Texts from their published editions. Guidance on what this tradition does at this moment is on the occasion page, and background on the tradition is at /traditions/catholic.
Texts from their published editions
Each text below comes from the edition named under it and was checked twice, independently, before it appeared. Neither check was a person. Where the two disagreed by even one character, the text is not shown here. That is a claim about wording only: these are not selected or endorsed for any particular situation, and nobody credentialed in the tradition has signed them. Older spelling is kept as the edition prints it. The full record, including the texts we held back because the two transcriptions disagreed, is at the verification record.
The central Marian prayer of Latin Catholicism, built from the Lucan greeting plus a later intercessory petition fixed in the sixteenth century. It is the repeated unit of the rosary and of the Angelus, and it is the prayer most often said at a sickbed or deathbed. Recited by anyone, at any time, with no conditions of office or state.
Hail, Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
John Murphy and Company, Baltimore, 1889. Published 1889, before 1929, US public domain. Source
Out of copyright in the United States on the basis stated here, and free to reuse there. Please keep the citation with it.
Wording and scope vary between editions and between communities, so this entry is tied to one named edition and makes no claim about which form is right in a given setting.
A short petitionary prayer to Mary beginning "Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary", popularized in the seventeenth century and long associated with Claude Bernard. It is used at moments of acute distress and is a standard entry in indulgenced prayer collections. No restriction on who may say it.
REMEMBER, O most loving Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, and sought thine intercession, was left forsaken. 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, despise not my words, but graciously hear and grant my prayer. Amen.
John Murphy and Company, Baltimore, 1889. Published 1889, before 1929, US public domain. Source
Out of copyright in the United States on the basis stated here, and free to reuse there. Please keep the citation with it.
A short petitionary prayer to Mary beginning "Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary", popularized in the seventeenth century and long associated with Claude Bernard. It is used at moments of acute distress and is a standard entry in indulgenced prayer collections. No restriction on who may say it.
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.
1910. Published 1910, before 1929, US public domain. Source
Out of copyright in the United States on the basis stated here, and free to reuse there. Please keep the citation with it.
An eleventh-century Marian antiphon, sung at Compline for much of the liturgical year and said at the close of the rosary. It is also sung at Catholic funerals, notably for clergy and religious. Widely known in Latin chant and in numerous English prose renderings.
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy; 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 valley 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 pious, O sweet Virgin Mary.
John Murphy and Company, Baltimore, 1889. Published 1889, before 1929, US public domain. Source
Out of copyright in the United States on the basis stated here, and free to reuse there. Please keep the citation with it.
Content last changed 6 October 2026. Dates come from this page’s own revision history, not from the last time the site was deployed.
Nothing here has been signed by a reviewer credentialed in this tradition. When that happens, reviewed prayers appear above these, and these stay where they are, as an anthology. How that works.