"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
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
More
on the Name of Mary...
"The
invocation of the sacred names of Jesus and Mary is a short prayer which is as
sweet to the mind, and as powerful to protect those who use it against the
enemies of their salvation, as it is easy to remember." ~ St. Thomas a
Kempis
No comments:
Post a Comment