We Fly to Your Patronage
Traditional prayer of the Church. · The rights holder named on the source
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We fly to your 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.
Latin text
Sub tuum praesidium
“Sub tuum praesídium confúgimus,
sancta Dei Génetrix;
nostras deprecatiónes ne despícias in necessitátibus,
sed a perículis cunctis líbera nos semper,
Virgo gloriósa et benedícta”.
Meaning in brief
This prayer says that we take refuge in the holy Mother of God and asks her not to despise our petitions in our necessities, but to deliver us from danger. We also ask Mary to reconcile us, commend us, and lead us to her Son, Jesus Christ.
Intentions and hope
The faithful pray it when they feel afraid, threatened, tempted, or weighed down by hardship, and also to close the day. What we may hope for is to be accompanied by the prayer of the Blessed Virgin Mary and drawn closer to Christ.
When and how to pray
- This prayer can be prayed at any time, especially when you are anxious, in danger, or facing temptation.
- It is also well suited to the evening, before going to sleep or after Night Prayer.
- Settle into a calm posture; you may kneel or sit. Then make the Sign of the Cross.
- Pray it slowly, then close with the versicle and response and "Amen."
- In the Liturgy of the Hours, this prayer may be used as the Marian antiphon after Night Prayer outside Easter Time.
Where it comes from
History
The oldest known text of this prayer is written in Greek on Rylands Papyrus 470, a papyrus fragment from Egypt acquired by the John Rylands Library in Manchester in 1917. In 1938 the papyrologist C. H. Roberts identified the fragment as an early form of this prayer. [4][3]
The Latin text "Sub tuum praesidium" is a translation from the Greek. When it was translated cannot yet be determined, and the sources disagree about it. [4]
In the Roman Rite, this prayer became the antiphon for the Canticle of Simeon (Nunc Dimittis) at Night Prayer in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the Liturgy of the Hours, it may be used as the Marian antiphon after Night Prayer outside Easter Time. [5]
The prayer is also known in the Eastern Churches: in the Byzantine Rite this hymn is sung at Vespers during Great Lent, and it is also used in the Coptic and Armenian liturgies. In the West, besides the Roman Rite, it is also used in the Ambrosian Rite. [5]
The Second Vatican Council, in Lumen Gentium 66, states that the faithful take refuge under Mary's protection "in all their dangers and necessities"; the council's own note quotes "Sub tuum praesidium confugimus." In October 2018, Pope Francis invited the whole Church to pray this prayer every day, together with the Rosary and the prayer to Saint Michael. [3]
Sources & version
Text: The rights holder named on the source. Checked word for word against the source on 2026-11-05.
- Latin Prayers, Pater Noster
Text taken from www.ewtn.com
Prayer text © The rights holder named on the source; quoted with attribution and a link (owner decision K2, ADR 0067).
- Holy See Press Office Communiqué (29 Sept 2018)
Latin text from press.vatican.va
Latin text quoted with attribution and a link.
- Liturgical Year : Prayers : Sub Tuum (from M. O'Carroll, Theotokos: A Theological Encyclopedia of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
Published by CatholicCulture.org
Cited as a factual source; the source text remains its publisher's.
- The Earliest Marian Prayer: The Heart of Christian Devotion
Published by The Postil
Cited as a factual source; the source text remains its publisher's.
- Religion:Sub tuum praesidium
Published by HandWiki
Cited as a factual source; the source text remains its publisher's.
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