Wednesday:    Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Date:         September 12, 2018.
Year:         B
The readings: [1 Cor. 7:1, 17, 25-31; Lk. 6:20-26]
The message:  Mary, the Beautiful.
Prepared by:  Catholic Doors Ministry.
Total words:  882

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May I take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Feast of Mary. Today, we are celebrating the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Are any of you familiar with the meaning of the Christian name Mary? Mary, having a Hebrew origin, means "The Beautiful." Indeed, she is as a beautiful blooming flower of the Lord God who has and continues to manifest endless favours upon her.

The devotion to Jesus through Mary has been progressive throughout the entire history of the Holy Catholic Church. While some members of the Church have written about the Blessed Virgin Mary prior to the fourth century, it was not until then that her name had become rather popular among the Christian community.

Moving ahead in history, in 1683, Vienna was besieged by an army of 550,000 Turkish invaders who had reached the city walls and threatened all of Europe. John Sobieski, the King of Poland, a religious prince, came to the assistance of Vienna with a smaller army on the octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After serving the priest during the celebration of the Holy Mass and having received Holy Communion, he rose against the enemy by stating, "Let us march with confidence under the protection of Heaven and with the aid of the Most Holy Virgin!" At the approach of King John and his army, the Turks were struck with a sudden fear and fled in complete disorder.

Following this great victory under the auspice of our heavenly Mother, in the Fall of 1683 A.D., Pope Innocent XI ordered that the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary be celebrated each year by the universal Church as a perpetual memorial of the victory of King John Sobieski of Poland against the enemy at Vienna, Austria. The purpose of this feast was to remind the faithful to recommend to God on this day, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, all the necessities of the Church while giving thanks to God for His gracious protection and numberless mercies.

Since those days, this special Feast of Mary has been celebrated during the octave of the Nativity of Our Lady.

Referring to the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Richard of St. Laurence stated, "there is not such powerful help in any name, nor is there any other name given to men, after that of Jesus, from which so much salvation is poured forth upon men as from the name of Mary that the devout invocation of this sweet and holy name leads to the acquisition of superabundant graces in this life, and a very high degree of glory in the next."

Today, when we consider the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception that was proclaimed in 1854 by Pope Pius IX, we can now perceive why God had sent His Spirit to guide the Holy Catholic Church towards the granting of great honours to the Most Holy Name of Mary. According to this Dogma, "The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. (Inneffabilis Deus 1854, cited in the Catechism of the Catholic Church # 491)

As the only human being, this excluding Jesus, who was free of all traces of sins and remained so throughout her life, the Blessed Virgin Mary achieved perfection where the first Eve had failed. As the Second Eve, the Blessed Virgin Mary, was elevated by God as the spiritual mother of mankind.

These honours, and the many more that have been bestowed upon the Blessed Virgin Mary leave no doubt in the mind of Catholics that her Most Holy Name, Mary, the Beautiful one, a name that has been elevated higher than all human beings and angels, is the fountain of superabundant graces that shower upon us sinners from the Throne of God.

So powerful is the Most Holy Name of Mary, that it is said that the devils fear the Queen of heaven to such a degree, that only on hearing her great name pronounced, they fly from those who seek her help as from a burning fire."

From the life of St. Bridget, we learn that the Blessed revealed to her "that there is not on earth a sinner, however devoid he may be of the love of God, from whom the devil is not obliged immediately to fly, if he invokes her holy name with a determination to repent." On another occasion, the Blessed Virgin Mary stated, "that all the devils venerate and fear her name to such a degree, that on hearing it, they immediately loosen the claws with which they hold the soul captive."

In view of all these great Marian blessings that have been bestowed from Heaven, let us today honour the Most Holy Name of Mary with great esteem so our loving Mother may continue to be praised in every nation on earth. And may our spiritual devotion not only last one day, but be extended to every day of the year.

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"Brothers and sisters: Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: 'It is well for a man not to touch a woman.' However that may be, let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you. This is my rule in all the churches.

In regard to virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. So this is what I think best because of the present distress: that it is a good thing for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek a separation. Are you free of a wife? Then do not look for a wife. If you marry, however, you do not sin, nor does an unmarried woman sin if she marries; but such people will experience affliction in their earthly life, and I would like to spare you that.

I tell you, brothers, the time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away." [1 Cor. 7:1, 17, 25-31]

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Gospel Reading...

"Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.

'Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.'"." [Lk. 6:20-26]

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