Mary of the Day (September 12) – Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary

The feast of the holy name of Mary was granted by Rome in 1513 to a diocese in Spain, Cuenca. Suppressed by St. Pius V, it was restored by Sixtus V and extended in 1671 to the Kingdom of Naples and Milan. On Sept. 12, 1683, John III Sobieski and his Polish army defeated the Turks besieging Vienna and threatening Christendom. Blessed Innocent XI, in thanksgiving, extended the feast to the universal Church and fixed it on the Sunday between the Octave of the Nativity. St. Pius X restored it to September 12.

On this day, the ineffable love of the Mother of God toward her most holy Son is commemorated, and the figure of the Mother of the Redeemer is proposed to the faithful to be devoutly invoked.

In the history of exegesis, there have been different interpretations of the meaning of Mary’s name:

1) “BITTERNESS” – MIRYAM

Some rabbis have given this meaning: they derive the name MIRYAM from the root MRR = in Hebrew “to be bitter.” These rabbis claim that Mary, sister of Moses, was named so because, when she was born, Pharaoh began to make the lives of the Israelites bitter and made the decision to kill the Hebrew children.

Christians can accept this interpretation by considering how much pain and bitterness Mary endured in cooperating in our redemption: [Lam. 1:12] You all who pass by the way, consider and observe whether there is any sorrow like my sorrow…
Moreover, the devil, of whom Pharaoh is a figure, makes war on the woman’s lineage, making life bitter for Mary’s true devotees, who, for that matter, fear nothing, protected by their Queen.

2) “MISTRESS AND LADY OF THE SEA” – MOREH-YAM

According to this interpretation, Mary’s name would derive from MOREH (Heb. Mistress-Mistress) + YAM (= sea): as Mary, the sister of Moses and Aaron, was a teacher of the Hebrew women in the Red Sea passage and a Teacher in the song of Victory

Then Mary, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a kettledrum in her hand: behind her came out the women with kettledrums, forming choruses of dances. Mary made them sing the refrain, “Sing to the Lord, for he has marvelously triumphed: he has thrown horse and rider into the sea!” (cf. Ex 15:20-21).

Thus, “Mary is the Teacher and the Lady of the sea of this century, which she makes us cross leading us to heaven” (St. Ambrose, Exhort. ad Virgines)

Other ancient authors who suggest this interpretation are Philo, St. Jerome, and St. Epiphanius. This typological parallel between Mary, sister of Moses, and Mary, mother of God, is taken up by Pseudo Augustine, who calls Mary “tympanistria nostra” (Mary, sister of Moses and the kettledrum player of the Hebrews, Mary Most Holy is the tympanistria nostra, that is, of the Christians: the N.T. canticle of Moses would be the Magnificat, sung precisely by Mary:

this interpretation is supported today by Fr. Le Deaut, one of the greatest connoisseurs of the Tergumic and Hebrew literature. According to this author, St. Luke would have voluntarily made this parallelism.

3) “ILLUMINATRIX, STAR OF THE SEA” – M’OR-YAM.

According to this interpretation, Mary’s name would be derived from the nominal (or participial) prefix M + ‘OR (ebr.= light) + YAM (= sea): Thus, St. Gregory the Wonderworker, St. Isidore, and St. Jerome (along with the former).
Some authors believe that St. Jerome did not interpret the name as “star of the sea” but as “still maris,” a drop of the sea.

The presence of the root of “sea” in Mary’s name has suggested various interpretations and comparisons of Mary with the “sea”: Peter of Celles (+1183) Mary = “sea of graces”: hence Montfort takes up:

“God the Father gathered all the waters and called them sea, He gathered all graces and called them Mary” (True Devotion, 23).

Qohelet 1:7: “all rivers enter the sea”; St. Bonaventure argues that all the graces (= all the rivers) that the angels, apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins had, “flowed” into Mary, the sea of graces.

St. Bridget: “This is why Mary’s name is sweet to angels and terrible to demons.”

Ave maris stella, Dei Mater alma, atque semper virgo, Felix coeli porta…”

This hymn seems to be a meditation on Mary’s name, in relation to Mary, sister of Moses: “Ave maris stella” (cf. meaning 3); “Dei Mater ALMA atque semper virgo”: Mary, sister of Moses, is called in Ex 2:8, `ALMAH = “virgin” and, etymologically “hidden”; “Felix coeli porta,” i.e., “mistress of the sea” of this century that she makes us cross (cf. meaning 2)

4) SEASONAL RAIN – MOREH

According to this interpretation, Mary’s name would be derived from MOREH (Heb. FIRST SEASONAL RAIN).
Mary is regarded as She who sends a rain of grace from heaven” and ‘rain of grace herself.’

This interpretation, which C. A Lapide attributes to Pagninus, is taken up in part by St. Louis de Montfort in the Burning Prayer:” commenting on Ps. 67:10 “pluviam voluntariam elevasti Deus, hereditatem tuam laborantem tu confortasti” (A plentiful rain O God you set aside for your inheritance), Montfort says:

“[P.I. 20] What is it, Lord, this abundant rain that you have set apart and chosen to invigorate your exhausted inheritance? Are not these holy missionaries, children of Mary your bride, whom you must choose and gather for the good of your Church so weakened and stained by the sins of her children?”

Mary, a shower of graces, will form and send a shower of missionaries to earth.

5) HEIGHT – MAROM

According to this interpretation, Mary’s name would be derived from MAROM (ebr. HIGHNESS, EXCELSIS): Caninius supported this hypothesis among the ancients and Vogt among the moderns, especially on the basis of recent discoveries of Ugaritic texts, which have enabled the understanding of many Hebrew roots.
Luke 1:78 per viscera misericordiae Dei nostri in quibus visitavit nos oriens EX ALTO this verse, based on the Greek text and the retroversion into Hebrew, can be translated: visited us from above a rising sun: Christ is the rising sun that comes from above (the Father) or visited us a rising sun “from above” = from Mary.

Which of these hypotheses is the right one? Perhaps Providence has left us in doubt because in Mary’s name we can find at the same time all the meanings that the analogy of faith suggests.

PRAYER ON THE FEAST DAY OF THE MOST HOLY NAME OF MARY

O Mary, to whom in our lives should we have recourse if not to you, invoking your Most Holy Name? For you, the heresies were dispersed from the most dangerous battles, and the Church emerged triumphant. For you, individuals, families, and populations were liberated and often preserved from the gravest adversities. O Mary, may our trust in you always be alive so that in our every need, we may experience you for what you always show yourself to be: the succor of the indigent of the destitute, the defense of the persecuted, the health of the sick, the consolation of the afflicted, the refuge of sinners, the perseverance of the just, the mercy of all. Amen

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Sources:

Author: Don Alfredo Morselli – http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/69950

https://www.santodelgiorno.it/santissimo-nome-di-maria/.

http://www.laportadiluce.it/preghiera-per-il-giorno-della-festa–del-santissimo-nome-di-maria.html

https://biscobreak.altervista.org/2013/09/santissimo-nome-maria/.