgins names her preeminence in the state of virginity, both as Ever-Virgin (a Catholic dogma since the fifth century) and as the model of all consecrated virginity. My Mother names the personal relationship the Catholic claims with Mary by the gift of Christ on the Cross (John 19:27), "Behold, thy Mother."

"To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful"

The Catholic names his condition plainly: sinful and sorrowful. There is no false humility and no attempted concealment. The Catholic tradition has always taught that Marian intercession is most effective for the soul that comes to Mary in the truth of its condition, not in a pretended sanctity.

"O Mother of the Word Incarnate"

The final address to Mary uses the great Christological title: Mother of the Word Incarnate (Latin Mater Verbi Incarnati). This title names precisely why Marian intercession is efficacious: Mary is the Mother of the Word made flesh, and her intercession is heard by the Son who took His flesh from her.

"Despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy, hear and answer me"

The closing petition is deliberately negative and then positive. Despise not: do not turn aside from the petition, do not treat it as unworthy. In thy mercy, hear and answer: give the maternal response the Catholic tradition has always confidently expected from Mary. The prayer closes with Amen, the Catholic seal that ratifies the petition.

The Memorare in Latin: Memorare

The Latin form of the prayer, at the top of this page, is the traditional Catholic text used in the Traditional Latin Mass, in the Divine Office, and by Catholics who pray the rosary in Latin. The opening word Memorare (imperative of memoro, to bring to mind) has given the prayer its universal name in the Catholic world. The Latin text has been unchanged since the seventeenth century.

Catholic composers have set the Memorare to music, most notably in the Memorare of Lorenzo Perosi (1872-1956), longtime director of the Sistine Chapel Choir. The Latin text sings well and is often used in Catholic Marian devotional concerts.

The "flying novena" of Mother Teresa

Saint Teresa of Calcutta taught the Missionaries of Charity to pray the Memorare nine times in succession for urgent intentions, calling the practice the "flying novena" (because it is "flown" rather than spread over nine days). The flying novena has spread widely in the modern Catholic world and is used by many faithful in moments of acute crisis: a medical emergency, a sudden family conflict, an unexpected loss. The nine successive Memorares take only a few minutes and have been found, in the testimony of those who have prayed them, to be remarkably efficacious for urgent needs.

When the Memorare is prayed

The Memorare is prayed:

• In moments of acute personal crisis, alone or with family.
• In the daily prayer of many religious orders and lay Catholic faithful.
• In the closing prayers of many Catholic novenas (see the novenas hub).
• At the bedside of the seriously ill or dying.
• As the flying novena of Mother Teresa, nine times in succession for urgent needs.

Pairing the Memorare with other prayers

The Memorare is paired in Catholic practice with:

• The Ave Maria, as the brief and fuller forms of the same Marian recourse.
• The Holy Rosary, particularly when the Memorare is added at the close of the rosary as a final petition.
• The Salve Regina, in the daily Marian rhythm.
• The Surrender Novena of Don Dolindo, particularly when the desperate situation is also a cause of severe interior anxiety.

Common questions about the Memorare

Who wrote the Memorare?

The Memorare is traditionally attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) but the current form of the prayer appears in Catholic devotional literature from the seventeenth century. The theological substance is genuinely Bernardine, drawing from his In Praise of the Virgin Mother and his Marian sermons. The precise verbal form was crystallized by the French priest Father Claude Bernard (no relation to the saint) in the early seventeenth century.

What is the flying novena?

The flying novena is the practice of praying the Memorare nine times in a row for an urgent intention. Saint Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) taught the Missionaries of Charity to pray it this way in moments of acute need, calling it a "flying novena" because it is "flown" through in a few minutes rather than spread across nine days like a traditional novena. It has become one of the most beloved Catholic devotional practices in the modern world, particularly for medical emergencies, family crises, and moments of grave decision.

Is the Memorare the same as the Sub Tuum Praesidium?

No, they are two different Marian prayers. The Sub Tuum Praesidium ("We fly to thy protection, O Holy Mother of God...") is the oldest surviving Marian prayer of the Catholic Church, dating from the third century. The Memorare (attributed to Saint Bernard) is a medieval Latin composition. The two prayers share the theological theme of Marian protection but are formally distinct.

Can the Memorare be prayed for someone else?

Yes. The Catholic tradition holds that Marian intercession can be sought for any intention, including intentions for another person. Many Catholics pray the Memorare (or the flying novena of nine Memorares) for a spouse in crisis, a wayward child, or a sick friend. The Blessed Virgin's intercession is not restricted to the petitioner's own needs.

Why is the Memorare considered a prayer of "desperate confidence"?

Because the opening line ("Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection... was left unaided") makes an unqualified claim about Mary's intercession: that it never fails. The Catholic praying the Memorare comes to Mary in confidence precisely because the prayer itself reminds Mary of this unbroken record. The prayer is therefore appropriate to moments when ordinary confidence has been exhausted and only the maternal recourse remains.

Is the Memorare in the Catholic liturgy?

The Memorare is not part of the current Roman Missal or the Liturgy of the Hours. It is a devotional prayer, prayed privately or in communal Marian devotions (rosaries, Marian holy hours, novenas). It has been extensively promoted by successive popes since the seventeenth century, including Pope Saint John Paul II, who prayed the Memorare daily throughout his pontificate.

Sources

Footnotes

1. Catholic Encyclopedia (1907), "Memorare," available at newadvent.org. Father Claude Bernard, La Pratique du chapelet de l'Immaculée Conception (seventeenth century). Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, In Praise of the Virgin Mother (twelfth century). Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 969-975 (Mary in the order of grace). Available at vatican.va. ↩