The Most Holy Name of Mary

Their story

Four days after celebrating Mary's birthday, the Church honors her holy name, much as families of the time gave a child a name soon after birth. Mary's name, Miriam in Hebrew, was the name of the sister of Moses, and Christians have always spoken it with love. We say it every time we pray the Hail Mary. The feast began in Spain in the 1500s. In 1683, when an Ottoman army besieged the city of Vienna and threatened Europe, Christians prayed to Mary for help. The siege was lifted on September 12, and in thanksgiving Pope Innocent XI extended the feast of the Holy Name of Mary to the whole Church. It was removed from the calendar in 1969 but restored by Pope St. John Paul II in 2002. St. Bernard of Clairvaux urged Christians to call on Mary's name in every trouble: "In dangers, in difficulties, in doubts, think of Mary, call upon Mary." Her name is a sign of her closeness to us, a mother whose children may call on her at any moment and know they will be heard.