The Holy Name of Mary

The city of Vienna La ville de Vienne Episcopal see and principal city of the saint's activity. , capital of Austria, was besieged by the Turks and the Tartars in the year 1683, with an army of nearly two hundred thousand men. They hoped to make themselves masters of this city, which they considered the key to Germany, and then to penetrate to the heart of Christianity. Never were seen troops more proud or more disposed to victory. They had already wrought great havoc and exercised unheard-of cruelties in the places they had traversed: all the surroundings of the city and more than fifty leagues of the surrounding country were completely ruined.

At the approach of this formidable army, the emperor fled with the empress his wife. The Turks opened the trenches on July 14. After two months of siege, they had so advanced their works that the city was finally reduced to the extremity and could hold out for no more than four or five days, for it was poorly fortified.

While things were unfolding in this way near Vienna, public prayers were being offered in Rome, in France, and throughout the rest of the Christian world for the prosperity of Christian arms. Particular vows were especially made to the Blessed Virgin, to obtain from her kindness a special protection. The hope and expectation of the faithful were not in vain; so many prayers, offered with such perfect confidence, for such a just cause and to such a powerful Protectress, were answered: when everything seemed to favor the designs of the besiegers, and the city was on the point of surrendering, a prompt relief from heaven was seen to appear. The King of Poland, John S obieski, appeared on a height, a Le roi de Pologne, Jean Sobieski King of Poland and liberator of Vienna during the siege of 1683. ccompanied by a flourishing army, composed of chosen troops, marching in fine order, well disposed either to give their blood and their lives, or to procure freedom for the Christians enclosed within the city of Vienna.

On the morning of September 12, John Sobieski went first, wi th Princ Sobieski King of Poland and liberator of Vienna during the siege of 1683. e Charles of Lorraine, to the chapel of Saint Leopold, to hear and serve Mass himself, during which he held his arms extended toward heaven; he received communion there, and had the priest give a blessing to the entire army; and then, this intrepid hero, full of zeal for the glory of the true God, said aloud: "Let us march against the enemy with complete confidence under the protection of heaven and the assistance of the Blessed Virgin." The army descended from the mountains where it had been, and advanced toward the Turkish camp. It attacked them so opportunely and with such vigor that the enemy, after some resistance, was forced to yield; the Turks took to shameful flight, abandoning their camp, their tents, their artillery, and their munitions; Sobieski, having entered Vienna, went to thank God for the victory at the foot of the altars; and while the Te Deum was being sung, he showed as much humility as gratitude and devotion. Amidst the applause he received from all sides, he attributed the success of his arms only to God. The city had experienced during the siege the effects of the special protection of the Blessed Virgin. Among the dangers from which it was thus saved, we shall speak only of the following: The magnificent church of the Scots had been burned, and the fire was about to catch the arsenal, where the powder and other munitions were kept. If the arsenal had blown up, a breach would have been made in the ramparts, and it would have been the end of the city; but the flame stopped suddenly, and there was time to remove the powder and other munitions: this event occurred on the day of the feast of the Assumption, a day on which the faithful were imploring the protection of the Blessed Virgin against the enemies of the Christian nam e, as Pope Pi le pape Pie V Successor to Pius IV, he supported Charles Borromeo in his reforms. us V had done before th e battle of Lepanto bataille de Lépante 1571 naval victory attributed to the intercession of the saint. .

The Pope, having learned the news of this victory, ordered solemn thanksgivings to be offered to God in all the churches of the Christian world; and, to perpetuate the memory of such a great benefit, due to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, he instituted in perpetuity a feast in honor of the Name of Mary: so that this feast, which was previously celebrated only in a few particular churches, is now universal, following the decree of Innocent XI, dated November 20, 1683, and another of February 5, 1684, which orders the recitation of a proper office, composed expressly for this purpose. This feast is celebrated on the Sunday that occurs during the octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin.

It is therefore very fitting that, following the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff, we endeavor to contribute to making the glorious Name of Mary respected, which is so favorable to those who invoke it with confidence in their needs; for this purpose, we shall consult what the holy Evangelists and the Doctors of the Church who have written on this subject tell us.

The Holy Spirit tells us clearly, through the mouth of an Evangelist, that the name of the Virgin is Mary: *Nomen Virginis Maria*. The Jews once said, speaking of Jesus: "Is not His Mother called Mary?" We must therefore agree, with Saint Ambrose, Saint Bernard, and S aint Anselm, saint Bernard Abbot of Clairvaux and spiritual master of Raoul. that this name was chosen by God, and that it comes from heaven. Indeed, the parents of the holy Virgin gave her this name only after having received the revelation; but, to better know all its meanings, let us examine the interpretation given to us by the holy Doctors, since Saint Chrysostom, writing on the Epistle to the Romans, assures that names alone, and especially those which are in the Holy Scriptures, hide great treasures from us, and that they sometimes reveal to us the nature and properties of things.

The name of Mary, in the Hebrew language, means *Lady* or *Mistress*; this is how Saint Peter Chrysologus explains it in his sermon on the Annunciation: *Maria hebræo sermone, latine Domina nuncupatur*. Saint John Damascene, speaking of the birth of the same holy Virgin, says: "Grace, that is to say Anne, who means *grace*, gives to the world a *mistress*, that is to say Mary, who means *mistress*; for," adds this Father, "she becomes with great right the Sovereign of the universe, when she becomes the mother of the Creator of the world." Indeed, she undoubtedly enters into the rights of her Son, who assures that all power has been given to Him in heaven and on earth: *Data est mihi omnis potestas in cælo et in terra*. The domain of this divine Mistress is so extensive that Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of all things, wished to submit in some way to her authority, according to this word of Saint Luke: *Erat subditus illis*: "Jesus was subject to Joseph and Mary." Let Calvin therefore no longer say that it is wrong to give the name of Queen and Mistress to this holy Virgin, under the pretext that she herself calls herself only the Handmaid of the Lord; as if Abigail, who also took by virtue the humble quality of handmaid of the servants of David, had less deserved for that the dignity of wife of this great king; and if Esther, who called herself the vassal of the kingdom of the Persians and Medes, had been for that less worthy of being recognized as the sovereign of these peoples: it is therefore with reason that the divine Mary is called Queen and Mistress, according to the interpretation of this name.

Saint Bernard, Saint Bonaventure, Saint Isidore, the Venerable Bede, and several other holy Doctors say that the name of Mary means to be enlightened and to enlighten others: *Maria idem est quod illuminata et illuminatrix*. Indeed, can one doubt that the holy Virgin is filled with light, since the angel Gabriel assures that she is full of grace: *Ave Maria, gratia plena*? "Mary," says Albert the Great, "received the abundance of her lights in the continuous reading of the Holy Scriptures, in the good use she made of her judgment, in the exercise of the highest contemplation, in the familiar colloquies she had with the celestial spirits, in the ordinary revelations she received from God, in the experience and taste of the most sweet divine and supernatural operations, which taught her how advantageous it is to maintain a sweet commerce with her God, in the conversation she had with the angel Gabriel, who announced to her the highest of mysteries, and especially in the moment that the Holy Spirit came to operate in her, to form there the body of the Savior." Finally, all these favors and all these lights were granted to her by the liberality of the three adorable Persons of the Most Holy Trinity, who seem to have wished to unite in the holy Virgin all the graces that are granted to other Saints only by measure; if the name of Mary means that she is filled with lights, it must also be added that she spreads these lights upon others: *Maria idem est quod illuminatrix*. Indeed, one can say that if God, at the beginning of the world, created two luminaries: one, which is the greater, and which we call the sun, to preside over the day, and the other, which is lesser, and which we call the moon, to preside over the night; in the same way we can also recognize in the Church two other mysterious torches, namely: Jesus Christ, the sun of justice, who illuminates with a light that is his own all men who come into the world, as Saint John teaches us; and the other is the divine Mary, whose beauty is compared to that of the moon: *Pulchra ut luna*, because she borrows, in truth, her lights from Jesus Christ, as the moon receives hers from the sun; but she communicates and spreads them then with kindness over the whole mystical body of the Church: indeed, this beautiful star is always at its full, and it communicates from its fullness to everyone: *Plena sibi*, says Saint Bernard, *et superplena nobis*. This is what made Saint Bonaventure say that the glorious life of Mary brought light into all centuries, and that it is a shining torch that God has placed on the candlestick, so that everyone might be enlightened by it; thus we sing in her office that her life, which is most admirable, communicates a great brilliance to all the Churches: *Cujus vita inclyta cunctas illustrat ecclesias*; it is in this thought that one often tells her that she alone knew how to dissipate the darkness of all heresies: *Cunctas horeses sola interemisti in universo mundo*. Saint Bernard gives a good reason for this, when he says that she is a ray of divinity: *Radius divinitatis*. It is therefore not without reason that the name of Mary means she who carries light everywhere.

It is also in this same sense that the Church, in one of its hymns, calls the holy Virgin, Star of the Sea: *Maris stella*. Saint Bernard says that the name of Mary carries this in its meaning: "She is truly that Star of Jacob, which had been foretold, and which was to se rve as a guid Saint Bernard Abbot of Clairvaux and spiritual master of Raoul. e to all men." Thus, one gives her, in the Litanies, the quality of Morning Star: *Stella matutina*, because she appears without delay, because she anticipates and brings great joy to all those who are exposed to the dangers and waves of the stormy sea of this world, which is filled with darkness; the same Saint Bernard also says these words full of piety and unction, which the Church uses in the office of the feast of the holy Name of which we speak: "If the winds of temptations come to rise against you; if you find yourself in the midst of the reefs and rocks of tribulations, look at this Star, implore the help of Mary: *Respice stellam, voca Mariam*; if you are agitated by the waves of pride, of ambition, of envy, of detraction, turn yourself toward this Star, invoke the name of Mary; if anger, avarice, and incontinence shake the vessel of your soul, cast your eyes upon this Star and have recourse to Mary; if the enormity of your sins and the very dangerous state of your conscience trouble you and throw you into confusion, and that, thinking of the formidable judgments of God, you begin to be overcome by the impressions of a sadness that leads you to despair, think immediately of Mary: *Cogita Mariam*; remember Mary," continues this Father, "in all the perils where you find yourself, in all the anguishes that press you, and in all the doubts where you find yourself: *In periculis, in angustuis, in rebus dubiis, Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca*; let this name be always in your mouth, let it never leave your heart: *Non recedat ab ore, non recedat a corde*, and immediately you will experience," concludes this Father, "with how much justice it is said that the name of the Virgin is that of Mary: *Et sic in temetipso experieris quam merito dictum sit*: and *Nomen Virginis, Maria*." Saint Bonaventure says something similar, speaking of the frequent dangers where one finds oneself in the stormy sea of this world: "One must," says this Father, "cast one's eyes upon Mary as upon a favorable star whose light will guide us infallibly in the vessel of innocence, or penance, on the sea of this world, and will make us arrive at the port of the heavenly homeland toward which we are tending."

Here are some other meanings that the holy Fathers of the Church give us, but which we will report only succinctly, so as not to extend ourselves too much on this subject. Saint Jerome says that this word *Maria* carries in its interpretation: *Mare amarum*, "Sea full of bitterness"; and Saint Bonaventure explains this thought when he says that "Mary is filled with bitterness by the compassion she feels for the very acute pains that her dear Son suffers in His passion." Saint Ambrose says that this venerable name of Mary contains this meaning: *Dominus ex genere meo*: "It is from my family that the Lord must be born"; one sees well enough how much this interpretation conforms to the truth, since Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of lords. A famous interpreter, Placidus Nigidius, adds that this word *Maria* also means: *Mare amoris*: "Ocean of love," which he supports with these words of the Church, which, addressing the holy Virgin in one of its canticles, says to her: *Eia, Mater fons amoris*: "Have pity on us, most worthy Mother of the Savior, you who are a source of sacred love"; from which it comes that she is also called "the Mother of beautiful love": *Mater pulchrae dilectionis*.

Let us continue to examine with the holy doctors the sweetness and influence of this sacred name: "One cannot even," says Saint Bonaventure, addressing the Blessed Virgin, "express the syllables of which your name is composed without receiving some reward, according to the testimony of your favorite Saint Bernard, who says to you on this subject: 'O most great, O most pious, O most praiseworthy Virgin Mary, one never pronounces your name without you inflaming hearts with a holy love, and one cannot think of you without you inspiring at the same time sentiments of joy in the soul of those who cherish you!'" — "This name is so powerful, so useful, and of such great value," says the learned Idiota, "that upon pronouncing it, heaven finds satisfaction in it, the earth feels joy from it, and the angels receive pleasure from it. Do we wish to know the reasons?" adds this author; "Mary explains them to us herself, when she says, through the words of the Sage, which are applied to her: The sweetness of honey is not comparable to the sweetness of my spirit, and the goods that I possess and communicate surpass all that is most suave and most agreeable." The Church, in the Antiphons and Hymns that it attributes to her, addresses these words to her: O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria! It tells her that she is the most affable of all other virgins: Virgo singularis, inter omnes mitis; that she is the Mother of mercy, the life, the sweetness, and the hope of all the faithful: Mater misericordiae, vita, dulcedo et spes nostra. "Indeed," continues Saint Bernard, writing on the Salve Regina, "Mary is lovable to everyone, she causes delights in all hearts; it is the throne of sweetness, it is a river of goodness, and no one retires from her presence without being favored by her benefits."

It must therefore be admitted that the memory or the remembrance of the name of Mary, much more than that of King Josiah, is among the faithful like the pleasant composition of a sweet odor exhaled by precious perfumes that the industry of the craftsman has known how to blend together: Memoria Josiae (let us say here, Mariæ), in compositione odoris facta, opus pigmentarii; in omni ore quasi mel indulcabitur ejus-memoria. It is not without reason that this worthy Virgin is called the Mystical Rose in the Litanies: a Rose that Peter Damian calls Rosam redolentissimam, and Saint John Climacus Odoriferam, "the most suave of Roses." Her companions, says the Canticle, ran after the Bride, attracted by the odor of her precious perfumes; these flowers are the virtues that adorn the divine Mary: Fulcite me floribus; thus the Church assures that she has always been surrounded by roses and lilies: Circumdabant eam flores rosarum, et lilia convallium.

But if we recognize so much sweetness in the name of Mary, this name nonetheless remains very formidable to the enemies of glory: "Not only does all of hell tremble under the dominion of this august Princess," says Saint Bernard, "but her name alone puts all demons to flight"; and writing on the Canticle of Canticles, he says that "the mere invocation of the name of Mary dissipates in a moment all the evil spells of the wicked spirits: Ubi nomen Mariæ invocatur, dæmonum nocumentum effugatur, quia Maria terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata." — "Visible enemies," says Saint Bonaventure, "do not fear armies drawn up in battle as much as the rebel angels suffer at the mere expression of the name of Mary: they are forced to withdraw, to see themselves deprived of all their strength, and to lose all consistency like wax exposed to fire, as soon as one remembers her name, or invokes it, or tries to imitate some virtue of the one who bears it." It is in this regard that the Church tells her that she is terrible as an army drawn up in battle: Terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata. Indeed, the power of the name of Mary over the infernal powers appears especially in the exorcisms of the Church, where the strength of this name is used very frequently, and an infinity of examples have made known, by experience, how formidable it is to these spirits of darkness when it is pronounced with piety; but if this venerable name causes so much fright to the rebel angels, it gives birth to an unspeakable joy in the spirit of the faithful angels who look upon it, as well as the Church militant, as the name of their true queen and mistress: Regina cælorum, Domina angelorum. Thus the Church, in the office of her glorious assumption, loudly proclaims that she has merited to be raised upon a throne that is above all the choirs of angels: Exaltata est sancta Dei Genitrix super choros angelorum. Some Fathers of the Church say that it is out of a motive of singular respect that the archangel Gabriel, announcing to the Blessed Virgin the mystery of the Incarnation, did not dare to pronounce her name, contenting himself with saying: Ave, gratia plena: "I salute you, O full of grace!"

If the rebellious angels and the celestial spirits have respect for the name of Mary, the Church militant on earth is also obliged to recognize every day the excellence and power of this august name: for without speaking in detail of all the help that an infinity of individuals have received by pronouncing this venerable name in their need, we only have to recall to the memory of the faithful so many victories, so many conquests, and so many other similar advantages, won by Christians over the infidels by invoking the sacred name and the powerful protection of Mary.

The invocation of this venerable name procures for us help so prompt and so singular that we should not fear to assert, after Saint Anselm, that we are sometimes helped sooner by remembering the name of Mary than by invoking that of Jesus, her only Son: *Velocior est nonnunquam salus, memorato nomine Mariæ, quam invocato nomine Jesu unici Filii sui*; and he immediately gives the explanation of his thought: "It is not," says this Father, "that Mary is more powerful and above her Son, since it is not from her that he holds his greatness and his authority; it is she, on the contrary, who borrows hers from him; but this happens because the Son of Mary, being the master and being invested with the quality of judge, must weigh the merits or demerits of the one who invokes him: when, therefore, one invokes him in his name, he does not always grant immediately what is asked of him, and it is with justice that he acts thus; but by invoking the name of the Mother, if the unworthiness and the demerits of the one who prays prevent him from being heard, the merits, nevertheless, of this worthy Mother cause him to be listened to favorably, because, says this Father, God wished to honor Mary in this way, so that everyone might know that one can obtain all things from him through her."

It is also with this thought that Saint Bernard, in one of his sermons, addressing the Blessed Virgin, speaks to her thus: "O blessed Mary, he who loves you renders honor to his God, and he who remains constantly in your service is never abandoned by God; he who invokes your name with a pure heart obtains everything he believes he can undoubtedly obtain: *Qui nomen tuum puro corde invocat, quidquid postulat, indubitanter consequitur*."

"Do you fear," says this holy Doctor again, "to approach God the Father, whose voice alone astonishes you? Remember that you have a mediator who is Jesus! Does the majesty of Jesus still cast terror into your heart? Recourse to Mary; she will become your advocate before him." Hugh of Saint Victor gives a beautiful reason for this perfect confidence that one must have in the protection of the Blessed Virgin, when he says that "we can have a very easy access to her without fearing anything, because we see in her person a nature very similar to our own: *Respice ad Mariam, non illic invenies quod timeas, genus tuum vides*."

We have retained, for the history of this feast, the account of Fr. Giry.