Prayer to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary Assumed into Heaven

It was the Holy Father Pope Pius XII who recited this prayer for the first time on the eve of the proclamation of the dogma of the Assumption into heaven of our Lady, on October 31, 1950.

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Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God and Mother of all men,

1. We believe, with all the fervor of our faith, thy glorious Assumption into heaven, which thou didst enter soul and body, where the chorus of all Angels and Saints acclaimed thee as Queen; and we join our voices to theirs in thanking and praising the Lord Who has exalted thee above all other creatures, and in presenting thee our most sincere desires of affection and love.

2. We know that thou, who on earth didst surround the most humble and suffering humanity of Jesus with thy motherly love, art now blessed in heaven with the vision of the glorified humanity of the uncreated Wisdom, and that the happiness of thy soul in contemplating face to face the most adorable Trinity makes thy heart beat with the most tender affection; and we poor sinners, to whom the burden of the body embarrasses the elevation of the soul, beseech thee to purify our minds so that, even during this earthly life, we may learn to savour God and God alone in the magnificient beauty of His creation.

3. We have the assurance that thine eyes full of compassion look down on our misery and our anguish, on our struggles and our weaknesses; that thy lips smile on our joys and our victories; and that thou hearest Jesus' voice saying for everyone of us, as He said once for his beloved apostle, "behold thy son"; and we, who invoke thee as our Mother, look up to thee, as St. John did, as to our guide, our strength, and our consolation in our mortal life.

4. We have the most comforting certitude that thine eyes, having wept once on this earth which was sprinkled with Jesus' Blood, are still gazing on this world, a prey to wars, a place of persecution and oppression of the just and the weak; and in the darkness of this vale of tears we expect from thy heavenly light and thy tender compassion help in the needs of our hearts, help in the trials of the Church and of our country.

5. Finally we believe that thou, in the glory where thou art reigning, clothed with the sun and crowned with the stars, art after Jesus the happiness and the felicity of all Angels and Saints; and from this world where we pass as pilgrims, strengthened with the faith in the coming resurrection, we lift our eyes up to thee, our life, our sweetness, our hope; attract us with the sweetness of thy voice, so that thou mayest show us, after our exile, Jesus the blessed Fruit of thy womb, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

- Pope Pius XII