Prayers of Pope Pius XII to Mary

Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) (Pontiff 1939-1958)

Prayer To Our Lady of the Assumption

O Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God and Mother of Humanity, we believe with all the fervor of our faith in your triumphal Assumption both in body and in soul into heaven where you are acclaimed as Queen by all the choirs of angels and all the legions of saints; we unite with them to praise and bless the Lord who has exalted you above all other pure creatures and to offer you the tribute of our devotion and our love.

We know that your gaze, which on earth watched over the humble and suffering humanity of Jesus, in heaven is filled with the vision of that humanity glorified and with the vision of uncreated Wisdom, and that the joy of your soul in the direct contemplation of the adorable Trinity causes your heart to throb with overwhelming tenderness; and we, poor sinners whose bodies weigh down the flight of the soul, beg you to purify our hearts so that, while we remain below, we may learn to see God and God alone in the beauties of his creatures.

We trust that your merciful eyes may deign to gaze down upon our miseries and anguish, upon our struggles and our weaknesses; that your countenance may smile upon our joys and our victories; that you may hear the voice of Jesus saying to you of each one of us, as he once said to you of his Beloved Disciple: "Behold your son," and we who call upon you as our Mother, we, like John, take you as the guide, strength and consolation of our mortal life.

We are inspired by the certainty that your eyes, which wept over the earth crimsoned by the blood of Jesus, are yet turned toward this world racked by wars and persecutions, the oppression of the just and the weak. From the shadows of this vale of tears, we seek in your heavenly assistance, tender mercy, comfort for our aching hearts, and help in the trials of Church and country.

We believe finally that in the glory where you reign, clothed with the sun and crowned with stars, you are, after Jesus, the joy and gladness of all the angels and the saints, and from this earth, over which we tread as pilgrims, comforted by our faith in the future resurrection, we look to you our life, our sweetness, our hope; draw us onward with the sweetness of your voice, so that one day, after our exile, you may show us Jesus, the blessed fruit of your womb. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Amen.

This text concluded the address the pope gave to the faithful assembled in St. Peter's Square on November 1, 1950, after the definition of the dogma of the Assumption.

Papal Teachings: Our Lady [selected and arranged by the Benedictine Monks of Solesmes; translated by The Daughters of St. Paul], Boston: Daughters of St. Paul, 1961, 323-324. BT597.C29

To Mary, Mother of Divine Love

To you, O Mary, are known all the needs of your people and of the whole Church. Mother of Truth and Seat of Wisdom, dissipate the clouds of error which darken our minds. Amend the strayings of our hearts and inspire in us love for truth and the desire to do good.

Obtain for all people a holy fear of God so that society may know happiness. Give us lively faith that we may trust in those things which are imperishable. Give us that love which is sealed forever in God. Obtain for families fidelity, harmony, and peace. Stir up and confirm in the hearts of those who govern nations a clear notion of their responsibility, and of their duty to foster religion, morality, and the common good.

And just as your mercy is showered upon souls, O Mary, may it likewise flow over all those ills which afflict this people, and indeed the whole Christian family. Have pity on the poor, on captives, on all who bear persecution for the sake of justice, or are stricken by misfortune. Hail, O Mary, Mother of those who wander here below; you are our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

O Mother of Divine Love, send down your motherly blessing on all who pray to you; send it abundantly and consolingly. Amen.

The Essential Mary Handbook : a summary of beliefs, practices, and prayers : with a glossary of key terms and cross-referenced to the Catechism of the Catholic Church [edited and compiled by Judith A. Bauer]
Imprint Liguori, Mo. : Liguori Publications, 1999, 123. BX2160.2 .E88 1999

To Our Lady of Rest

Hear, O Blessed Virgin, the prayers which we address you, Our Lady of Rest, as we are mindful of that maternal love in which you receive your children.

It is by your powerful intercession, O Mary, that our hearts and minds find rest. We know well our own weakness; but we trust in the everlasting promises, and we hope for eternal happiness as we cling to the crucified Jesus, who has made His cross to be ours as well.

O Mary, under your patronage we find peace in the midst of earthly tribulation. You are the quiet certainty of the strong soul, ever on guard against the enemy. You are the sanctuary of the pure who remain unstained by earth’s corruption. And just as, with you, we find peace during the present life, so shall we find with you, when the days of our pilgrimage are over, everlasting peace in the world to come. Amen.

The Essential Mary Handbook : a summary of beliefs, practices, and prayers : with a glossary of key terms and cross-referenced to the Catechism of the Catholic Church [edited and compiled by Judith A. Bauer]
Imprint Liguori, Mo. : Liguori Publications, 1999, 123. BX2160.2 .E88 1999

Consecration of the Sick to Mary

O kind and good Mother, whose own soul was pierced by the sword of sorrow, look upon us while, in our sickness, we arraign ourselves beside you on the Calvary where your Jesus hangs.

Dowered with the high grace of suffering, and hopeful of fulfilling in our own flesh what is wanting in our sharing of Christ's passion, on behalf of his Mystical Body, the Church, we consecrate to you ourselves and our pain. We pray that you will place them on that Altar of the Cross to which Jesus is affixed. May they be little victims of propitiation for our salvation, for the salvation of all peoples.

O Mother of Sorrows, accept this consecration. Strengthen our hopeful hearts, that as partakers of Christ's sufferings we may also share in his comfort now and for evermore. Amen.

The Essential Mary Handbook : a summary of beliefs, practices, and prayers : with a glossary of key terms and cross-referenced to the Catechism of the Catholic Church [edited and compiled by Judith A. Bauer]
Imprint Liguori, Mo. : Liguori Publications, 1999, 123. BX2160.2 .E88 1999

Consecration to the Blessed Virgin

Most Holy Virgin Mary, tender Mother of all, to fulfill the desires of the Sacred Heart and the request of the Vicar of your Son on earth, we consecrate ourselves and our families to your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and we recommend to you, all the people of our country and all the world.

Please accept our consecration, dearest Mother, and use us as you wish to accomplish your designs upon the world.
O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and Queen of the World, rule over us, together with the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Our King. Save us from the spreading flood of modern paganism; kindle in our hearts and homes the love of purity, the practice of a virtuous life, an ardent zeal for souls, and a desire to pray the rosary more faithfully.

We come with confidence to you, O Throne of Grace and Mother of Fair Love. Inflame us with the same Divine Fire which has inflamed your own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. Make our hearts and homes your shrine, and through us, make the Heart of Jesus, together with your rule, triumphant in every heart and home.

The Essential Mary Handbook : a summary of beliefs, practices, and prayers : with a glossary of key terms and cross-referenced to the Catechism of the Catholic Church [edited and compiled by Judith A. Bauer]
Imprint Liguori, Mo. : Liguori Publications, 1999, 123. BX2160.2 .E88 1999

Bend Tenderly Over Our Wounds

Enraptured by the splendor of your heavenly beauty, and impelled by the anxieties of the world, we cast ourselves into your arms, O Immaculate Mother of Jesus and our Mother, Mary, confident of finding in your most loving heart appeasement of our ardent desires, and a safe harbor from the tempests which beset us on every side.

Though degraded by our faults and overwhelmed by infinite misery, we admire and praise the peerless richness of the sublime gifts with which God has filled you, above every other mere creature, from the first moment of your conception until the day on which, after your assumption into heaven, he crowned you Queen of the Universe.

O crystal Fountain of Faith, bathe our minds with the eternal truths! O fragrant Lily of All Holiness, captivate our hearts with your heavenly perfume! O Conqueress of Evil and Death, inspire in us a deep horror of sin, which makes the soul detestable to God and a slave of hell!

O well-beloved of God, hear the ardent cry which rises up from every heart. Bend tenderly over our aching wounds. Convert the wicked, dry the tears of the afflicted and oppressed, comfort the poor and humble, quench hatreds, sweeten hardness, safeguard the flower of purity in youth, protect the holy church, make all men feel the attractions of Christian goodness. In your name, resounding harmoniously in heaven, may they recognize that they are brothers, and that the nations are members of one family, upon which may there shine forth the sun of a universal and sincere peace.

Receive, O most sweet Mother, our humble supplications, and above all obtain for us that, one day, happy with you, we may repeat before your throne that hymn which today is sung on earth around your altars: You are all-beautiful, O Mary! You are the glory, your are the joy, your are the honor of our people!
Amen.

"...prayer, dedicated to Mary Immaculate, was composed ... for the Marian year of 1954, which was proclaimed to mark the centenary of the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception." p. 134.

Blessed Art Thou: A Treasury of Marian Prayers and Devotions, Richard J. Beyer
Imprint Notre Dame, IN : Ave Maria Press, 1996, 134-135. BX2160.2 B46 1996

Mary Our Strength

O Virgin, fair as the moon,
delight of the angels and saints in heaven,
grant that we may become like you
and that our souls may receive a ray of your beauty,
which does not decline with the years
but shines forth into eternity.
O Mary, sun of heaven,
restore life where there is death
and enlighten spirits where there is darkness.
Turn your countenance to your children
and radiate on us your light and your fervor.
O Mary, powerful as an army,
grant victory to our ranks.
We are very weak
and our enemy rages with uttermost conceit.
But under your banner
we are confident of overcoming him. ....
Save us, O Mary,
fair as the moon,
bright as the sun,
awe-inspiring as an army set in battle array
and sustained not by hatred
but by the ardor of love.
Amen

Blessed Art Thou: A Treasury of Marian Prayers and Devotions, Richard J. Beyer
Imprint Notre Dame, IN : Ave Maria Press, 1996, 134-135. BX2160.2 B46 1996

Prayer to Mary, Queen

From the depths of this vale of tears where sorrowing humanity makes weary progress -- through the surges of the this sea of ours endlessly buffeted by the winds of passion -- we raise our eyes to you, O most beloved Mother Mary, to be comforted by the contemplation of your glory and to hail you as Queen of heaven and earth, Queen of mankind.
With legitimate filial pride, we wish to exalt your queenship and to recognize it as due to the sovereign excellence of your whole being, O dearest one, truly mother of him who is King by right, by inheritance and by conquest.

Reign, O Mother and Queen, by showing us the path of holiness and by guiding and assisting us that we may never stray from it.

In the heights of heaven you exercise your primacy over the choirs of angels who acclaim you as their sovereign, and over the legions of saints who delight in beholding your dazzling beauty. So, too, reign over the entire human race, above all by opening the path of faith to those who do not yet know your Divine Son.

Reign over the Church, which acknowledges and extols your gentle dominion and has recourse to you as a safe refuge amid the calamities of our day. Reign especially over that part of the Church which is persecuted and oppressed; give it strength to bear adversity, constancy never to yield under unjust compulsion, light to avoid falling into the snares of the enemy, firmness to resist overt attack, and at every moment unwavering faithfulness to your kingdom.

Reign over men's minds, that they may seek only what is true; over their wills, that they may follow solely what is good; over their hearts, that they may love nothing but what you yourself love.

Reign over individuals and over families, as well as over societies and nations; over the assemblies of the powerful, the counsels of the wise, as over the simple aspirations of the humble.

Reign in the streets and in the squares, in the cities and the villages, in the valleys and in the mountains, in the air, on land and on the sea; and hear the pious prayers of all those who recognize that yours is a reign of mercy, in which every petition is heard, every sorrow comforted, every misfortune relieved, every infirmity healed, and in which, at a gesture from your gentle hands, from death itself there arises smiling life.

Obtain for us that all who now in every corner of the world acclaim and hail you Queen and Lady may one day in heaven enjoy the fullness of your kingdom in the vision of your Divine Son, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

At St. Peter's Basilica, November 1, 1954. Institution of the Feast of the Queenship of Mary.

Papal Teachings: Our Lady [selected and arranged by the Benedictine Monks of Solesmes; translated by The Daughters of St. Paul], Boston: Daughters of St. Paul, 1961, 323-324. BT597.C29

Prayer: Salve, O Vergine

Hail, O Virgin most pure, most powerful Queen whom the human family invokes by the sweet name of Mother! We who cannot invoke an earthly mother either because we never knew her or were very soon deprived of such a sweet and necessary support, we turn to you, certain that you shall be a mother to us in a special manner.

If, indeed, because of our condition, we arouse in every one feelings of pity, compassion and love, we shall awaken such feelings of pity, compassion and love, the most loving, most tender and most merciful of all pure creatures.

O true Mother of all Orphans, we take refuge in your Immaculate Heart, certain of receiving therein all the comfort for which our bereft hearts are yearning.

We place all our trust in you so that you maternal hand may guide and support us along the steep paths of this life.
Bless all those who assist or protect us in your name; reward our benefactors and the chosen souls that devote their lives to us. Above all, be ever to us a Mother, modeling our hearts, enlightening our minds, strengthening our wills, adorning our souls with every virtue, and keeping away from us the enemies of our God who would wish to ruin us forever!

Finally, dearest Mother, our delight and our hope, lead us to Jesus, the blessed fruit of your womb, so that if we have not enjoyed the sweetness of a mother here below, we may hereafter, in everlasting life, enjoy your motherly love and your presence, together with that of your Divine Son who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

Composed August 28, 1956.

Papal Teachings: Our Lady [selected and arranged by the Benedictine Monks of Solesmes; translated by The Daughters of St. Paul], Boston: Daughters of St. Paul, 1961, 323-324. BT597.C29

Prayer: Obedient to the Invitation

Obedient to the invitation give in your own maternal words, O Virgin Immaculate of Lourdes, we hurry to your feet at the humble grotto, where you appeared to point out the way of prayer and penance to those gone astray and to dispense the graces and wonders of your supreme goodness to the sick.

O gracious Queen, accept the homage and the prayers that the peoples and the nations, caught in bitter straits, trustingly raise to you

O resplendent vision of Paradise, dispel from our minds the darkness of error by the light of faith! O mystical garden of roses, comfort the broken hearts of people with the heavenly perfume of hope! O inexhaustible fountain of saving waters, refresh with the floods of divine charity hearts that are dry.

Grant that we, your children, may be consoled in our sorrows, protected in danger, and sustained in our struggles! May we love and serve your dear Son Jesus in such a way that we may deserve eternal joy before your throne in heaven above. Amen.

Composed May 17, 1957.

Papal Teachings: Our Lady [selected and arranged by the Benedictine Monks of Solesmes; translated by The Daughters of St. Paul], Boston: Daughters of St. Paul, 1961, 323-324. BT597.C29

Prayer: O Full of Grace

O Mary, "full of grace and blessed among women," stretch out the hand of your motherly protection, we ask you, upon us who gather round your queenly throne as your handmaidens, obedient to your command and resolved with your help to bring to realization in ourselves and our sisters the ideals of truth and Christian perfection.

Our eyes are fixed on your in admiration, immaculate Virgin; you who are loved by the Heavenly Father above all others! O Virgin Spouse of the Holy Spirit! Tender Mother of Jesus! Obtain for us from your Divine Son the grace to reflect your sublime virtues in our conduct, according to our age and condition of life.

Grant that we may be spotless and pure in our thoughts and in our behavior; gentle, affectionate, and sympathetic companions to our husbands; to our children solicitous, vigilant and wise mothers; prudent administrators of our homes; exemplary citizens of our dear country; faithful daughters of the Church, ever ready to allow ourselves to be guided by her in thought and deed.

Help us, loving Mother, to be truly devoted to the duties of our state of life; help us make our homes true centers of spiritual life and active charity, schools where consciences will be rightly formed, gardens where every virtue will flourish. Give us your help that in social and political life we may be patterns of deep faith, of consistent and gracious Christian practice, of incorruptible integrity, and of well-balance judgment based upon the solid principles of religion.

Bless these our resolutions which you have inspired us to make and the trials you have helped us to bear; may we with your aid come to see their abundant fruits in time and in eternity. Amen.

Composed May 26, 1957.

Papal Teachings: Our Lady [selected and arranged by the Benedictine Monks of Solesmes; translated by The Daughters of St. Paul], Boston: Daughters of St. Paul, 1961, 323-324. BT597.C29

Prayer: Vergine benedicta

Blessed Virgin who, under the title of Repose, reminds us of the succoring pity with which your maternal heart is open to your children, hear our prayer!

Through your powerful intercession, O Mary, may minds and hearts find repose in abandoning themselves to the Will of the Heavenly Father, in the consciousness of their frailty, in faith in divine promises, in the hope of eternal blessings, and in adhering lovingly to your Crucified Jesus who has made our crosses his own.

If we are protected by you, O Mary, calm amid earthly perturbation will not be an empty word. It will be repose for the strong, watchful against hostile forces; repose for the pure, away from worldly corruption. And as through you we shall have had peace in this life, so, at the end of our pilgrimage in time, we shall enjoy peace for ever and ever. Amen.

Composed June 2, 1958.

Papal Teachings: Our Lady [selected and arranged by the Benedictine Monks of Solesmes; translated by The Daughters of St. Paul], Boston: Daughters of St. Paul, 1961, 323-324. BT597.C29

Consecration to the Blessed Virgin

Most Holy Virgin Mary, tender Mother of all, to fulfill the desires of the Sacred Heart and the request of the Vicar of your Son on earth, we consecrate ourselves and our families to your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and we recommend to you, all the people of our country and all the world.

Please accept our consecration, dearest Mother, and use us as you wish to accomplish your designs upon the world.
O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and Queen of the World, rule over us, together with the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Our King. Save us from the spreading flood of modern paganism; kindle in our hearts and homes the love of purity, the practice of a virtuous life, an ardent zeal for souls, and a desire to pray the rosary more faithfully.

We come with confidence to you, O Throne of Grace and Mother of Fair Love. Inflame us with the same Divine Fire which has inflamed your own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. Make our hearts and homes your shrine, and through us, make the Heart of Jesus, together with your rule, triumphant in every heart and home.