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Summary
- The Memorare is quoted in full from the 1888 Manual of Prayers, which ascribes it to St. Bernard; the Catholic Encyclopedia says Claude Bernard (1588–1641) spread it but that the prayer is older.
- The prayer said after the Our Father at every Mass asks to be kept ab omni perturbatione securi: “secure from all disturbance” in 1888, “protect us from all anxiety” in the English Mass before 2011, and “safe from all distress” in the current Roman Missal.
- Pope Leo XIII ordered the prayer to St. Michael said after Low Mass; the Catechism (paragraph 1673) teaches that psychological illness is “the concern of medical science.”
- Short prayers cover a panic attack, morning worry, sleepless nights, health and money worries, feeling overwhelmed and praying for someone else who is anxious.
- The Catechism (paragraph 305) reads Matthew 6 as Jesus asking for “childlike abandonment” to God’s providence; Philippians 4:6–7 pairs “Be careful for nothing” with prayer and thanksgiving.
- Prayer goes alongside medical care: panic attacks or constant worry call for a doctor, and thoughts of suicide for 988 in the US or Samaritans (116 123) in the UK and Ireland.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Psalm 4:8; 56:3; Lamentations 3:23; Matthew 6:8, 26, 34; 14:31; Luke 10:41; John 14:27; Philippians 4:6–7; 1 Peter 5:7). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity, prepared and published by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1888. “An Act of Hope,” p. 53; The Canon of the Mass, pp. 147–148; “A Short Recommendation to God,” p. 171; “A Prayer ascribed to St. Bernard” (the Memorare), pp. 381–382; Epistle for the Third Sunday of Advent (Philippians 4:4–7), p. 668. https://archive.org/details/AManualOfPrayers1888
- Lasance, Francis Xavier. The Catholic Girl’s Guide: Counsels and Devotions for Girls in the Ordinary Walks of Life. New York: Benziger Brothers, 1906. Prayers ordered by Pope Leo XIII after Low Mass, pp. 461–462. https://archive.org/details/catholicgirlsgui00lasa
- Schrantz, Charles. “Claude Bernard.” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02496c.htm
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Paragraph 305: https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_one/section_two/chapter_one/article_1/paragraph_4_the_creator.html ; paragraph 1673: https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_two/section_two/chapter_four/article_1.html
- National Eucharistic Revival. “Do This in Remembrance of Me, Part 61: Embolism.” https://www.eucharisticrevival.org/post/do-this-in-remembrance-of-me-part-61-embolism
- “Deliver Us, Lord, From Every Evil and Grant Us Peace in Our Day.” Liturgy & Catechesis Shall Kiss, September 2011 (the pre-2011 and 2011 English texts of the embolism). https://liturgycatechesisshallkiss.blogspot.com/2011/09/deliver-us-lord-from-every-evil-and.html
- Irenaeus of Lyons. Against Heresies, Book 3, chapter 22. Translated by Alexander Roberts and William Rambaut, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885). https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103322.htm
- “Mary, Untier of Knots.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_Untier_of_Knots
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. https://988lifeline.org/ ; Samaritans. https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
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