MARY, OUR MOTHER

Meditation 13

THE NAME OF MARY

1. The importance of This Name.

When a child is born, one of the first things we do, is to give him a name. All of us fondly commemorate our name feast. A name feast is a family feast when we manifest our filial devotion to our parents or to our children. We wish them many happy returns. We send them presents, we pay them visits. All this is part of the ritual of that happy day. Today, we are meditating on the feast of the Name of Mary, a feast which ought to be a great occasion for all Her devotees and Her loving children. The importance of a name depends on its fitness to the person to whom it is applied. The better the person is pictured by a name, the more appropiate that name is. In the world, oftener than not, names are given because of some particular liking for that name by the parents or on account of some family connection implied. We seldom pause to choose a name that suits the person concerned. But it was not so with Mary. It was not right and proper that just any name whatsoever should be given to Her. Her name must express all the graces and wonders and marvels with which God had endowed Her. Thus God and God alone could give Her a fitting and adequate name. And the name chosen was Mary.

[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]