The modern version is taken from that indulgenced by Pope Pius IX in 1846, Raccolta, #339 Encr. Ind. #32: Memorare, O piissima Virgo Maria, a saeculo non esse auditum, 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.
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.
History of the prayer
This prayer is originally from a longer prayer of the 15th century, "Ad sanctitatis tuae pedes, dulcissima Virgo Maria".
The de Sales family were members of the minor nobility and staunch Catholics, but St. Francis de Sales fell victim to the religious turmoil of his age. The question of predestination, the hottest point of contention between Catholic and Calvinist theologians, tormented him while he was a student in Paris. In his distress over the uncertain fate of his soul he cried out to God, "Whatever happens, Lord, may I at least love you in this life if I cannot love you in eternity." At the age of 18, while studying at the Jesuit run Collège de Clermont at the University of Paris, according to the book The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales, by Jean-Pierre Camus: According to De Sales' Selected Letters, the "torment of despair came to a sudden end" as he knelt in prayer before the statue of Our Lady of Good Deliverance at the church of Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, Paris, saying the Memorare. Francis credited the Blessed Virgin with "saving him from falling into despair or heresy"; he "recited the Memorare day after day", and she "did not leave him unaided".
It was popularized in the 17th century by Fr. Claude Bernard, who learned it from his father. Bernard's devotion to Our Lady under the title Consolatrix Afflictorum led him to promote recourse to her intercession among the poor and condemned prisoners. According to the book Familiar Prayers: Their Origin and History written by Fr. Herbert Thurston S.J. in 1953: The "Memorare" played a part in the conversion of Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne, when upon the dare of a Catholic acquaintance he agreed to wear the Miraculous Medal and recite the prayer for a month. The prayer became popular in England by way of France, and appeared in the 1856 edition of Bishop Richard Challoner's The Garden of the Soul. In a 1918 article published in the Month on the theme of Familiar Prayers, Herbert Thurston discussed the "Memorare" as one of the prayers he considered representative of English Catholic prayer. By "familiar", Thurston meant those prayers most of the faithful knew by heart. There were at least five separate versions circulating at that time. Mary Heinman observes that the "Memorare" "...became an English Catholic favorite in the post-1850 period for reasons which had no direct connection to either with papal directives or native tradition." William Fitzgerald notes, "Calling on Mary to "remember" is an act of boldness, but it is boldness justified by tradition....Mary needs no reminder of her role in the realm of salvation. However, those who call upon her do require such reminders, if not specifically then more generally - to remind them of their place as supplicants before the Virgin Mary." Asking Mary to intercede as Advocate does not guarantee that a specific request will be granted, only that divine assistance will be.
