Send your prayer. We place it at the House of Virgin Mary.
Wherever you are in the world, write your prayer or wish below and a family from Ephesus will carry it up the mountain and place it on the wishing wall at Mary’s house — free, with reverence, on our regular visits.
Always freeNo donations askedAny languagePlaced by us in person
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7:7
Every prayer deserves to be heard
Everyone should have the opportunity to leave a prayer at the House of Virgin Mary in Ephesus — even those who cannot travel here. We, a family from Ephesus, are here to help.
The House of Virgin Mary near Ephesus — part of the UNESCO World Heritage area of Ephesus — welcomes around a million visitors a year. We have watched people of the world praying side by side under Mary’s roof, without racial or religious boundaries. The most beloved corner of the shrine is the little wishing wall in the lower garden, which gathers thousands of handwritten prayers every day.
This is a shrine where three popes have prayed — Benedict XVI called it a place of peace — and whose story reads like a novel: a bedridden nun’s visions, a rediscovery in 1891, a spring that still flows, and a century of loving restoration.
We started the Prayers Unchained Initiative in December 2020 with one ambition: no distance, no hardship, no circumstance should stand between people and the brighter future they imagine. Send us your prayer, and it will find its place on that wall. Read our story — we are affiliated with no government or ideology, completely self-funded and nonprofit. This is, and will always be, free.
“I wrote a prayer for my mother while she was in the hospital, and strangers I had never met carried it to the Virgin Mary’s garden. The night they placed it on the wall, I slept peacefully for the first time in months. My heart knew it had been heard.”
Mariana · Lisbon, Portugal
Three simple steps
From your heart to the wishing wall — we take care of everything in between.
Write your prayer
Send us your prayer or wish through the form below — for yourself, or on behalf of someone you love. Any language, up to 300 characters.
We carry it to Ephesus
We receive your prayer with care and bring it to the House of Virgin Mary on our regular visits — we live a short drive away.
It joins the wishing wall
Your words are placed among thousands of prayers on the centuries-old wall in Mary’s garden. Follow our social pages to see moments from the wall.
No fees, no donations asked — ever. This is our gift to the praying world.
The mountain where the House of Virgin Mary stands is called Bülbül Dağı — “Nightingale Mountain” in Turkish. Pilgrims say the birdsong on the forest road is the first welcome you receive.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Philippians 4:6
The story behind the initiative
Did Mary live in Ephesus?
The story of the stone house on Nightingale Mountain — and how we know it was hers.
Read the story →
The Wishing Wall
Thousands of folded prayers on one wall — the tradition your prayer becomes part of.
Discover the tradition →
Prayers to the Virgin Mary
The Memorare, the Hail Mary, Sub Tuum Praesidium — for help, healing, protection and intercession.
Pray with us →Stories from people who sent their prayers
Nothing moves us more than the messages we receive after a prayer has been placed on the wall.
Last winter was hard for our family — my work hours were cut, and worry sat at our table like a guest who would not leave. We didn’t ask for a miracle. We just asked for strength to get through. Knowing our little paper rested on Mary’s wall gave us a calm we hadn’t felt in months, and by spring I had steady work again. But the real gift is this: we learned to pray together as a family.
I am a widow, and some evenings the silence in my house was louder than any storm. I sent a simple prayer — not for anything, just to feel less alone. A warmth settled over me in the weeks that followed, gentle as a hand on my shoulder. I know Who it was. My heart has been calm ever since.
During the COVID lockdowns I proposed to my beloved in a video call — we were separated by an ocean and closed borders, with no idea when we would see each other again. I asked the initiative to place our prayer for reunion on the wall. When the borders finally opened, she was in my arms at the airport. Next year we will visit the House of Virgin Mary together, as husband and wife, to say thank you.
Before you send yours
How to send a prayer request
What to write, how to send it, and exactly what happens after you press send.
Step by step →
The Holy Water Spring
The spring that led the discoverers to the house — and still fills pilgrims’ bottles today.
About the spring →
Photos of the House
The chapel, the garden, the wall, the spring — and a pilgrim in 1962.
See the photos →Send a prayer request online — free, always
Write your prayer below, for yourself or for someone you love, and we will place it on the wishing wall at the House of Virgin Mary in Ephesus. Watch it become a note as you type.
Virgin Mary is the only woman mentioned by name in the Qur’an — an entire chapter, Surah Maryam, carries her name. That is why Christians and Muslims pray side by side at her house in Ephesus.
We are the Gülday family
Hasan, Valeriya, our two daughters — and yes, the cat insists on being in the photo. We live a short drive from the House of Virgin Mary, and this initiative is simply our family’s way of being good neighbours to the world: every prayer that arrives is received with care, carried up the mountain, and placed on the wishing wall by us personally.
We believe faith is something you do with your hands. Helping believers who cannot travel — the elderly, the unwell, the far away — place their prayers at Mary’s house costs us little and means everything to them. That is the whole story. No fees, no fine print, just a family keeping a promise.
— Hasan & Valeriya Gülday
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Matthew 18:20
The people who found and honoured the house
Anne Catherine Emmerich
The bedridden nun whose visions found Mary’s house — without her ever leaving Germany.
Keep reading →
The Discovery of the House
How two skeptical priests followed a book up a mountain in 1891 — and found the ruin it described.
Keep reading →
Popes at Mary’s House
Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI — a century of papal devotion to the little stone house.
Keep reading →Questions people ask before they send
Is it really free to send a prayer request? ▾
Yes — completely. Prayers Unchained is self-funded and nonprofit. We never charge a fee, never ask for donations, and never sell anything. Your prayer is placed on the wishing wall at the House of Virgin Mary as our gift.
How do I send my prayer request online? ▾
Use the form on this page: your name, your e-mail, and your prayer (up to 300 characters). Press “Send my prayer to the wall”. You can also e-mail it to submit@prayersunchained.com. Our step-by-step guide explains everything else.
Can I send a prayer for someone else? ▾
Of course. Many prayers we carry are for a parent, a child, a friend, or someone who has passed away. Simply write who it is for — first name is enough.
What happens after I send it? ▾
We receive your prayer with care and, on our next regular visit to the House of Virgin Mary, we place it on the wishing wall in the lower garden ourselves — among thousands of prayers from around the world. We share moments from the wall on our social pages.
Can I write in my own language? ▾
Yes. Prayers arrive in every language, and every one is placed on the wall exactly as it was written. Use the flags at the top of this page to read this website in Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Russian or Turkish.
Do I need to be Catholic? ▾
No. The Virgin Mary is honoured by Christians of every tradition and deeply respected by Muslims (Meryem Ana). People of every faith — and people still searching — leave prayers on the wall. Everyone is welcome.
Follow the journey of the prayers
We share moments from the House of Virgin Mary and the wishing wall on our social pages.