May I take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Feast of Mary. Today, we are celebrating the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Are any of you familiar with the meaning of the Christian name Mary? Mary, having a Hebrew origin, means "The Beautiful." Indeed, she is as a beautiful blooming flower of the Lord God who has and continues to manifest endless favours upon her.
The devotion to Jesus through Mary has been progressive throughout the entire history of the Holy Catholic Church. While some members of the Church have written about the Blessed Virgin Mary prior to the fourth century, it was not until then that her name had become rather popular among the Christian community.
Moving ahead in history, in 1683, Vienna was besieged by an army of 550,000 Turkish invaders who had reached the city walls and threatened all of Europe. John Sobieski, the King of Poland, a religious prince, came to the assistance of Vienna with a smaller army on the octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After serving the priest during the celebration of the Holy Mass and having received Holy Communion, he rose against the enemy by stating, "Let us march with confidence under the protection of Heaven and with the aid of the Most Holy Virgin!" At the approach of King John and his army, the Turks were struck with a sudden fear and fled in complete disorder.
Following this great victory under the auspice of our heavenly Mother, in the Fall of 1683 A.D., Pope Innocent XI ordered that the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary be celebrated each year by the universal Church as a perpetual memorial of the victory of King John Sobieski of Poland against the enemy at Vienna, Austria. The purpose of this feast was to remind the faithful to recommend to God on this day, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, all the necessities of the Church while giving thanks to God for His gracious protection and numberless mercies.
Since those days, this special Feast of Mary has been celebrated during the octave of the Nativity of Our Lady.
Referring to the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Richard of St. Laurence stated, "there is not such powerful help in any name, nor is there any other name given to men, after that of Jesus, from which so much salvation is poured forth upon men as from the name of Mary that the devout invocation of this sweet and holy name leads to the acquisition of superabundant graces in this life, and a very high degree of glory in the next."
Today, when we consider the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception that was proclaimed in 1854 by Pope Pius IX, we can now perceive why God had sent His Spirit to guide the Holy Catholic Church towards the granting of great honours to the Most Holy Name of Mary. According to this Dogma, "The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. (Inneffabilis Deus 1854, cited in the Catechism of the Catholic Church # 491)
As the only human being, this excluding Jesus, who was free of all traces of sins and remained so throughout her life, the Blessed Virgin Mary achieved perfection where the first Eve had failed. As the Second Eve, the Blessed Virgin Mary, was elevated by God as the spiritual mother of mankind.
These honours, and the many more that have been bestowed upon the Blessed Virgin Mary leave no doubt in the mind of Catholics that her Most Holy Name, Mary, the Beautiful one, a name that has been elevated higher than all human beings and angels, is the fountain of superabundant graces that shower upon us sinners from the Throne of God.
So powerful is the Most Holy Name of Mary, that it is said that the devils fear the Queen of heaven to such a degree, that only on hearing her great name pronounced, they fly from those who seek her help as from a burning fire."
From the life of St. Bridget, we learn that the Blessed revealed to her "that there is not on earth a sinner, however devoid he may be of the love of God, from whom the devil is not obliged immediately to fly, if he invokes her holy name with a determination to repent." On another occasion, the Blessed Virgin Mary stated, "that all the devils venerate and fear her name to such a degree, that on hearing it, they immediately loosen the claws with which they hold the soul captive."
In view of all these great Marian blessings that have been bestowed from Heaven, let us today honour the Most Holy Name of Mary with great esteem so our loving Mother may continue to be praised in every nation on earth. And may our spiritual devotion not only last one day, but be extended to every day of the year.
The Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary is an optional memorial celebrated in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church on 12 September. It was removed from the Church calendar by Annibale Bugnini, Secretary to the Commission for Liturgical Reform during Vatican II, but restored by Pope John Paul II in 2002, along with the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.
It was first celebrated in Spain in 1513. [1] It was associated with the 1683 defeat of the Muslim army outside of Vienna. The Polish king, John Sobieski, arrived at Vienna with his army on the octave of the Nativity of Mary. He entrusted his force to Mary, and the Turks were routed. Pope Innocent XI declared the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a celebration for the universal Church as a memorial of the victory.[2]
This feast is a counterpart to the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (January 3); both have the possibility of uniting people easily divided on other matters.
The feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary began in Spain in 1513 and in 1671 was extended to all of Spain and the Kingdom of Naples. In 1683, John Sobieski, king of Poland, brought an army to the outskirts of Vienna to stop the advance of Muslim armies loyal to Mohammed IV in Constantinople. After Sobieski entrusted himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he and his soldiers thoroughly defeated the Muslims. Pope Innocent XI extended this feast to the entire Church.
Comment:
Mary always points us to God, reminding us of God's infinite goodness. She helps us to open our hearts to God's ways, wherever those may lead us. Honored under the title “Queen of Peace,” Mary encourages us to cooperate with Jesus in building a peace based on justice, a peace that respects the fundamental human rights (including religious rights) of all peoples.
Quote:
“Lord our God, when your Son was dying on the altar of the cross, he gave us as our mother the one he had chosen to be his own mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary; grant that we who call upon the holy name of Mary, our mother, with confidence in her protection may receive strength and comfort in all our needs” (Marian Sacramentary, Mass for the Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary).
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD
“And the Virgin’s name was Mary.” So begins the story of the Annunciation where we meet Mary for the first time in the pages of the Bible.
When a child is born, the parents, relatives and their friends rejoice in the arrival of a new life. The question is soon asked, or has already been asked when the mother was pregnant: “What name shall we give to this child?” The expectant mother ponders: “Who will this child turn out to be?”
When the daughter of Joachim and Anne was born, no doubt they asked themselves and pondered over these same questions. Being devout members of God’s Chosen People, we can be confident that they were led by the Holy Spirit when they gave their child the name “Mary.”
In 1683, Muslim armies loyal to Mohammed IV in Constantinople advanced towards the West to conquer Europe and spread Islam. The Muslim armies had reached the outskirts of Vienna when John Sobieski, king of Poland, brought an army to stop the advance of Muslim armies. After King Sobieski entrusted himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he and his soldiers thoroughly defeated the Muslims. Pope Innocent XI extended the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary in gratitude to the entire Church.
When my parents named me Rudolf, they did not think so much of a saint, but of the priest who officiated their marriage. I visited this priest often, admired him, listened to him, and his example influenced me a lot on my way to the priesthood.
Today, parents give their children strange names that when they grow up, they don’t like to be called by that name. It is still a rule to give a child the name of a saint, but often it appears only on the baptismal certificate. Naming a child after a saint gives him a model to look up to.
If ever the Lord grants you the joy of having another child, don’t forget to give him or her the name of a saint. If the child is a girl, give her the name of Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother, too.
REFLECTION QUESTION: Do you have just a devotion to Mary, or do you try to imitate her?
Lord, thank You for giving us Your Mother Mary as our Mother, too. Make me humble and docile so that I may learn from her how to live a God-pleasing life in this difficult world.
Published:
September 12, 2011 - 6:50AM
