While many Protestants claim that the devotion to, and veneration of, Our Lady is a novelty developed by Papists in the Middle Ages, nothing can be further from the truth.
An ancient prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the “Sub Tuum Praesidium”, is the oldest known prayer to Our Lady asking her intercession, older than even the Hail Mary itself. The hymn has long been chanted in both the Western and Eastern Churches. But the antiquity of this prayer is attributed to discoveries of a 3rd Egyptian Papyrus, a small scrap of papyrus with brown ink, dated between the years 250 AD-280 AD.
Likely written during the persecution of Valerian or of Decius, the prayer shows the early Church, in grave danger, confidently asking for the protection of the Virgin Mary.
One significant element is that it shows early Christians using the term “Theotokos” or “Mother of God” centuries before the Council of Ephesus in 431. It also shows that, despite the claims of some Protestants, Christians were directly praying to Mary for her intercession and protection.
Download the FREE Prayer Card
Under your patronage we take refuge Holy Mother of God! Download a FREE Sub Tuum Praesidium prayer card featuring the oldest known prayer AND the oldest known image of Our Lady, from the Catacombs of Priscilla. This prayer card will help you seek the protection of Our Lady and connect with the tradition of earliest Christians who sought the same.