Ave Regina

Memorare, O piissima Virgo Maria, non esse auditum a saeculo, 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 thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly to 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.

The Memorare, commonly attributed to St. Bernard, is one of the prayers passed down to us through the abundance of the Tradition of the Church. It has been around in different varieties for hundreds of years, the “final version” above was established in the 19th century. Its main content has been the same all along, though; In any situation, any problem, in persecution or any other hardship, Our Mother WILL intercede for us if we ask it of her. She is the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of God, and God will surely listen to her intercessions, and thus she will come to our aid if we pray for it. There’s also another prayer, attributed to St. Francis de Sales, starting with the following words: “Do not say, merciful Virgin, that you can not help me, for your beloved Son has given you all power in heaven and on earth.” This very much sums up the content of the Memorare (though it should not be misunderstood): Only the triune God is almighty, and the Son is given all power in heaven and on earth. However He will always listen to the intercessions of Our Mother, as Her will is to carry out the will of God. Following, as she will never pray for anything against the will of God, she truly is all-powerful. Thus, imploring her for her intercession will never leave us unaided - perhaps her help will be of another kind than what we expect, but she will never fail.

Some people will perhaps object to this, saying something like “As God is the one truly almighty and truly all-powerful, where is the need asking the Virgin Mary for help?”. My answer is: “Because she knows how to pray.” As we are still on earth, the will of God is still clouded to us, we see “through a glass in a dark manner” (1 Cor 13:12), but as she has taken part in the Beatific Vision, she sees “face to face” (ibid.). How much more will she know of what we are in need than we do ourselves! Therefore the Memorare is not only a beautiful (and powerful) prayer in situations of need, it is also a great piece of catechism, as it tells us something about how Our Mother is able to help us - if we entrust our lives to Her intercession and protection.

Closely connected to the Brown Scapular is the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Probably dating back to the eighth century, it is one of the oldest traditions of Marian devotion, and for that sake one of the oldest traditions of prayer in the Church at general. It has been used by religious, priests and lay people, and in several religious orders it has been recited in addition to the Divine Office up until our time. It has been used as a means to learn children to read, and it has been the favorite devotion of those who knew how to read - people even knew it by heart! Try memorizing Our Lady’s Matins…

Reciting the Little Office is one of the conditions to be observed if wearing the Brown Scapular (though this can be substituted with some other good work with the permission of a priest), but I also recommend reciting it if you are not wearing a Scapular. The Manual of Indulgences of 1999 grants a partial indulgence for piously reciting an approved little office, and The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of them. It is commonly held that this applies also to reciting parts of it - I’ve found that reciting Lauds, Prime, Sext, Vespers and Compline works great taking my daily schedule into account. Some days I recite all or most of the hours in the evening, but that used to be normal among both lay people and diocesan priests up until recent times, and I find actually reciting the hours more important than reciting them at the right time if I can’t do both.

The Little Office (1961 edition) is composed of the normal hours (Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline), but there is no day cycle, the Office remains the same every day. However there are variations for Advent and Christmastide, and the “normal” Office changes a bit during Lent and Easter. The Office also don’t have variations for commemorations and feasts. This results in a very small book (”Little Office”, remember), which makes it incredibly practical to carry around compared to the Roman Breviary or the Liturgy of the Hours. On the more spiritual level, you get the chance to meditate on the same texts over and over, and the Marian theme of the psalms will stand out more and more clearly after having recited the office for a while, thus giving you a greater understanding of God’s plan for the Blessed Virgin, and how this is found throughout the whole history of Israel. Reciting the Little Office is thus in my opinion perhaps the most important Marian devotion we have, and I’m glad to see - both online and among people I know - that it’s on its way back after sadly having been almost abandoned in mainstream Catholicism for a while.

As I’ve never even looked at the post-1970 edition, I can’t really say which version I prefer, but as the differences probably resemble the difference between the 1961 Roman Breviary and the current Liturgy of the Hours, I went for the 1961 version when I decided to start reading the Little Office. Having read the current Liturgy of the Hours for years, both in vernacular and Latin, I found, at some point, that I personally prefer the 1961 rubrics, as its focus is more on reciting the psalter and less on intercessions etc., which suits my liturgical sense better. However there’s nothing wrong with the current rubrics if you happen to prefer them (which is the great thing about the Papal gift of Summorum Pontificum, you’re allowed to prefer the form you want - or both of them for that sake), and if so taking a look at the newer edition can be fruitful.

As for the 1961 edition, it has newly been republished by Baronius Press, with a beautiful blue leather cover and gilded pages. It is the first ever edition that contains the Gregorian Chant for every part of the Office, which makes it a wonderful book if one is to sing the Office in a parish or other community. It follows the text of the 1961 editio typica of the Roman Breviary, and it uses the Douay-Rheims Bible for the English translation, which is perhaps the best translation for liturgical use in my opinion, due to its reverent and poetic language. This book is highly recommended for all Catholics!

The post-1970 edition is published by Catholic Book Publishing, other than that I don’t know anything about it. I plan to buy it and review it, but that’ll take some time. In case you want to take a look at it, I’ll link to both versions. The one to the left is the 1961 edition :-)

The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Little Office Of The Blessed Virgin Mary

Of the many gifts our Lady has given to us, the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel must be one of the greatest. Dating back to the thirteenth century, it has nurtured Christians during persecution, war, famine, and every thinkable hardship in history since the Middle Ages. Traditionally, it is believed that Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock on the Sunday of July 16 in the year of 1251, giving him a scapular with the following words: “Take, beloved son this scapular of thy order as a badge of my confraternity and for thee and all Carmelites a special sign of grace; whoever dies in this garment, will not suffer everlasting fire. It is the sign of salvation, a safeguard in dangers, a pledge of peace and of the covenant.” Even though this can’t be proved historically to have happened, it’s still a pious tradition in the Church, and the promise given by the Blessed Virgin has been approved by the Church.

It is however important to understand this promise; to believe that simply wearing a piece of cloth will guarantee one’s salvation is both superstitious and against the teachings of the Magisterium. It is not an amulet, but a sign of piety and devotion to Our Lady. Wearing the Scapular means dedicating oneself to Her, and there are three conditions to be fulfilled; To wear the Brown Scapular (or a Scapular Medal) continuously, to observe chastity according to one’s state in life, and to daily recite the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. The last condition can be substituted with some other good work with the permission of a priest. For those wearing the Scapular with the intention of observing these conditions, our Lady has promised to intercede for one’s true conversion and perseverance in good works and against sin, and she will intercede especially at the hour of death. In this way the pious wearing of the Scapular will help one’s salvation - not as some magical amulet, but as a means to pursue good, and a way to ask for Our Lady’s special intercession.

There is also another promise connected to the Scapular - the Sabbatine Privilege, found in a bull of Pope John XXII. The Blessed Virgin appeared to him with the following words: “I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death and whomsoever I shall find in Purgatory, I shall free, so that I may lead them to the holy mountain of life everlasting.” Through this, the Church tells us that through piously wearing the Scapular, if one still is owing some temporal debt of punishment at the time of death (which most of us probably are), Our Lady will, through her intercession, shorten one’s stay in Purgatory. Again, this promise is dependent on the three conditions mentioned above.

Some practical information: The Scapular must be fully made of wool, most of them have images on them, but such images are not a necessity. If one wants to wear the Scapular, one should be enrolled in the Scapular Confraternity of Carmel. This can be done by any priest using this ritual. After enrollment, it is not necessary to have new scapulars blessed by a priest, the blessing is connected to you as a person, and not to the specific scapular. Instead of wearing the wool Scapular, one is allowed to wear a Scapular Medal, showing the Sacred Heart on one side and an image of Mary on the other. However wearing the wool Scapular is encouraged, I myself wear the wool Scapular but wear the Medal when wearing the Scapular is impractical, i.e. while showering.

Coming up next: The Little Office of The Blessed Virgin Mary

Brown Scapular with St. Benedict Medal

Scapular Sterling Round Medal