Memorare
General information
The Memorare is a very popular Marian prayer that is sometimes attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), Confessor, Abbot, and Doctor of the Church. While some of his writings do indeed echo the words of the Memorare, he did not in fact compose it. The prayer was first popularized not by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, but by another Bernard, namely Fr. Claude Bernard (1588-1641). More than likely the association of St. Bernard of Clairvaux's name with the prayer is a case of mistaken identity with Fr. Claude Bernard.
While we have Fr. Claude Bernard to thank for promoting the Memorare, he is certainly not its original author. First, Fr. Bernard stated that he learned the prayer from his own father. Secondly, the prayer was known to and used by St. Francis de Sales who is 21 years older than Fr. Bernard. Thirdly, and most importantly, the prayer appears as part of the much longer 15th century prayer, Ad sanctitatis tuae pedes, dulcissima Virgo Maria, which that appears in a number of printed books and manuscripts from the last quarter of the 15th century and onwards.
It appears in such works as the Hortulus Animae (15th cent.), the Antidotarius Animae (15th cent.) of Nicholas de Saliceto (Cistercian abbot of Bomgart, near Strasbourg), and the Precationum piarum Enchiridion, compiled around 1570 by Simon Verepaeus. The Memorare is an integral part of the text in each case. Exactly when the Memorare was extracted from this longer prayer has not yet been determined, but it likely occurred in the later part of the 16th century, around the time of Fr. Bernard and his father.
Settings by composers
Other settings possibly not included in the manual list above
- Simone Stella — Memorare
Text and translations
Latin text
Memorare, piissima Virgo Maria,
a sæculo non esse audítum
quemquam ad tua currentem præsidia,
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 assísto.
Noli, Mater Verbi,
verba mea despicere,
sed audi propitia et exaudi.
Amen.
English translation
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known
that any one who fled to thy protection,
implored thy help,
and sought thy intercession was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence,
I fly unto thee, 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.