The Most Holy Name of Mary

Memorial, September 12

The Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary, observed on September 12th, honours the sacred name of the Mother of God with a devotion that has deep roots in the Catholic tradition. The name Mary, in its Hebrew form Miriam, is one of the most ancient and most widely borne names in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, and the devotion to the Name of Mary developed in parallel with the devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus, both rooted in the conviction that names are not mere labels but carry within them something of the reality and power of the person they designate.

The feast was introduced into the Roman Calendar by Pope Innocent XI in 1683 to mark the victory of the Christian forces at the Battle of Vienna on September 12th of that year, when the army of the Holy League, under the command of King John III Sobieski of Poland, defeated the Ottoman forces that had besieged Vienna for two months and threatened the whole of central Europe. The victory was attributed to the intercession of Our Lady, and the feast was established as a perpetual thanksgiving for this deliverance of Christian civilisation.

The name Mary has been the subject of many devotional commentaries by spiritual writers, who have seen in its letters and in its Hebrew roots various mystical meanings. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux wrote beautifully of the name as a star that illumines the way for those who sail the difficult sea of life. In the liturgy the name is honoured with a Memorial that invites the faithful to reflect on the person who bears it, on her holiness, her maternal love, and her powerful intercession.

In many Spanish-speaking countries and communities, September 12th or days near it have traditionally been occasions for great celebration of those who bear the name Mary in any of its forms. The devotion to the Name of Mary is an invitation to invoke her with confidence, knowing that her name is not an empty sound but the name of a person who is present, who hears, and who intercedes with her Son on behalf of all who call upon her.