Author Topic: Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Read 725 times)

Hobbledehoy · « **on:** September 11, 2013, 04:50:56 PM »

From The Saint Andrew Daily Missal with Vespers for Sundays and Feasts by Dom Gaspar Lefebvre, O.S.B., of the Abbey of St- André (Bruges, Belgium: Liturgical Apostolate of the Abbey of St-André, 1956):

Hobbledehoy · « **Reply #1 on:** September 11, 2013, 05:37:29 PM »

From The Lessons of the Temporal Cycle and the Principle Feasts of the Sanctoral Cycle according to the Monastic Breviary: Compiled and Adapted for the Office of the Brothers of St. Meinrad's Abbey (St. Meinrad, Indiana: St. Meinraid's Abbey, 1943), here is the English translation of the the lessons of the Second and Third Nocturns at Matins for the Feast of the Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

poche · « **Reply #2 on:** September 11, 2013, 10:37:54 PM »

poche · « **Reply #3 on:** September 12, 2013, 02:41:57 AM »

In accordance with Jєωιѕн custom our Lady's parents named her eight days after her birth, and were inspired to call her Mary. The feast of the Holy Name of Mary therefore follows that of her Birthday, as the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus follows Christmas. The feast originated in Spain and was approved by the Holy See in 1513; Innocent XI extended its observance to the whole Church in 1683 in thanksgiving to our Lady for the victory on September 12, 1683 by John Sobieski, king of Poland, over the Turks, who were besieging Vienna and threatening the West. This day was commemorated in Vienna by creating a new kind of pastry and shaping it in the form of the Turkish half-moon. It was eaten along with coffee which was part of the booty from the Turks.

The ancient Onomastica Sacra have preserved the meanings ascribed to Mary's name by the early Christian writers and perpetuated by the Greek Fathers. "Bitter Sea," "Myrrh of the Sea," "The Light Giver," "The Enlightened One," "Lady," "Seal of the Lord," and "Mother of the Lord" are the principal interpretations. These etymologies suppose that the Hebrew form of the name is Maryãm, not Miryãm. From the time of St. Jerome until the 16th century, preferred interpretations of Mary's name in the West were "Lady," "Bitter Sea," "The Light Giver," and especially "Star of the Sea." Stella Maris was by far the favored interpretation. The revival of Hebraic studies, which accompanied the Renaissance, led to a more critical appraisal of the meanings assigned to Our Lady's name. Miryãm has all the appearance of a genuine Hebrew name, and no solid reason has been discovered to warrant rejecting the Semitic origin of the word. The Hebrew name of Mary, Miryãm, (in Latin Domina) means lady or sovereign; this Mary is in virtue of her Son's sovereign authority as Lord of the World. We call Mary our Lady as we call Jesus our Lord, and when we pronounce her name we affirm her power, implore her aid and place ourselves under her protection.

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2013-09-12

shin · « **Reply #4 on:** September 12, 2013, 03:11:55 AM »

'As breathing is not only a sign but even a cause of life, so the name of Mary, which is constantly found on the lips of God's servants, both proves that they are truly alive, and at the same time causes and preserves their life, and gives them every succor.'

St. Germanus

'Amongst other significations of the name of Mary, as Blessed Albert the Great asserts, is that of "a bitter sea." Hence to her is applicable the text of Jeremias: "great as the sea is thy destruction." For as the sea is all bitter and salt, so also was the life of Mary always full of bitterness at the sight of the passion of the Redeemer, which was ever present to her mind. "There can be no doubt, that, enlightened by the Holy Ghost in a far higher degree than all the prophets, she, far better than they, understood the predictions recorded by them in the sacred Scriptures concerning the Messias." This is precisely what the angel revealed to Saint Bridget; and he also added, "that the Blessed Virgin, even before she became His Mother, knowing how much the Incarnate Word was to suffer for the salvation of men, and compassionating this innocent Saviour, who was to be so cruelly put to death for crimes not His own, even then began her great martyrdom."'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Note that St. Alphonsus Maria is St. Alphonsus Maria. I am thinking he is the happier to be addressed so.

Hobbledehoy · « **Reply #5 on:** September 13, 2013, 08:31:36 AM »

From St. Bernard's Sermons for the Seasons & Principal Festivals of the Year: Translated from the Original Latin by a Priest of Mount Melleray, (Vol. I.; Westminster, MD: The Carroll Press, 1950):