September 12: Most Holy Name of Mary
Eight days after the birth of the Blessed Virgin, her holy parents, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, inspired by God, gave her the name of Mary. The name Mary means Lady, and also Star of the Sea. Just to say her holy name is a prayer. It gives everyone who does so favor with God and power over the devil.
Blessed Pope Innocent XI set up the feast of the Holy Name of Mary in 1683 to thank her for the victory which the Catholic army under John Sobieski, King of Poland gained over the Turks (Mohammedans), who were trying to sack Vienna and move in and conquer all the Catholics of the West. Mary’s name occurs in the first part and in the second part of the Hail Mary. In the middle of the Hail Mary, one speaks the Holy Name of Jesus.
Great apostles of the Holy Name of Mary have been Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux says, “O most holy Virgin Mary, your name is so sweet and admirable that one cannot say it without becoming inflamed with love toward God and toward you.” Others of particular note are St. Louis Marie de Montfort, St. Alphonsus Liguori and St. Maximilian Kolbe. The Holy Father, Bl. John Paul II, choose as his motto Totus Tuus which is to say, “I am all yours (Mary).”
THE HOLY NAME OF MARY
Our salvation begins when an archangel speaks the name of Mary. To be Christian is to carry on that Annunciation unceasingly. Saint Louis de Montfort wrote that “the salvation of each individual is bound up with the Hail Mary.” This prayer that names the holy name of the Mother of God brought to a dry and barren world .the Fruit of Life. It will cause the Word of God to take root in the soul and bring forth Jesus.
The holy name of Mary bears such power because of the unique bond between Mother and Son. “When God sent his Son born of a woman, he instituted a once and for all order of salvation in which the union of Mother and Child stands at the center” (Romanus Cessario). To accept the divine privilege of speaking the name of Mary is to participate in that saving union.
The Power of Mary’s Name
Richard of Saint Laurence states “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.” He continues, “that the devout invo?cation of this sweet and holy name leads to the acqui?sition of superabundant graces in this life, and a very high degree of glory in the next” …
Hence Richard of Saint Laurence encourages sin?ners to have recourse to this great name, because it alone will suffice to cure them of all their evils; and “there is no disorder, however malignant, that does not immediately yield to the power of the name of Mary.” The Blessed Raymond Jordano says “that however hardened and diffident a heart may be, the name of this most Blessed Virgin has such efficacy, that if it is only pronounced, that heart will be won?derfully softened” …
In fine, “your name, 0 Mother of God, is filled with divine graces and blessings,” as Saint Methodius says. So much so, that Saint Bonaventure declares “that your name, 0 Mary, cannot be pronounced without bringing some grace to him who does so devoutly.” Grant, 0 Lady, that we may often remember to name you with love and confidence; for this practice either shows the possession of divine grace, or else is a pledge that we shall soon recover it.
On the other hand, Thomas a Kempis affirms “that the devils fear the Queen of heaven to such a degree, that only on hearing her great name pronounced, they fly from him who does so as from a burning fire.”
The Blessed Virgin herself revealed to Saint Bridget “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 she repeated the same thing to the saint, saying, “that all the devils venerate and fear her name to such a degree, that on hearing it they imme?diately loosen the claws with which they hold the soul captive.” Our Blessed lady also told Saint Bridget “that in the same way as the rebel angels fly from sinners who invoke the name of Mary, so also do the good angels approach nearer to just souls who pro?nounce her name with devotion.”
SAINT ALPHONSUS DE LIGUORI
I love the biographies, and writings, of St Louis de Montfort! And I feel blessed to have lived during our late Holy Father’s Ponitificate. I would like to know more about the saints who promoted “true devotion” to the Holy Virgin Mary.
Can someone put some posts, lists of books, or old homilies, up on AirMaria about these ‘slaves of the Immaculate’?
All that I am, and all that I have is yours, Oh, Jesus, through Mary, thy Most Holy Mother! ~ St Louis de Montfort
To Jesus Through Mary! ~ St Louis de Montfort
The world must be ruled by love! ~ Blessed Pope John Paul II
“I, N., a faithless sinner — renew and ratify today in thy hands, O Immaculate Mother, the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before.
“In the presence of all the heavenly court I choose thee this day for my Mother and Mistress. I deliver and consecrate to thee, as thy slave, my body and soul, my gooods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to thee the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity. Amen.”
OUR MOTHER IS A QUEEN! HOW AWESOME IS THAT! 🙂
Totus Tuus!!!!