«REMEMBER, O MOST PIOUS VIRGIN MARY». - Prayer to the Blessed Virgin, an expression of filial trust in her, who never turns a deaf ear to the petitions of her children. Erroneously attributed to St. Bernard, it nevertheless contains in paraphrase his words: «Let thy mercy be silent, O Blessed Virgin, if there be anyone who, having invoked thee in his necessities, remembers thee to have failed him» (Serm. IV de Assumpt., 8: PL 183, 428). In its precise present form it is not earlier than the 15th century.
Originally it formed part of a longer prayer, which began with the words «Ad sanctitatis tuae pedes, dulcissima Virgo Maria, ... memorare non esse auditum a saeculo...». The earliest known testimony of this is found in the Antihidotarius animae by Nicholas Saliceto, a Cistercian of Strasbourg, published in 1489 and subsequently in several editions. A little over a decade later, the prayer appears already detached in the Hortulus animae, a collection of prayers compiled by J. Wehinger (Strasbourg 1503).
The prayer became, through the work of the Servant of God Claude Bernard (1588–1641), the means of countless conversions and miracles. The Servant of God Philip Roothaan, General of the Jesuits, also propagated it with untiring zeal, obtaining from Pius IX in 1846 an indulgence, and introduced it into a prayer in honour of the Virgin of Peace: «Ave augustissima regina pacis».
It is found almost in the same terms from antiquity also among the Christians of the East («Nemo ad bonitatem tuam confugit quin cito misericordiam consecutus sit» etc.: Canon. Paraclet. in SS. Deiparam. Opus Photii. Cf. A. Ballerini, Sylloge monument., I, Rome 1854, p. 481).