The Feast of the Holy Name of Mary
The feast of the Holy Name of Mary, instituted by Pope Innocent XI in 1683 after the deliverance of Vienna, is a jewel of the Tridentine calendar. Celebrated on September 12, within the Octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, it stands as a counterpart to the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. The liturgy breathes a spirit of triumph and sweetness, presenting Mary’s name not merely as a word, but as a mystery.
Dom Prosper Guéranger notes in The Liturgical Year that the Church intends to inspire reverence for the very sound of the Blessed Virgin’s name: “Her name is a shield of salvation to her servants, a sweet perfume which perfumes the heart, a light which illumines, a nourishment which sustains.”¹ For him, the liturgy on this day teaches that the invocation of Mary’s name is both a prayer and a protection.
Fr Leonard Goffine, in his Explanation of the Epistles and Gospels, explains that “the name of Mary is full of sweetness to the angels, a terror to the demons, and a comfort to the faithful.”² He urges Christians to call upon her name in temptation and distress, for “the devil fears Mary as much as he fears her divine Son.”
Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen, OCD, in Divine Intimacy, meditates that “the name of Mary, as the name of Jesus, is an efficacious prayer in itself. To pronounce it with love is to speak to her, to invoke her presence, to open our soul to her maternal influence.”³ He sees in this devotion the secret of the saints, who kept Mary’s name ever on their lips and in their hearts.
P. Pius Baur, in his The Light of the World, draws out the theological significance: “Her name is bound to her person, and her person is bound to her mission.”⁴ As Maria, the “Star of the Sea,” she guides the faithful across the troubled waters of life toward the harbor of salvation in Christ.
The propers of the Mass reflect these truths. The Introit, Salve sancta parens, greets Mary as Mother of the King of Heaven. The Epistle (Ecclus. 24) presents her as Wisdom dwelling among men, while the Gospel (Luke 1:26–38) recalls the Annunciation, where even the angel reverenced the Virgin by name. The Gradual sings her blessedness, and the Communion antiphon, Gloriosa dicta sunt de te, Maria, crowns the liturgy with words of triumph and joy.
St Bernard of Clairvaux, often invoked by these commentators, provides the keynote: “O name of Mary! Joy in the heart, honey in the mouth, melody to the ear.”⁵ And again: “In dangers, in straits, in doubts, think of Mary, call upon Mary.”⁶ The feast condenses into its liturgy this instinct of Christian devotion—the invocation of Mary’s name as a prayer, a shield, and a pledge of final perseverance.
Thus, for the Tridentine faithful, the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary is not only the remembrance of a historical deliverance, but the celebration of a perennial grace: the victory of Christ won through His Mother, and the protection of the Christian soul through her name.
Pastoral Reflection
In the sacred liturgy, the Church gives us the name of Mary as both shield and song. When we whisper it in prayer, the angels rejoice, the demons tremble, and our hearts are steadied. How often we need this in the battles of daily life, when temptations press and sorrows weigh us down. To invoke Mary is to invite her maternal presence, to draw near to her who always leads us to her Son. Her name is like a lamp in the darkness, a harbor in the storm, a balm in our wounds. If we learn to carry it upon our lips, we will also carry her in our hearts—and she will never fail to bring us to Christ. This is the way. 🔝
- Prosper Guéranger, The Liturgical Year: Time After Pentecost, Vol. XIV (Dublin: Gill & Son, 1882), p. 199.
- Leonard Goffine, Explanation of the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays and Festivals (St. Louis: Herder, 1880), p. 796.
- Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen, Divine Intimacy (Rockford: TAN, 1964), p. 1134.
- P. Pius Baur, The Light of the World, Vol. II (New York: B. Herder, 1954), p. 211.
- Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermon II on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Opera Omnia, Vol. V (Paris, 1862), col. 332.
- Bernard of Clairvaux, Homily II on the Missus Est, in Opera Omnia, Vol. IV, col. 37.
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