Most Holy Name of Mary

 Sep 12 - Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary

 

St Pope John Paul II poses this poignant reflection when talking about the most BVM:  “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word” [Lk 1:38].  Mary believes and therefore she says “yes”.  Her faith becomes life; it becomes a commitment to God, who fills her with himself through her divine motherhood.  It becomes a commitment to her neighbour, who awaits her help in the person of her cousin Elisabeth [Lk 1:39-56].  Mary abandons herself freely and consciously to God’s initiative, which will achieve in her his “marvellous things”: mirabilia Dei. With the Virgin Mary’s example before us, we are invited to reflect: God has a project for each of us, he “calls” everyone.  What is important is knowing how to recognise this call, how to accept it and how to be faithful to it".

 

 

Historical reasons for the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary

        To understand why September 12th was chosen by Pope Innocent XI as the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, one must go back to July 1683 when a massive army of 300,000 Ottoman Turks led by the Grand Vizier Kara Mustapha laid a two-month siege to Vienna, the capital of the Habsburg monarchy that was defended by a ragtag army of only 15,000 Christians.

        The city's fall was a real possibility opening the road for the Ottoman Turks to ravage the rest of Austria, Germany and Italy. In desperation the papal nuncio and the Hapsburg King Leopold pleaded with the Polish King Jan III Sobieski, who had defeated the Ottoman Turks at the Polish borders earning the title “Unvanquished Northern Lion,” to lead the rescue mission.

        In August 1683, Sobieski began his campaign and as he and his Hussar troops passed the Shrine to Our Lady of Czestochowa aka the Black Madonna — a reference to the painting of the most Blessed Virgin Mary holding the Christ child - and begged the Blessed Mother’s blessing and intercession.  At the beginning of September, the Hussars crossed the Danube and were met by the German armies under John George, Elector of Saxony, and Prince Charles of Lorraine.  

 

        On September 11, Sobieski reached the outskirts of Vienna with an army of about 76,000 men.  In a surprise pre-emptive dawn attack Polish King Jan III Sobieski, led one of history's largest cavalry charges (involving the famous "Winged Hussars") down the slopes of the Kahlenberg hill into the Ottoman camp, wreaking havoc and breaking the siege in a single decisive assault. 

        On September 12th, Sobieski triumphantly entered Vienna. Worshipping at a Holy Mass of Thanksgiving, Sobieski fell prostrate and with outstretched arms declared it was God’s cause and praised Him for the victory saying, “Veni, vidi, Deus vicit.” meaning “I came, I saw, God conquered,” which he also wrote in a letter to Pope Innocent XI, who then declared September 12th as a date to honor the Holy Name of Mary, whose maternal intercession had saved Christendom just has it had over 100 years earlier at the Battle of Lepanto. 

        That decisive victory stopped once and for all the European conquest by the Ottoman Turks and spurred the formation of the Holy League (Austria, Poland, Venice, and later Russia), which pushed back the Ottomans culminating in the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) — the first major treaty in which the Ottomans ceded substantial territory (including most of Hungary) to the European powers. 

Biblical reasons to celebrate the Holy Name of Mary

The name “Mary,” being the name of the most Blessed Virgin Mother, deserves special respect and devotion, and is thereby celebrated in four ways: 

1. First, Mary is a name of honor, since the faithful praise Mary as the Mother of our Divine Savior; she is rightfully called the "Theotokos" or “Mother of God,” who bore Jesus true God true man, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit 
2. Second, Mary is a most holy name, because the very mention of her name reminds us she was born of Immaculate Conception, without original sin and is full of grace, has found favor with God, and is blessed among all women.  
3.  Third, Mary is  our eternal mother whom our Lord gave to us a He was dying on the cross [John19:26-27]. 
4.  Finally, Mary is a name of the mother who responds to all of our needs, protects us from evil, and prays “for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”

What Saints say about the Holy Name of Mary

"O name of Mary! Joy in the heart, honey in the mouth, melody to the ear of Her devout clients!" ~ St. Anthony of Padua 

"Mary means enlightener, because She brought forth the Light of the world. In the Syriac tongue, Mary signifies Lady." ~ St. Isidore of Seville

The hallowed title, "Star of the Sea," dates back to St. Jerome. It has been said that the great Doctor had originally used the phrase Stilla Maris to describe Mary as a "drop of the sea," the sea being God. A copyist's error, then, could have resulted in stilla [drop] being written down as stella [star]. Of course, the hallowed title, "Star of the Sea," suits Our Lady perfectly

"Mary means Star of the sea, for as mariners are guided to port by the ocean star, so Christians attain to glory through Mary's maternal intercession." ~ St. Thomas Aquinas

"This most holy, sweet and worthy name was 'eminently fitted to so holy, sweet and worthy a virgin. For Mary means a bitter sea, star of the sea, the illuminated or illuminatrix. Mary is interpreted Lady. Mary is a bitter sea to the demons; to men She is the Star of the sea; to the Angels She is illuminatrix, and to all creatures She is Lady ." ~ St. Bonaventure

When we speak Mary’s name and call out to her as our spiritual mom, we are fulfilling St. Francis de Sales' words to “run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence.” 

St. Louis de Montfort (d. 1716) said, “The whole world is filled with her glory, and this is especially true of Christian peoples, who have chosen her as guardian and protectress of kingdoms, provinces, dioceses, and towns.  Many cathedrals are consecrated to God in her name.  There is no church without an altar dedicated to her, no country or region without at least one of her miraculous images where all kinds of afflictions are cured and all sorts of benefits received.  Many are the confraternities and associations honoring her as patron; many are the orders under her name and protection; many are the members of sodalities and religious of all congregations who voice her praises and make known her compassion.  There is not a child who does not praise her by praying a ‘Hail Mary.’  There is scarcely a sinner, however hardened, who does not possess some spark of confidence in her.  The very devils in hell, while fearing her, show her respect.”

St. Bernard of Clairvaux writes that Mary is a “clear and shining star, twinkling with excellencies and resplendent with example, needfully set to look down upon the surface of this great and wide sea.” In life, we are constantly “battered to and fro by the gales and storms of this life’s ocean.” In the midst of life’s hurricanes and stormy waves, Bernard enjoins us to “look to the star, call on Mary. …If she lead thee, thou wilt never be weary. If she help thee thou wilt reach home at last.”

 

Prayer to the Holy Name of Mary

“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.” 

 

References

1. 12 September 2003: Mass at National Risorgimento Square in Banská Bystrica. (n.d.). https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/2003/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20030912_banska-bystrica.html
2. Fongemie, P. (n.d.). THE HOLY NAME OF MARY. https://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/marys-name.htm
3. Admin. (2013, May 22). What is the origin of the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary, September 12th? Catholic Straight Answers. https://catholicstraightanswers.com/what-is-the-origin-of-the-feast-of-the-most-holy-name-of-mary-september-12th/