9/12/2014 - Friday of the 23rd week in Ordinary Time - The Most Holy Name of Mary – Psalm 84

      How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord.   We hear the psalmist declare this today, and perhaps we think of Mary as the dwelling place of the Lord. Today we celebrate a memorial celebrating the most holy name of Mary. In accordance with Jewish custom, Mary's parents named her eight days after her birth, and were inspired to call her Mary. The celebration of this memorial thus follows that of her Birthday, which we celebrated in the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary last Friday, September 5.  This is a counterpoint to the optional memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus which can be celebrated on January 3.  The feast originated in Spain and was approved by the Vatican in 1513.  Pope Innocent XI extended its observance to the whole Church in 1683 in thanksgiving to our Lady for the victory on September 12, 1683 by Holy Roman Empire over the Ottomans, who were besieging Vienna and threatening the West.

        Pope Benedict, in an address at a Cistercian monastery in Austria in 2007, said that he wanted to invite everyone to become a trusting child before Mary, even as the Son of God did. Benedict stated: “Where Mary is, there is the archetype of total self-giving and Christian discipleship. Where Mary is, there is the Pentecostal breath of the Holy Spirit; there is new beginning and authentic renewal.”

       The Hebrew name of Mary, Miryãm, means lady or sovereign.  We call Mary our Lady as we call Jesus our Lord, and when we pronounce her name we affirm her power, we implore her aid and we place ourselves under her protection.  As we heard in the mission with Father Burke this week, Pope Francis ended his apostolic exhortation with a Section on Mary.  Pope Francis writes: “Mary is always present in the midst of the people.”  Yes, Mary is indeed always with us.  Her prayers and intercessions are always with us to bring us closer to her son.  As we honor the most holy name of Mary today, may we feel her presence with us.