Marian advocations
Faces of one and the same Mother
Mary is one alone. The advocations do not divide the Virgin; rather, they show how each people, each age and each heart has learnt to recognise her maternal presence. Under different names, images, places and histories, the Church always contemplates the same Mother of God and our Mother.
Nuestra Señora del Carmen
El 16 de julio, la Virgen del Carmen y su santo Escapulario.
Conocerla1. What is a Marian “advocation”?
To speak of Marian «advocations» requires first distinguishing three realities that are often confused in popular devotion and which, nevertheless, the Church distinguishes with precision: the dogmatic title, the advocation properly so called and the popular devotion.
The dogmatic titles
The dogmatic titles are those which belong to the deposit of the faith and bind every Catholic under pain of heresy. There are four:
- Mother of God (Theotókos), defined by the Council of Ephesus (431). CCC 509.
- Ever Virgin (Aeiparthénos). CCC 499-501.
- Immaculate Conception, defined by Pius IX in Ineffabilis Deus (8 December 1854).
- Assumption, defined by Pius XII in Munificentissimus Deus (1 November 1950).
Catechism paragraphs 487-507.
The advocations
A title under which the faithful invoke Mary, linked to an event (approved apparition, miracle, finding of an image) or to a spiritual attribute (Help of Christians, Health of the Sick, Refuge of Sinners). It adds nothing to the dogma: Mary is always the same. What changes is the place, the face and the historical circumstance.
Lumen Gentium 53: “The Blessed Virgin, through the gift and prerogative of the divine motherhood by which she is united with her Son, the Redeemer, […] is likewise truly Mother of the members of Christ”.
Popular devotion
Subordinate to the liturgy. Paul VI in Marialis Cultus (1974), 31: “Marian piety, rightly and properly understood, should never be opposed to the norms of the liturgy, but should draw its inspiration from them and lead to them as to its natural culmination”. Legitimate advocations fulfil three conditions (MC 25-37): trinitarian, ecclesial, biblical.
📚 Books, films and videos on the Rosary and Our Lady
Universal advocations
Titles and dogmas with which the whole Church honours the Mother of God.
Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception, also known as the Most Pure Conception, is a dogma of the Catholic Church which holds that the Virgin Mary was free from original sin from the first instant of her conception, through the merits of her Son Jesus Christ. Gathering up the sense of two thousand years of Christian tradition, it was debated by the medieval theologians and proclaimed a dogma in 1854 by Pope Pius IX through the bull Ineffabilis Deus. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church.
💛 In Mary, all pure, we contemplate the beautiful work of God’s grace. She teaches us to keep our hearts clean and open to His will.
🙏 O Mary, conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to you.
Deliver us from all evil and guide us towards your Son. Amen.
Assumption of the Virgin Mary
The Assumption of Mary is the belief, according to the tradition and doctrine of the Catholic Church —together with the Orthodox Church and other denominations—, that Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, at the end of her earthly life was taken body and soul into Heaven. It must not be confused with the Ascension, which refers to Jesus Christ himself. It is one of the Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church.
💛 The Mother who followed Christ on earth now rejoices with Him in glory. Her Assumption is a pledge and hope of the life that awaits the children of God.
🙏 Most Holy Virgin, taken up to Heaven in body and soul,
be our hope along the way.
Obtain for us that one day we may contemplate with you the face of the Lord. Amen.
Our Lady of the Rosary
Our Lady of the Rosary, also called Most Holy Mary of the Rosary, is an advocation of Mary venerated by the Catholic Church, which celebrates on 7 October the feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Most Holy Rosary. She is patroness of the Order of Preachers and of the Military Emergencies Unit (UME) of Spain, as well as of various dioceses and armies in Argentina and Peru.
💛 The Rosary is the simple prayer that leads us, hand in hand with Mary, to contemplate the life of Jesus. In every Hail Mary beats the love of a Mother.
🙏 Queen of the Most Holy Rosary,
teach us to meditate with you upon the mysteries of your Son.
May every Hail Mary be an act of love and of peace. Amen.
How to Pray the Rosary · Her prayer · Litany of Loreto · Marian calendar
Mary, Mother of the Church
Mary, the mother of Jesus of Nazareth, is venerated in Christianity under various titles, many of them gathered in the Litany of Loreto. The Catholic and Orthodox Churches acknowledge her as Mother of God and, following Saint Irenaeus of Lyon and the Gospel of John, attribute to her a maternal intercession before Jesus Christ. As Mother of the Redeemer, she is also invoked as Mother of the Church, a liturgical memorial celebrated on the Monday after Pentecost.
💛 At the foot of the cross, Mary received all the disciples as her children. She remains the attentive Mother of the pilgrim Church.
🙏 Mary, Mother of the Church,
care for the people your Son entrusted to you.
Keep us united in faith and in fraternal love. Amen.
Stella Maris (Star of the Sea)
Stella Maris, «Star of the Sea», is an ancient title of the Virgin Mary, applied to her since at least the ninth century. Under this invocation, Mary is contemplated as the light who guides the faithful amid the difficulties of life, as the star guides the sailor.
💛 When the sea of life grows rough, it is enough to lift our eyes to Mary, the Star that never fades, to find once more our course towards Christ.
🙏 Star of the Sea, light of pilgrims,
guide us through the storms of this world
to the safe harbour of your Son Jesus. Amen.
Queen of Heaven
Queen of Heaven is a title given to the Virgin Mary, above all by the Catholic Church, as a consequence of the Council of Ephesus (fifth century), where she was proclaimed «Theotokos», Mother of God. It is an expression of the veneration of Mary in literature, art, music and the liturgy, in prayers such as the Salve Regina, the Ave Regina Caelorum and the Regina Coeli. Pope Benedict XVI observed that the humble and unconditional acceptance of God’s will is the ultimate reason why she is Queen of Heaven.
💛 Mary reigns not by power, but by love: because she said «yes» to God without reserve. Her royalty is that of service and self-giving.
🙏 Queen of Heaven, rejoice,
for the Lord whom you bore in your womb has risen.
Pray for us before your glorious Son. Amen.
Angelus and Regina Coeli · Litany of Loreto · Marian calendar
Queen of Peace
Our Lady of Peace, or Queen of Peace, is a Marian advocation under which the Virgin Mary is invoked as intercessor and bearer of peace. Her name is found among the titles by which the Christian people honour the Mother of God.
💛 Whoever carries Jesus in the heart carries peace within. Mary, who gave Him to us, teaches us to be sowers of reconciliation.
🙏 Queen of Peace,
obtain for us from the Lord a serene and reconciled heart.
Make us instruments of your peace in the world. Amen.
Help of Christians (Mary Help of Christians)
Mary Help of Christians is an advocation of the Virgin Mary whose title goes back, according to tradition, to a homily of Saint John Chrysostom. It gained strength under Pope Pius V in the sixteenth century and was definitively popularised by the educational and apostolic works of Saint John Bosco and Saint Mary Mazzarello in the nineteenth century. The Catholic Church traditionally commemorates this advocation on 24 May.
💛 In hours of trial, Mary comes swiftly to the aid of her children. To trust in her help is never to walk alone.
🙏 Mary Help of Christians, succour of Christians,
shelter your children in every danger.
Be our help in life and at the hour of death. Amen.
Her novena · Her prayer · Litany of Loreto · Marian calendar
Mother of Good Counsel
Our Lady of Good Counsel is a Marian advocation of the Catholic Church, venerated especially in the Italian town of Genazzano, where her image is honoured, and throughout the whole Church. Pope Pius IX included the invocation «Mother of Good Counsel» in the Litany of Loreto in veneration of this advocation.
💛 When we are unsure of the way, Mary always counsels us as she did at Cana: «Do whatever He tells you». In her we find light to choose well.
🙏 Mother of Good Counsel,
enlighten our decisions with the wisdom of your Son.
Guide us along the path that leads to life. Amen.
Mother of Mercy
Mother of Mercy is one of the titles with which the Church honours the Virgin Mary, invoking her as advocate and compassionate refuge of the faithful. Under this advocation she is contemplated as the Mother who turns her merciful eyes towards her children, as the ancient prayer of the Salve Regina expresses.
💛 In Mary, the mercy of God has a Mother’s face. To her we come with confidence, certain of never being turned away.
🙏 Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy,
turn upon us those your eyes of mercy
and show us Jesus, the blessed fruit of your womb. Amen.
Health of the Sick
Health of the Sick is one of the Marian invocations contained in the Lauretan Litanies, the most widespread Marian litanies as a form of veneration and supplication to Mary, mother of Jesus. Under this title, the faithful turn to the Virgin asking for comfort and relief in illness, trusting in her maternal intercession.
💛 In pain and frailty, Mary makes herself present as a Mother who keeps watch beside the sickbed. Her closeness is itself a consolation.
🙏 Health of the sick,
watch over all who suffer in body and in soul.
Obtain for them from the Lord health, and above all peace. Amen.
Refuge of Sinners
Refuge of Sinners is one of the Marian invocations contained in the Lauretan Litanies, originally approved in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V and also known as the Litany of Loreto. Under this title, the Church honours Mary as the sure refuge of those who, acknowledging themselves sinners, seek in her the way back to God.
💛 No child is too far away for Mary. Her Mother’s heart is an open refuge where the sinner always finds welcome and hope.
🙏 Refuge of sinners,
welcome those who return to God with a contrite heart.
Lead us to the mercy of your Son Jesus. Amen.
Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii
Raised by Blessed Bartolo Longo in the valley of Vesuvius, it is one of the great world centres of the praying of the Rosary, famous for its Supplication recited every 8 May and on the first Sunday of October.
💛 «O blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain that binds us to God!»
🙏 Queen of the Most Holy Rosary of Pompeii, pray for us.
Our Lady of Częstochowa
The Black Virgin of Jasna Góra, spiritual heart of Poland, with the two scars on her cheek. Queen and Mother of the Polish people, greatly beloved of Saint John Paul II.
💛 Faithful Mother in the hour of trial.
🙏 Mother of God of Częstochowa, Queen of Poland, pray for us.
Our Lady of Loreto
Venerates, according to tradition, the house of Nazareth of the Annunciation. Patroness of aviators; one of the great Marian shrines of Europe.
💛 In the house of Nazareth we learn the humble life of the Holy Family.
🙏 Our Lady of Loreto, house of the Incarnation, pray for us.
Our Lady of Walsingham
The «Nazareth of England», with its replica of the Holy House. Suppressed at the Reformation, its Catholic devotion was reborn in the twentieth century.
💛 The faith that seemed lost can flower once again.
🙏 Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.
Our Lady of la Guardia
On Monte Figogna, venerated since the apparition of 1490 to Benedetto Pareto. Protectress of Genoa, of its sailors and its emigrants.
💛 The Mother watches over her own like a beacon high upon the mountain.
🙏 Our Lady of the Guard, protectress of Genoa, pray for us.
Our Lady of La Vang
In the midst of persecution, the Catholics who prayed the Rosary in the forest of La Vang received, according to tradition, the consolation of the Virgin. National shrine of Vietnam.
💛 Consolation of the persecuted and refuge in trial.
🙏 Our Lady of La Vang, comfort of the persecuted, pray for us.
Our Lady of Sheshan
Marian heart of the Catholics of China. Every 24 May the universal Church prays for them, looking to this Mother venerated on the hill of Sheshan.
💛 A sign of faith and of hope for the Church in China.
🙏 Our Lady of Sheshan, Help of Christians, pray for the Church in China.
Our Lady of Lebanon
Above the bay of Jounieh, a great white image opens her arms towards the country. «Queen of Lebanon» and a sign of unity among its peoples.
💛 Mother of peace and of harmonious living.
🙏 Our Lady of Lebanon, pray for us and grant us peace.
Our Lady of Mariazell
The principal Marian shrine of Austria and of Central Europe. Its name, «the cell of Mary», recalls the chapel from which it was born in the twelfth century.
💛 Great Mother who gathers the peoples around her Son.
🙏 Magna Mater Austriae, pray for us.
Our Lady of Altötting
A small image darkened by time, Mother and Queen of Bavaria. Her chapel is surrounded by votive offerings that tell of centuries of graces.
💛 The Mother close at hand who listens in silence.
🙏 Mother of God of Altötting, pray for us.
Our Lady of Einsiedeln
Venerated in the Benedictine abbey founded beside the hermitage of Saint Meinrad (ninth century). A goal of pilgrims for more than a thousand years.
💛 In the silence of the monk and of the pilgrim, the Mother welcomes.
🙏 Our Lady of Einsiedeln, pray for us.
Our Lady of Africa
Above the bay of Algiers, a bronze image opens her arms to all. Her motto: «pray for us and for the Muslims», a sign of peace and fraternity.
💛 Mother of harmony and of peace among peoples.
🙏 Our Lady of Africa, pray for us and for the Muslims.
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Manaoag
Great Dominican shrine of the Philippines, one of the advocations most closely bound to the Holy Rosary. A sixteenth-century ivory image, invoked by the sick.
💛 The Mother who «calls» her children to lead them to Christ.
🙏 Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Manaoag, pray for us.
Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (Antipolo)
The «Virgin of the galleons» who protected the voyages between Manila and Acapulco. Today Filipinos entrust all their journeys to her.
💛 Mother who accompanies us on every crossing.
🙏 Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, guide our ways.
Most Holy Mary of Schoenstatt
From a small chapel, a devotion spread throughout the world: to seal with Mary a «covenant of love» and to make the home a little shrine.
💛 Making the heart and the home a shrine of Mary.
🙏 Mother Thrice Admirable, Queen of Schoenstatt, pray for us.
Our Lady of Good Counsel
Before the fresco that appeared at Genazzano (1467), the faithful turn to Mary to ask for light in difficult decisions. Her title appears in the Litany of Loreto.
💛 The Mother who counsels and guides in times of doubt.
🙏 Mother of Good Counsel, pray for us.
Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn
The icon of Ostra Brama, without the Child, blesses the city from its gate. Closely bound to the spirituality of the Divine Mercy.
💛 Mother of Mercy who keeps watch at the gate of the city.
🙏 Mother of Mercy of the Gate of Dawn, pray for us.
Our Lady of Good Health of Vailankanni
Great pilgrimage shrine of India, the destination of those who ask for health and protection —including many non-Christians—.
💛 Mother of the health of body and soul.
🙏 Our Lady of Good Health, pray for us.
Salus Populi Romani
The venerated icon of Saint Mary Major, protector of the people of Rome, before which the Popes pray; Pope Francis entrusts every journey to her.
💛 In every trial, the Virgin is the health and refuge of her people.
🙏 Mother of Christ and Salvation of the Roman People, pray for the Church and for us.
Our Lady of Šiluva
The great Marian shrine of Lithuania, linked to an apparition held to be one of the oldest recognised in Europe and a symbol of Catholic perseverance.
💛 Persevering faith finds in Mary consolation and steadfastness.
🙏 Our Lady of Šiluva, pray for us.
Our Lady of Marija Bistrica
The principal Marian shrine of Croatia, with its venerated Black Virgin; there John Paul II beatified Cardinal Stepinac in 1998.
💛 Mary is the heart and memory of the faith of the peoples.
🙏 Our Lady of Marija Bistrica, pray for us.
Mary, Undoer of Knots
Mary who, with a Mother’s patience, unties the knots that entangle life. A devotion arising from a painting in Augsburg which Pope Francis spread throughout the world.
💛 No knot is so tight that the Mother’s hands cannot undo it.
🙏 Mary, Undoer of Knots, untangle the snares that keep me from drawing near to God.
Our Lady of Bonaria
The Mercedarian Virgin of the hill of Bonaria, protectress of seafarers; from her name («good air») the city of Buenos Aires took its own.
💛 Mary is a sure star for those who sail amid tempests.
🙏 Our Lady of Bonaria, star of the sea, pray for us.
Our Lady of Tíndari
The Black Virgin with the Byzantine countenance who presides over a shrine above the Tyrrhenian Sea, on the site of ancient Tyndaris. «I am black, but beautiful.»
💛 The beauty of Mary shines beyond all appearance.
🙏 Our Lady of Tindari, pray for us.
Blessed Virgin of San Luca
Marian icon of Bologna, reached by a portico of almost 4 km with chapels of the mysteries of the Rosary. Symbol of the city.
💛 Mary accompanies every step of those who climb to meet her.
🙏 Blessed Virgin of San Luca, pray for us.
Our Lady of Divine Love
Mother of Divine Love, venerated at Castel di Leva, to the south of Rome; protectress of the city and the goal of summer night-time pilgrimages.
💛 The Mother’s love defends us in every danger.
🙏 Mother of Divine Love, pray for us.
Our Lady of Oropa
Black Madonna of the Piedmontese Alps, in one of the greatest Alpine Marian shrines. Crowned in 1620 and renewed every hundred years.
💛 From the mountain, the Mother watches over her children.
🙏 Our Lady of Oropa, pray for us.
Our Lady of the Fount of Caravaggio
The Lombard shrine of Santa Maria del Fonte, linked by tradition to the apparition of 1432 and to a venerated spring of water.
💛 From the Mother there ever flows water of grace and conversion.
🙏 Our Lady of the Fountain, pray for us.
Our Lady of Montenero
The Madonna delle Grazie of the hill of Montenero, above Livorno; patroness of Tuscany (Mater Etruriae) since 1947, with a great collection of votive offerings.
💛 The Mother watches from the mountain over all her land.
🙏 Mater Etruriae, pray for us.
Our Lady of Rocamadour
A small Black Virgin venerated in a shrine set upon a cliff above the Lot, a great staging post of medieval pilgrimage on the way to Santiago.
💛 The Mother sustains the pilgrim at the highest point of the way.
🙏 Our Lady of Rocamadour, pray for us.
Our Lady of Le Puy
Black Madonna venerated in one of the most ancient Marian shrines of France, starting point of the Via Podiensis towards Santiago.
💛 Before setting out, the pilgrim entrusts himself to the Mother.
🙏 Our Lady of Le Puy, pray for us.
Our Lady of la Guarda
«La Bonne Mère» who watches over Marseille from the city’s highest hill; protectress of sailors, her basilica covered with ex-votos.
💛 The Good Mother watches over those who sail the seas.
🙏 Bonne Mère, pray for us.
Our Lady of Victories
A Parisian shrine dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary since 1836, covered with tens of thousands of votive offerings given in thanksgiving.
💛 The Mother’s Heart welcomes every grateful supplication.
🙏 Our Lady of Victories, pray for us.
Our Lady of Chartres
Gothic cathedral that houses the Sancta Camisa, venerated as the veil of the Virgin, and a Black Madonna; a great medieval Marian shrine of Europe.
💛 Beneath the Mother’s veil the pilgrim finds shelter.
🙏 Our Lady of Chartres, pray for us.
Our Lady of Kazan
Venerated Russian icon, held to be the protectress of Russia; a copy was venerated at Fátima and returned by John Paul II to Moscow in 2004.
💛 The Mother protects her people in every tribulation.
🙏 Mother of God of Kazan, pray for us.
Our Lady of Vladimir
Twelfth-century Byzantine icon of the «Tenderness» type: the Mother and the Child cheek to cheek. One of the most celebrated Marian icons in the world.
💛 The tenderness of the Mother draws us closer to the Son.
🙏 Mother of Tenderness, pray for us.
Our Lady of Máriapócs
Greek Catholic icon that shed tears in 1696, 1715 and 1905. National shrine of Hungary and the most visited Marian shrine in the country.
💛 The Mother weeps with those who suffer and consoles them.
🙏 Our Lady of Tears, pray for us.
Our Lady of Levoča
The great Slovak national shrine, on the hill of Mariánska hora; the destination of one of the largest Marian pilgrimages in central Europe.
💛 The Mother gathers a whole people together on the way.
🙏 Our Lady of Levoča, pray for us.
Apparitions and great devotions of the Church
Advocations born of recognised apparitions or of a great ecclesial tradition. More detail in Approved Marian apparitions.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe, commonly known as the Virgin of Guadalupe, is a Marian apparition of the Catholic Church of Mexican origin. Her principal centre of devotion is the Basilica of Guadalupe, situated at the foot of the hill of Tepeyac, in the north of Mexico City.
💛 Mother of the peoples of America, her serene gaze reminds us that none of her children is left outside her protection.
🙏 Holy Mary of Guadalupe, our Mother,
turn upon us your eyes of mercy
and keep us always beneath your mantle. Amen.
Read the full history · Her novena · Guadalupan Litany · Approved Marian apparitions · Marian calendar
Our Lady of Lourdes
Our Lady of Lourdes is a Catholic Marian advocation referring to the eighteen apparitions which Bernadette Soubirous affirmed she witnessed in 1858 in the grotto of Massabielle, on the outskirts of the town of Lourdes, in France, in the foothills of the Pyrenees.
💛 In the humility of Bernadette, the Immaculate teaches us that God looks with predilection upon the simple of heart.
🙏 Our Lady of Lourdes, health of the sick,
console those who suffer in body and soul
and lead us along the path of conversion. Amen.
Read the full history · Her novena · Her prayer · Litanies of Lourdes · Approved Marian apparitions · Marian calendar
Our Lady of Fátima
Our Lady of Fatima, formally Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, had its origin in the testimonies of three shepherd children —Lucia dos Santos, Jacinta and Francisco Marto—, who declared that they had witnessed several Marian apparitions at the Cova da Iria, in Fatima (Portugal), between 13 May and 13 October 1917. Its principal place of worship is the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, one of the most important centres of pilgrimage in the world.
💛 The message of Fátima calls us to the prayer of the Rosary, to penance and to trust in the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
🙏 Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima,
teach us to pray and to make reparation,
and keep the world in the peace of your Immaculate Heart. Amen.
Read the full history · Her novena · Her prayer · Litanies of Fátima · Approved Marian apparitions · Marian calendar
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
The Miraculous Medal, also known as Our Lady of Graces of the Miraculous Medal, is a Marian advocation represented on a devotional medal whose design is based on the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in 1830 to Saint Catherine Labouré in Paris, France. The chapel where Sister Catherine received the visions, situated in the mother house of the Daughters of Charity in the Rue du Bac, is visited daily by the faithful and by pilgrims.
💛 «O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!»: the Medal invites us to trust in the grace that Mary pours out.
🙏 Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal,
grant us the graces we ask for with faith
and prepare us to respond to the love of God. Amen.
Her novena · Consecration · Approved Marian apparitions · Marian calendar
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour is a Marian advocation whose original image is an icon from Crete, venerated in Rome since the late fifteenth century. Since 1866 it has been kept in the church of Sant’Alfonso on the Esquiline, entrusted to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists), founded by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori. Her feast day is celebrated on 27 June.
💛 Mother of Perpetual Help, her very name is a promise: she comes always, without delay, to those who call upon her.
🙏 Mother of Perpetual Help,
accompany us in every need
and never let us go from your hand. Amen.
Her novena · Her prayer · Approved Marian apparitions · Marian calendar
Saints and seers of the Marian apparitions
Behind every great Marian apparition there is a humble face: a shepherd, a religious sister, some children whom the Virgin chose to entrust with her message. These are some of the saints and seers of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary: who they were, what the Mother of God said to them, and how that encounter transformed their lives.
Saint Catherine Labouré
A humble Daughter of Charity to whom the Virgin appeared in Paris in 1830, sitting beside her to speak with her «as a mother speaks to her daughter», and entrusted her with striking the Miraculous Medal.
🙏 «O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.»
Saint Bernadette Soubirous
A poor, sickly girl of Lourdes to whom a «beautiful Lady» appeared eighteen times in the grotto of Massabielle, taught her to pray the rosary and revealed to her: «I am the Immaculate Conception».
🙏 «I am the Immaculate Conception.»
Sister Lúcia dos Santos
The eldest of the three little shepherds of Fátima, whom Our Lady asked to pray the Rosary every day for the peace of the world; she then lived for almost a century as a Carmelite, guarding the message.
🙏 «Pray the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.»
Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto
Two little shepherd brothers, cousins of Lucia, who saw the Virgin at Fatima and died very young offering sacrifices «for love of Jesus and for sinners»; canonised by Pope Francis in 2017.
🙏 «We must pray a great deal and offer sacrifices for sinners.» (Saint Jacinta)
Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin
A humble native to whom the Virgin appeared at Tepeyac, calling him «the smallest of my children»; on his tilma was imprinted the image of Guadalupe, which evangelised a continent.
🙏 «Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection?»
Sor Patrocinio
A nineteenth-century Conceptionist nun, celebrated and controversial, highly influential at the court of Isabella II, to whom tradition attributes a vision of the Virgin near the Gran Vía, from which the advocation of Forgetfulness, Triumph and Mercies was born.
🙏 «My Lady and my Queen, do you not see Spain; do you not see the evils that afflict us?»
The seers of La Salette
Two poor little shepherds of the Alps to whom in 1846 there appeared a «beautiful Lady», seated and weeping, who spoke to them of the abandonment of God and asked of them conversion, penance and prayer.
🙏 «If my people will not submit, I shall be forced to let go the arm of my Son.»
The seers of Beauraing
Five children from a Belgian village saw the Virgin thirty-three times beside a hawthorn in a convent garden; at the end she showed them her Heart of gold and asked them, above all, to «pray very much».
🙏 «Believe in me, and I will believe in you. Pray a great deal.»
Mariette Beco
An eleven-year-old Belgian girl, from a poor and scarcely religious family, to whom the Virgin presented herself as «the Virgin of the Poor», led her to a spring «for the sick» and asked of her prayer and a chapel.
🙏 «I am the Virgin of the Poor. Believe in me, and I will believe in you.»
The apparition at Knock
On a rainy evening in 1879, fifteen villagers of an Irish hamlet gazed for two hours, upon the wall of their church, at the Virgin Mary together with Saint Joseph, Saint John and the Lamb of God; an apparition without a single word.
🙏 An apparition without words: adoring silence before the Lamb of God.
Conchita of Garabandal
The principal seer of Garabandal. María Conchita received more than 2,000 apparitions of the Virgin. Our Lady promised a great Miracle visible to all.
🙏 «Do not be afraid. I am your Mother.»
Melanie Calvat
The fifteen-year-old shepherdess who, together with Maximin Giraud, saw the Virgin weeping in the French Alps. She received a secret which she wrote down later.
🙏 «If my people will not submit, I shall be forced to let go the arm of my Son.»
Maximin Giraud
The eleven-year-old shepherd boy who, together with Melanie Calvat, saw the Virgin weeping. He revealed his secret to Pope Pius IX.
🙏 «If my people will not submit, I shall be forced to let go the arm of my Son.»
Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa
The deaf Japanese nun to whom Our Lady appeared three times in the convent. A statue of the Virgin bled, sweated and shed tears.
🙏 «If people do not convert, God will punish humanity with a chastisement worse than the flood.»
Ida Peerdeman
The seer to whom Our Lady appeared 56 times under the title of «Our Lady of All Nations».
🙏 «I am the Lady of All Nations.»
Alphonsine Mumureke
The first seer of Kibeho, to whom Our Lady appeared as «Nyina wa Jambo» (Mother of the Word). She was shown visions of a river of blood foreshadowing the genocide of 1994.
🙏 «Pray a great deal to avert the disaster.»
Saint Maximilian Kolbe
The Polish Franciscan who founded the Militia of the Immaculata and died at Auschwitz, sacrificing himself for another prisoner.
🙏 «All that I am and all that I have belongs to the Immaculate.»
Saint Catherine of Siena
The Dominican mystic who had a profound devotion to the Virgin Mary and wrote the «Dialogue of Divine Providence».
🙏 «Be what you ought to be, and you will be what you wish.»
Saint Teresa of Ávila
The reformer of Carmel, with a profound devotion to the Virgin Mary. She prayed the Rosary daily.
🙏 «Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. All things pass away; God never changes.»
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus
The «Little Flower» of Lisieux, with a tender devotion to the Virgin Mary. Her vocation was love.
🙏 «My vocation is love.»
Nathalie Mukamazimpaka
The second seer of Kibeho. She received apparitions of the Virgin and of Jesus. Our Lady wept before her, showing her sorrow for the sins of the world.
🙏 «Our Lady wept because the world does not convert.»
Marie Claire Mukangango
The third seer of Kibeho. Our Lady showed her visions of a river of blood, foreshadowing the genocide of 1994. She died during the genocide.
🙏 «Our Lady warned us. We did not listen.»
Jacinta González (Garabandal)
One of the four seers of Garabandal. She received more than 2,000 apparitions of the Virgin together with Conchita.
🙏 «Our Lady asked us to pray the Rosary every day.»
Mari Loli Mazón (Garabandal)
One of the four seers of Garabandal. She died in 2009 upholding the authenticity of the apparitions.
🙏 «Our Lady asked us to be converted with all our heart.»
Gladys Quiroga de Motta
The seer to whom Our Lady appeared more than 1,800 times as «Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolás».
🙏 «My Shrine shall be built, and there I shall bless my people.»
Saint Louis de Montfort
The author of the «Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary», the most influential work on Marian devotion.
🙏 «To Mary, through Mary, in Mary, with Mary.»
Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
The author of «The Glories of Mary», one of the most important works on Marian devotion.
🙏 «Mary is the hope of all.»
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
The «Mellifluous Doctor», author of the Salve Regina and one of the great devotees of the Virgin Mary.
🙏 «Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary.»
Blessed Bartolo Longo
The lawyer who became the apostle of the Rosary and built the shrine of Pompeii.
🙏 «The Rosary is the most beautiful prayer after the Mass.»
Mari Cruz González (Garabandal)
The youngest of the four seers of Garabandal. She was the first to leave the village, moving to Santander.
🙏 «Our Lady asked us to pray the Rosary every day.»
Bernardo Martínez (Cuapa)
The humble sacristan to whom the Virgin appeared as «Mother of the God of Peace» during the Nicaraguan civil war.
🙏 «Pray the Rosary. Pray with the heart. Do no harm to anyone.»
María Esperanza de Bianchini (Betania)
The seer to whom Our Lady appeared as «Reconciler of Peoples». In 1984, a consecrated host appeared miraculously in the chapel.
🙏 «I am the Reconciler of Peoples.»
Marian advocations by country
Travel the world hand in hand with Mary, continent by continent: every country keeps its advocations, its shrines and its stories of the Mother of Heaven. Click to see those of each country.
🌍 Europe
🌎 North America
🌎 Central America and the Caribbean
🌎 South America
🌏 Asia and the Middle East
🌍 Africa
🌏 Oceania
Marian advocations of Spain by autonomous community
Explore the advocations of each of Spain’s autonomous communities.