The Memorare

The Memorare is a lovely, powerful prayer to the Virgin Mary. And it’s one I have found reverberating through my head in the last few weeks.

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known
that anyone who fled to thy protection,
implored thy help,
or sought thy intercession,
was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence
I fly unto thee,
O Virgin of virgins, my Mother.
To thee do I come,
before thee I stand,
sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in thy mercy hear and answer me.
Amen.

Why this prayer?

I’ve written about my Catholic side many times before on this blog. But the Memorare is special to me.

And yes, I was introduced to it by the nuns in secondary school. At the time, I wasn’t fully appreciative of the thing, cos it mean morning prayers lasted those few seconds longer. Thinking back -prayer wasn’t a huge part of my life in those days.

But these days, definitely more so. And this prayer in particular is a major part of my practice when times get tough.

Why the Memorare?

“Memorare” means “to remember” in Latin. Listen, the Catholic Church held onto Latin, and still does in many, many areas, far past the time it was considered a living language. So, calling a prayer by a Latin term? It’s not the worst they could do. As they have proved. Many, many, many times…

But why this prayer? What’s so special?

I love it.

Now, the Irish pantheon doesn’t have a mother-goddess figure. But, as with many pagan pantheons, there are plenty of strong goddesses within the pantheon. So, it’s no wonder the Irish – and many other Catholic countries around the world – have a strong devotion to Mother Mary. She’s a distinct and powerful entity in her own right in the Church.

And she’s an easier personage to approach than some of the male saints and entities around the place.

Look – when the angels appear, the first thing out of their mouths is usually “Don’t panic, we’re not here to cause harm”. Because people were bloody terrified of them.

Not so with Mary. For a start, she often appears to women and children, children especially. And she offers messages of hope and persistance, usually encouraging folk to pray the rosary.

In the Memorare, we are asking Mary to remember her vast power and her propensity to help those who come to her with petitions or requests.

Personal meaning for me

The regular words of a prayer I have known and prayed – with varying degrees of intention and integrity – for more than 30 years hold particular power for me. And the words themselves remind me that I am not alone in this Universe, that there are entities out there who support me and help me as best they can.

Mary for me has always been a more approachable character than either God or Jesus. They’re too big, too powerful, too male. (Although there is something to be said for the sophia aspect of God as being female… people sure do get upset when you use she/her pronouns though)

Mary was the mother of God, but she was also human. She got up, went about her day, did her work, all as a human woman. She had neighbours, work, bills, etc. Notably, she had a fairly rare type of son to rear.

She had family drama, was only a teenager herself when she got pregnant… she got it in ways that I couldn’t imagine God or Jesus getting it.

Pavlovian response to the Memorare?

And yes, there is an element of calming to the prayer for me. Just saying it helps me recapture the calmness of the nun’s chapel in school. We only ever said the Memorare on Fridays and December 8th (our Christmas celebration).

And just listen to the words:

Never was it known, that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession, was left unaided.

No matter who comes to you for help, for sanctuary, for protection – you gave them help. You’re here, universally, for everyone. So, if you’re wondering can you pray to the Virgin Mary? Yes, you can. You don’t have to – I know damn well many people read this blog and are purely appalled when I talk about Catholicism. They tell me fairly frequently.

But the fact is, I’m Pagan Catholic, not pure pagan. That’s my life. Complicated.

This might be personal

I get that not everyone will be as drawn to this prayer as I am. But a prayer repeated so often is powerful. A prayer is essentially a spell after all – words with intention behind them.

And yes, of course, we can write our own prayers. That’s the joy and challenge of private, personal practice. And we can build up power in those prayers for ourselves by repetition. People underestimate repetition far too much in paganism I think.

But this prayer in particular sings to me. Maybe it’s just the repetition. Maybe there have been times in my life where there appears to have been no help and this was the lifeline I held on to.

Sometimes – my brain throws this prayer at me at random moments and I’ve stopped asking why. Because, I’ve learned it takes seconds to say, but has massive effects.

Do you have to pray the Memorare? Of course not! I’m offering it here for those who follow a similar path to mine. It’s an option. A beautiful and power option, but still only an option.

That’s the joy of personal practice!