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| (Detail) King Jan III Sobieski by Jean Matejko, Vatican Museum |
September 12th is the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary. Instituted in 1513 in the Spanish diocese of Cuenta, the Feast was extended in 1671 to all of Spain and the Kingdom of Naples.
Originally celebrated on the Sunday following the Nativity of the Blessed Mother, the Feast was transferred to September 12th and extended to the Universal Church by Pope Innocent XI after King Jan III Sobieski of Poland’s glorious victory against the Turks at the Battle of Vienna in 1683.
In celebration, we're posting a prayer by Saint Alphonsus de Ligouri. The accompanying photo of King Jan III Sobieski was taken at the Vatican Museum.
Most Holy Name of Mary
O Great Mother of God and my Mother Mary, it is true that I am unworthy to salute thee, but thou who loves me and desires my salvation must, not withstanding the impurity of my tongue, grant that I may always invoke thy most holy and powerful name in my aid, for thy name is the succor of the living and the salvation of the dying. Ah, most pure Mary, most sweet Mary, grant that henceforth thy name may be the breath of my life. O Lady, delay not to help me when I invoke thee, for in all the temptations that assail me, and in all my wants, I will never cease calling on thee and repeating again and again, Mary, Mary. Thus it is that I hope to act during my life and more particularly at death, that after that last struggle I may eternally praise thy beloved name in Heaven, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
Ah Mary, most amiable Mary, with what consolation, what sweetness, what confidence, what tenderness is my soul penetrated in only naming, in only thinking of thee! I thank my Lord and my God, Who for my good has given thee a name so sweet and deserving of love, and at the same time so powerful. But my sovereign Lady, I am not satisfied with only saluting thee, I wish to salute thee with love. I desire that my love may every hour remind me to call on thee, so that I may exclaim with St. Bonaventure, "O Name of the Mother of God, thou art my love." O my Beloved Jesus and my own dear Mary, may Thy most sweet names reign in my heart and in all hearts. Grant that I may forget all others to remember and always invoke thy adorable names alone. Ah, Jesus, my Redeemer, and my Mother Mary, when the moment of death comes when I must breath forth my soul and leave this world, deign, through thy merits, to grant that I may then pronounce my last words, and that they may be: "I love Thee, O Jesus; I love thee, O Mary; to thee do I give my heart and my soul." Amen