Prayers to the Virgin Mary

How to pray to the Virgin Mary

There is no technique. Christians who pray to Mary are doing what the wedding guests at Cana did: telling her what is wrong, and trusting her to bring it to her Son. Most people begin with the Hail Mary, say what is on their heart in their own words, and close with a prayer of confidence such as the Memorare. Some pray the Rosary; some light a candle; and at the House of Virgin Mary in Ephesus, pilgrims write their prayer on a slip of paper and tie it to the wishing wall — a habit our initiative carries on for people who cannot come.

Below are the prayers people ask us for most, sorted by what they are praying for. All are traditional and public domain; the translations are the ones most commonly prayed in English.

For intercession — the Hail Mary

The oldest and shortest. Its first half is Scripture — the angel’s greeting and Elizabeth’s blessing (Luke 1:28, 1:42); its second half is the Church’s request for Mary’s prayers, “now and at the hour of our death.”

Hail Mary (Ave Maria)

For help — the Memorare, “the prayer that never fails”

When people search for the prayer to the Virgin Mary that never fails, this is the one they mean. Attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and prayed for centuries in every emergency, it is a prayer of pure confidence: “never was it known that anyone… was left unaided.” It does not promise that we get what we ask; it promises that we are never alone in the asking.

The Memorare

For protection — Sub Tuum Praesidium, the oldest Marian prayer

“Under your protection” — found on an Egyptian papyrus dated to around the 3rd century, this is the oldest known prayer to Mary, and Christians of East and West still say it word for word. It is the prayer for danger, fear, and nights when the news is bad.

Sub Tuum Praesidium (Under Your Protection)

For healing and mercy — Salve Regina (Hail, Holy Queen)

The prayer of the sick and the sorrowful — sung at the end of the Rosary and, for centuries, at the bedside. It calls Mary “Mother of Mercy… our life, our sweetness and our hope,” and asks her to turn her eyes toward us. Many who send us prayers for the health of a loved one add this one.

Salve Regina

For thanksgiving — the Magnificat, Mary’s own prayer

When a prayer is answered, people write to us asking what to pray in thanks. The best answer is Mary’s own song, spoken when she visited Elizabeth — the longest passage of her words in Scripture. Say it for a birth, a recovery, a job that finally came, a love that arrived late.

The Magnificat

A short prayer for a miracle, in your own words

People also ask for “the most powerful prayer to the Virgin Mary for a miracle.” We can only tell you what pilgrims at the wall seem to know instinctively: the most powerful prayer is the honest one. Say what you need. Say who it is for. Then, if you like, borrow the last line of the Memorare — “in thy mercy hear and answer me” — and let it go. That is what a note on the wishing wall is: an honest sentence, let go.