In 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared eighteen times to St. Bernadette Soubirous, a poor fourteen-year-old girl, in a grotto at Lourdes in southern France. She called herself "the Immaculate Conception," asked for prayer and penance, and showed Bernadette a spring that still flows today. Millions of pilgrims visit every year, and the Church has recognized many healings there as miraculous. This traditional prayer asks Our Lady, Health of the Sick, to look with mercy on ou

The Rosary is built around twenty mysteries from the lives of Jesus and Mary, grouped into four sets of five: the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries. Most people pray one set (five decades) at a time, so the Church has a customary pattern that assigns a set to each day of the week. That way, over the course of a week, you walk through the whole Gospel with Our Lady. The current pattern was set out by St. John Paul II in 2002, when he added the Luminous Myster

Christians have called on the Blessed Virgin as Help of Christians (Auxilium Christianorum) since the early centuries, and the title appears in the Litany of Loreto. Pope Pius VII established the feast of Mary Help of Christians on May 24 in thanksgiving for his return to Rome in 1814 after years of captivity under Napoleon. St. John Bosco later spread the devotion around the world and built the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin. This prayer places us under Mary's

"Woman, behold thy son... Behold thy mother" (John 19:26-27) is the third of the Seven Last Words. From the Cross, Jesus gave His mother to the beloved disciple John, and the Church has always understood that in John He gave Mary to all of us as our spiritual mother. This short meditation accepts that gift personally and asks Mary to be a mother to us now and at the hour of our death. It is a good prayer on Good Friday, on the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows (September 15), b

Jesus described His mission in simple words: "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). His parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son show the joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (Luke 15). This prayer asks Christ to look with mercy on sinners and to bring them back with humble and contrite hearts, through the intercession of Mary, Refuge of Sinners. Pray it for family members or friends who have drifted from the

Give thanks for God's countless gifts with this traditional prayer. The Prayer O my God, I thank Thee for all the benefits which I have received from Thy bounty, especially for my creation, redemption, and preservation. I thank Thee for Baptism, for the Holy Eucharist, for Thy holy Mother Mary, for my Guardian Angel, and for all the means of salvation. Glory be to Thee forever. Amen. Sources: Traditional thanksgiving; classic manuals, public domain. If these prayers help you,

A second traditional form asking comfort and healing for the sick. The Prayer O Lord Jesus Christ, Who during Thy earthly life didst go about doing good, healing all manner of sickness and disease among the people: continue, we beseech Thee, this Thy gracious work among us. Cheer, heal, and sanctify the sick; grant to physicians and nurses wisdom and skill, and to us sympathy and understanding. Through Mary, Health of the Sick, hear us. Amen. Traditional prayer for the sick F

The Holy Family of Nazareth, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, is the model and protector of every Christian home. Like every family, they knew hardship, poverty, travel, and worry, and the Church celebrates them on the Sunday after Christmas. This prayer asks their blessing on your household and the grace to bear with one another, forgive quickly, and serve each other. Pray it together at dinner or bedtime, during times of tension or conflict, when family members are estranged, or wh

Jesus told His disciples, "The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest" (Matthew 9:37-38). This traditional prayer takes up that command, asking God, through the intercession of Mary and all the saints, to raise up laborers for His Church at home and abroad so that His kingdom may spread throughout the world. Pray it for vocations to the priesthood, religious life, and mission

Temptation rarely gives us time for long prayers. That is why the saints recommended short aspirations, sometimes called ejaculatory prayers: a few words that can be said in a heartbeat, out loud or silently, the moment a temptation begins. "Jesus, mercy! Mary, help!" is one of the best loved, and it is short enough to memorize at once. Use it the moment you notice a temptation to anger, impurity, gossip, discouragement, or any sin, and repeat it as often as you need to. Call

The Litany of Loreto is the Church's best-known litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It takes its name from the Holy House shrine at Loreto in Italy, where it was sung in the sixteenth century, and Pope Sixtus V approved it for the whole Church in 1587. Its titles for Mary, such as Mother most pure, Seat of Wisdom, Mystical Rose, Tower of Ivory, and Refuge of Sinners, are drawn from Scripture and the Church Fathers. Popes have added new invocations over the centuries. It is tra

Purity of heart, which Jesus blessed in the Beatitudes ("Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God"), is a grace to ask for daily. The Church has long entrusted the struggle for chastity to the Holy Family, and especially to Mary conceived without sin and to St. Joseph, her chaste spouse. These short aspirations are for any moment: when temptations arise, when you are online or alone, before sleep, or as a daily habit. The second line is the prayer of the Miracul

These three short aspirations to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are among the best-known in the Catholic tradition and were once commonly taught to children and printed in every prayer book. Invoking the Holy Family together is especially fitting because St. Joseph is the patron of a happy death, since by tradition he died in the arms of Jesus and Mary. The first aspiration gives heart and soul to the Holy Family; the second and third ask their help at the hour of death. Pray them o

Meditate briefly on Our Lady's Seven Sorrows with a Hail Mary after each sorrow. The Prayer 1. The Prophecy of Simeon. Hail Mary... 2. The Flight into Egypt. Hail Mary... 3. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple. Hail Mary... 4. Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary. Hail Mary... 5. Jesus Dies on the Cross. Hail Mary... 6. Mary Receives the Body of Jesus in Her Arms. Hail Mary... 7. Jesus Is Placed in the Tomb. Hail Mary... Pray for us, O most sorrowful Virgin, that we m

A shorter traditional Marian litany suitable for daily use, drawn from Loreto invocations. The Prayer Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us. God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us. Holy Mary, pray for us. Holy Mother of God, pray for us. Holy Virgin of virgins, p

This short prayer comes from the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. According to Sister Lucia, one of the three shepherd children, Our Lady taught it to them on July 13, 1917, and asked that it be said after each decade of the Rosary. It asks Jesus to forgive our sins, save us from hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of His mercy. Most Catholics pray it after the Glory Be at the end of each decade of the Rosary, as the Holy Ros

In 1830, in the chapel of the Daughters of Charity on the Rue du Bac in Paris, Our Lady appeared to St. Catherine Labouré and showed her the design of a medal. Around its edge were the words "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee." This medal, soon called the Miraculous Medal, spread across the world, and its prayer helped prepare the Church for Pope Pius IX's definition of the Immaculate Conception in 1854. Pray it as an aspiration at any time

The Sub Tuum Praesidium, "We fly to thy patronage," is the oldest known prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary outside of Scripture. A Greek version survives on an Egyptian papyrus that many scholars date to the third or fourth century, which shows that early Christians already called Mary the Mother of God and asked her protection in times of danger. It is still prayed in the Coptic, Byzantine, Ambrosian, and Roman traditions. Pray it when you feel threatened, anxious, or tempted

The Magnificat is Mary's song of praise, which she spoke when she visited her cousin Elizabeth after the Annunciation (Luke 1:46-55). Echoing the song of Hannah in the Old Testament, it celebrates how God lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry, and keeps His promise to Abraham. The Church sings it every evening at Vespers, so for centuries Christians have ended the day praising God in Mary's own words. Pray it at Evening Prayer, on the feast of the Visitation (May 31), on Maria

Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary honors the love, purity, and sorrow of Our Lady's heart, which "kept all these things, pondering them" (Luke 2:19). The devotion spread widely after the apparitions at Fatima in 1917, and the Church keeps the memorial of the Immaculate Heart on the Saturday after the feast of the Sacred Heart. These short aspirations are meant to be repeated often through the day: while walking, working, waiting, or falling asleep. They are especially