"O name of Mary! Joy in the heart, honey in the mouth,
melody to the ear of Her devout clients!" ~ St. Anthony of Padua
Feast of the Most Holy Name
of the Blessed Virgin Mary
September 12
In accordance with Jewish custom our Lady's parents named her eight days after
her birth, and were inspired to call her Mary. The feast of the Holy Name of Mary
follows that of her Birthday, as the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus follows Christmas.
Our salvation begins when an archangel speaks the name of Mary.
To be Christian is to carry on that Annunciation unceasingly.
"I want what is good for myself; I beg the same for you. Now there is
no other way to bring this about than to ask the Virgin Mary constantly
to come to you with her glorious Son. Be bold! Ask her to give you her
Son, who in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar is truly food of your soul.
Readily will she give Him to you, still more readily will He come to you,
giving you strength to make your way fearlessly through this dark wood.
In it large numbers of our enemies lie in wait, but they cannot reach us
if they see us relying on such powerful help." ~ St. Cajetan
"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 +1274]
"God the Father gathered all the waters together and called them the
seas or maria [Latin, seas]. He gathered all His grace together and called
it Mary or Maria . . .This immense treasury is none other than Mary whom
the Saints call the 'treasury of the Lord.' From Her fullness all men
are made rich;" [St. Louis de Montfort +1716]
On this day dedicated to the Holy Name of Mary let us repeat that wonderful prayer of Saint Bernard, responding to Pope Benedict XVI 's invitation to “invite everyone to become a trusting child before Mary, even as the Son of God did."
Saint Bernard says, and we say with him:
'Look to the star of the sea, call upon Mary … in danger, in distress, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon Mary. May her name never be far from your lips, or far from your heart … If you follow her, you will not stray; if you pray to her, you will not despair; if you turn your thoughts to her, you will not err. If she holds you, you will not fall; if she protects you, you need not fear; if she is your guide, you will not tire; if she is gracious to you, you will surely reach your destination”'(Benedict XVI, address at Heiligenkreuz Abbey, September 9, 2007). — Luciano Alimandi
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THANK YOU FOR THIS WONDERFUL AND REFLECTIVE POSTING. I ENJOYED IT, AS I DO EACH ONE I FIND TIME TO READ. I HOPE THAT YOU ARE DOING WELL. JESUS AND OUR LADY BLESS YOU! JOHN K.
ReplyDeleteThe gifts we receive in the Church are without measure - in number and in depth. Stay close to Our Lady!
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