Also known as Sub Tuum Praesidium, Beneath Thy Protection
The oldest known prayer to Mary — found on an Egyptian papyrus from around the third century. Christians were praying these words while the persecutions were still going on.
We fly to thy patronage,
O holy Mother of God;
despise not our petitions in our necessities,
but deliver us always from all dangers,
O glorious and blessed Virgin.
Amen.
Sub tuum præsídium confúgimus,
sancta Dei Génetrix;
nostras deprecatiónes ne despícias in necessitátibus nostris,
sed a perículis cunctis líbera nos semper,
Virgo gloriósa et benedícta.
Amen.
Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Appendix A: Common Prayers
This text is in the public domain. About these texts
A prayer of confident appeal, made when things are urgent. Its whole argument is that no one has ever asked Mary for help and been turned away.
Two greetings from the Gospel — the angel’s and Elizabeth’s — followed by the Church’s own petition. The prayer the Rosary is built from.