The Most Holy Name of Mary

September 12, 2021

Mary!  A name so lofty, in the regal majesty of its sound and meaning – Mary, Maria, Miriam!  It is a name as familiar to us as the name of our Mother, as the bells of the church, as the peaks of the mountains which send their friendly greetings to the valleys below.  Mary!  A thousand times we have prayed, sung, wept this name, in good and evil days. Millions of women are called by that name and it weaves a golden thread around even the plainest woman.  Mary!  Holding on to this name, grope the way through the darkness of life and death.  It is the rosy dawn heralding the rising sun, Jesus, in the Gospels as well as in the hearts of men.

“The name of Mary,” says Saint Anthony of Padua, “is sweeter to the lips than the honeycomb, more delightful to the ear than a sweet song, more entrancing to the heart than the purest joy.”

“Surely,” says Saint Bernard, “the Mother of God could not have a name more appropriate, nor one more impressive of her high dignity.  Mary is in fact the beautiful and brilliant star which shines upon the vast and stormy sea of the world.”

How we should honor this holy name of Mary; we should always invoke Father God, the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit, through His name.  Tenderly must Jesus have spoken the name of His Mother.  How His Sacred Heart was moved when He was called the Son of Mary.

“Mary, how sweetly falls thy name

On my enraptured ear;

Oft do I say in holy love

Thy name when none are near.

Sing oh, my lips, and loudly proclaim,

Oh Mary, my Mother, how sweet is thy name.

Sweet as the warbling of a bird,

Sweet as a Mother’s voice;

So sweet to me is thy dear name;

It makes my soul rejoice.

Bright as the glittering stars appear,

Bright as the moonbeam’s shine,

So bright in my mind’s eye is seen

Thy loveliness divine!

Never cease to plead with Him through His Mother’s holy name; ever call on God the Father for pity and help in the name of His daughter Mary!  Pray to the Holy Spirit in the name of His spouse to strengthen, guide and bless us.  Mary!  Mary!  Mary!

                        Fr. Chester