It is twelve words, and they fit on one line. Many who pray the Miraculous Medal prayer read it for the first time in the same place: engraved around the Virgin on the obverse of the medal.
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The text
“O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee”
This is the traditional Spanish version, with the plural “pray” and the formal “thee.” Today it is also heard with the informal “you,” and that is how the chapel in Paris where it originated writes it in Spanish. In French, the language in which it was first engraved, it is “Ô Marie conçue sans péché, priez pour nous qui avons recours à vous”.
A prayer like this is called a jaculatory prayer, which the dictionary defines as a brief and fervent prayer.
Where it comes from
According to what Saint Catherine Labouré recounted, on November 27, 1830, at half past five in the afternoon, while praying in the chapel on the Rue du Bac, she saw the Virgin standing on a half-globe, with rays of light coming from her hands. Around the image she read these words, and heard the instruction to have a medal struck according to that model.
In that account, the prayer does not arrive separately: it is part of the image. That is why the medal has carried them together since the first ones were distributed in 1832. The full story is in our article on the history of the Miraculous Medal.
What each part means
- “O Mary.” It begins by calling her by her name, without titles, as you would call someone from your own home.
- “conceived without sin.” It refers to Mary’s own conception, not Jesus’s: it affirms that she was preserved from original sin from the very first moment. This is what the Church calls the Immaculate Conception.
- “pray for us.” It does not ask her to grant something by herself, but to intercede. And it is asked in the plural: whoever prays it does not ask only for themselves.
- “who have recourse to thee.” It acknowledges a need. To have recourse is to turn to someone you trust when you cannot do it alone.
The medal and the dogma of 1854
When the first medals were struck, the Immaculate Conception was an ancient and widely held belief, but it had not yet been defined as dogma. Pope Pius IX proclaimed it on December 8, 1854, with the bull Ineffabilis Deus, twenty-four years after the apparitions at the Rue du Bac. If you like this devotion, here is our Immaculate Conception medal.
By then, the medal had been circulating for more than two decades with the words “conceived without sin”: according to the chapel, more than ten million had already been distributed by 1839. And in 1858, at Lourdes, Bernadette Soubirous recounted that the Lady she saw had presented herself as the Immaculate Conception. We tell it in The Immaculate Conception: history and curiosities.
Prayer to the Virgin of the Miraculous Medal
In addition to the jaculatory prayer, many people look for a somewhat longer prayer to address Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. There are several traditional ones, and each parish or little book uses its own. The chapel on the Rue du Bac, for example, publishes on its Spanish-language website one that begins “O Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God and our Mother…”, intended for the novena: you can read it in full there.
Here we leave you a shorter one, written by us, which follows the pattern of those prayers of supplication: invocation, trust, petition, and, at the end, the jaculatory prayer of the medal.
Our version
Virgin of the Miraculous Medal, Mother of God and our Mother: as Saint Catherine saw you, with open hands and full of light, so we come to you today. You, who were conceived without sin, look upon those of us who carry your medal and the people we love. We entrust this intention to you (said silently). Present it to your Son, if it is for our good, and help us to live close to Him every day. O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Amen.
It is not an official text. If another one is prayed in your parish or family, stick with that one: what matters is praying it with confidence.
To pray on November 27
November 27 is the feast of the Virgin of the Miraculous Medal, the anniversary of the apparition of 1830; in 2026 it falls on a Friday. Many parishes and families prepare it with the novena to the Virgin of the Miraculous Medal, which is prayed from November 18 to 26, and on that day they pray their prayer and the jaculatory prayer. It is also a good day to debut the medal, take it to be blessed, or give it as a gift. Putting it on while praying is a way to always carry her devotion: it is not an amulet nor does it ensure anything by itself, but a reminder of faith that you carry with you and that returns to prayer every time you touch it.
When and how it is usually prayed
Being a jaculatory prayer, it has no time or place. These are some customs:
- When putting on the medal in the morning, or touching it during the day.
- During the novena, from November 18 to 26, and on the feast day, the 27th.
- With children before bedtime: it is short and learned right away.
Pope John Paul II also prayed this invocation in the chapel itself, on May 31, 1980, during his trip to France.
Why the medal has it engraved
Because that was the image Catherine described: the prayer was part of the model. And it has a practical meaning: whoever carries the medal carries the prayer with them.
The medal is not an amulet. According to what Saint Catherine recounted, the Virgin promised great graces to those who would carry it with confidence, and what tradition proposes is precisely that: to carry it with confidence and pray.
Our Miraculous Medals
You can see them all in our Miraculous Medal collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the prayer to the Virgin of the Miraculous Medal?
The proper prayer of the Miraculous Medal is the jaculatory prayer engraved on it: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” In addition, there are longer prayers of supplication and consecration: the chapel on the Rue du Bac proposes one that begins “O Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God and our Mother…”, and in this article you have a short version of ours.
When is it prayed?
At any time: when putting on the medal, during the day, or before going to sleep. The designated dates are November 27, the feast of the Virgin of the Miraculous Medal, and its novena, which is usually prayed from November 18 to 26.
What does “conceived without sin” mean?
It refers to Mary’s own conception, not Jesus’s: it affirms that she was preserved from original sin from the first moment of her existence. It is the Immaculate Conception, which Pope Pius IX proclaimed dogma on December 8, 1854.
Facts you can check
- The apparition of November 27, 1830, at half past five in the afternoon, with the invocation, the instruction to strike the medal, and the promise to those who carry it with confidence. Source · Source
- The text in French and the figures of distribution (more than ten million medals in 1839). Source
- “Jaculatory prayer”: brief and fervent prayer. Source
- Pius IX proclaimed the dogma on December 8, 1854, with the bull Ineffabilis Deus; the apparitions at Lourdes are from 1858. Source
- John Paul II prayed this invocation in the chapel on May 31, 1980. Source
- The chapel on the Rue du Bac publishes in Spanish the novena prayer that begins “O Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God and our Mother…”, along with the one John Paul II prayed in the chapel. Source
- The feast is celebrated on November 27 and the novena begins on the 18th. Source
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