Why a mother’s prayer matters
Augustine tells the story himself. His mother, Monica, begged a bishop to argue her son out of the errors he had fallen into. The bishop declined (leave him alone for a time, he said, and pray), and when she pressed him with tears, he answered her:
Go your way, and God bless you, for it is not possible that the son of these tears should perish.
She took it, Augustine says, as a voice from heaven. Years later he was baptized at Milan, and the Church received a bishop and Doctor through the prayers of a mother who would not stop. Whatever your children are doing today, your prayer for them is not wasted.
To begin the day: a morning offering
The Raccolta, the old collection of prayers the popes once enriched with indulgences (those grants were reformed in 1967), gives this offering for the start of the day. Its opening is below. The full prayer goes on to ask the grace never to commit a mortal sin, and to join in spirit all the day’s Masses for the holy souls.
Prayer
A Morning Offering (the opening)
Eternal God, behold me prostrate before the immensity of thy majesty.
I humbly adore Thee, and offer Thee all my thoughts, words, and works of this day.
I intend to do everything for love of Thee, for thy glory, and for the fulfilment of thy divine will; in order to serve, praise, and bless Thee, to be enlightened in the mysteries of our holy faith, to secure my salvation, and to hope in thy mercy; to satisfy the divine justice for my many grievous sins, to assist the holy souls in purgatory, and to obtain the grace of a true conversion for all sinners.
I desire, in fine, to do everything in union with that most pure intention which Jesus and Mary had during life, and which the saints now have in heaven, and the just on earth. …
The Memorare
The prayer of confident desperation. It is often attributed to St Bernard of Clairvaux, but nothing in his writings shows that he wrote it, and its author is unknown. The Catholic Encyclopedia credits a seventeenth-century French priest, Fr Claude Bernard, with doing much to popularize it, notes that it is sometimes attributed to him, and says the prayer is “certainly of an earlier date.” Mothers have worn grooves in it all the same.
Prayer
The Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions; but in thy clemency hear and answer me.
Amen.
Latin
Memorare, O piissima Virgo Maria, non esse auditum a saeculo quemquam ad tua currentem praesidia, tua implorantem auxilia, tua petentem suffragia, esse derelictum.
Ego tali animatus confidentia, ad te, Virgo virginum, Mater, curro, ad te venio, coram te gemens peccator assisto; noli, Mater Verbi, verba mea despicere, sed audi propitia, et exaudi.
Amen.
Sub tuum praesidium
Among the oldest prayers to Our Lady known in writing. A Greek copy survives on a papyrus fragment in the John Rylands Library in Manchester (P. Ryl. III 470); scholars disagree about its date, with proposals running from the third century to several centuries later. The 1910 Raccolta pairs it with the Salve Regina: the Salve in the morning, this at evening. When there is no time for anything else, there is time for this.
Prayer
Sub tuum praesidium
We fly to thy patronage, O Holy Mother of God; despise not thou our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin.
Latin
Sub tuum praesidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix; nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus nostris, et a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta.
The Magnificat
Mary’s own song, from the Gospel of Luke. The Church’s Office assigns it to Vespers, her evening prayer. Pray it when God has been good, and when you need to remember that He has.
Prayer
The Magnificat
My soul doth magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name.
And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.
He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy:
As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever.
For your children
Teach little mouths this one first, and pray it over each bed by name long after they have outgrown the bed. Our Lord’s own words stand behind it: “See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10, Douay-Rheims).
Prayer
Prayer to the Guardian Angel
Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom his love commits me here,
Ever this day be at my side,
To light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.
And a consecration for each child, written for this library. Pray it on birthdays and baptismal anniversaries, and on any night the worry will not quiet.
A prayer composed for 1765 Regina
A consecration of your children to Our Lady
O Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of God and my Mother, I give you my children, each one by name, to keep as your own.
Keep what I cannot keep; watch where I cannot watch; go where they will not take me.
Guard the grace of their Baptism like a lamp in the wind.
If they wander, walk with them; if they fall, lift them; if they forget your Son, never stop remembering them to Him.
Obtain for them the grace of final perseverance, and for me a mother’s heart formed on yours: trusting, pondering, pierced without despair.
Amen.
For your husband
Written for this library. The most useful thing a wife does for her marriage on a given day may be ninety honest seconds of this.
A prayer composed for 1765 Regina
A prayer for my husband
Lord Jesus Christ, I bring You my husband.
Bless the work of his hands, and the weight he carries that I do not see.
Guard him from discouragement, from isolation, and from every false comfort.
Make him a man of prayer, of courage, and of tenderness.
Heal what is strained between us. Where either of us has grown hard, soften us; where either of us is wounded, heal us; and let our marriage speak of You to our children without a word.
St Joseph, guardian of the Holy Family, stand beside him.
Amen.
A word said plainly: praying for your husband never means staying in danger. The Church’s law recognizes that a spouse who causes grave danger to the other spouse or to the children gives a legitimate cause for separation, and allows the endangered spouse to leave on her own authority when delay would be dangerous (Code of Canon Law, can. 1153). If you are not safe at home, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788. It is free, confidential, and open 24/7.
For an expectant mother
Written for this library: a prayer, not medical advice. Its first line echoes Psalm 138:15 [139:15]: “My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret” (Douay-Rheims). For nine days of prayer, the St Gerard Majella novena is in the Novena Companion.
A prayer composed for 1765 Regina
A prayer for an expectant mother
Father of all life, You made this child in secret, and You know the name I do not yet know.
Guard this little one’s growing. Steady my body and my heart through every appointment and every waiting room.
Bring us both safely to the day of birth, and to the greater day of Baptism.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, St Anne, and St Gerard Majella, pray for us.
Amen.
Hail, Holy Queen
The Salve Regina, one of the Church’s great antiphons to Our Lady, in the Raccolta’s English with its versicles.
Prayer
Hail, Holy Queen (Salve Regina)
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, Hail our Life, our Sweetness, and our Hope!
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed Fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
V. Make me worthy to praise thee, O Holy Virgin.
R. Give me strength against thine enemies.
V. Blessed be God in his saints.
R. Amen.
Latin
Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae, vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.
Ad te clamamus, exules filii Hevae; ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle.
Eia ergo, Advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte; et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exilium ostende, O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.
V. Dignare me laudare te, Virgo sacrata.
R. Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos.
V. Benedictus Deus in sanctis suis.
R. Amen.
Where these texts come from
Every traditional text on this page is copied from a public-domain source, named beside it: the 1910 English Raccolta and the Douay-Rheims Bible. The three prayers marked as composed were written for 1765 Regina in the Church’s faith; they carry no indulgence and no pedigree except fidelity. Use them freely.
Questions
Who wrote the Memorare?
No one knows for certain. It is often attributed to St Bernard of Clairvaux, but nothing in his writings shows that he wrote it. The Catholic Encyclopedia says the seventeenth-century priest Fr Claude Bernard did much to popularize it and that the prayer is older than he is. The English here is from the 1910 Raccolta, no. 196.
What is the oldest prayer to Mary?
The Sub tuum praesidium is usually named as the oldest known in writing. A Greek copy survives on a papyrus in the John Rylands Library, Manchester; its date is disputed, with scholars proposing anything from the third century to several centuries later.
What prayer should a mother say for her children?
Begin with the Guardian Angel prayer over each child by name, and the Memorare for any need. St Monica’s example supplies the rest of the answer: keep praying, for years if it takes years.
Are these prayers approved by the Church?
The traditional texts come from Scripture and from the 1910 Raccolta, a collection of prayers to which the popes had attached indulgences; those grants were reformed by Pope Paul VI in 1967, so the indulgences printed in the Raccolta are not today’s. The three composed prayers are labelled as written for 1765 Regina; they are offered in the Church’s faith but carry no official approval or indulgence.