Special Feast Days

PRAYER TO THE HOLY NAME OF MARY
Feast day : September 12th

A more formal version, using "Thee" & "Thou" is found beneath this version.

1. Mary, Mother of God, your Name is most glorious and most powerful. After the most Holy and adorable Name of Jesus, there is no name more glorious and more powerful than yours. At the mention of it, the angels rejoice and the devils tremble; through the invocation of your Name, sinners obtain grace and pardon.

Your Name is the name of the one I love. At the same time, your Name brings before me your virtues, your merits, and your beauty. Merit and glory attend your Name. How I long to repeat It unceasingly, so as to spread its fame, to carry that fame to every shore, to imprint it on every mind. Teach me to utter your Name with deep respect, because, after the Name of Jesus, it is most sacred and revered above all others.

When I say "Hail, Mary!" I breathe the Name of one who is Virgin and Mother, Mother of God and Mother of men—my Mother. I need not see you appear, as you did to so many others. I am unworthy of that. But when I say "Mary," in an instant you are there before me, and I feel, in my heart, a stirring of joy and comfort. You see me, smile on me, listen to me, stretch your arms out to me, because you hear my prayer and, like a mother, you are anxious to help your child. After the Name of Jesus, neither Heaven nor earth can utter a name, by which my faith and love receive more abundant grace, reassuring hope, and lasting sweetness.

Mary, My Mother, as often as your sweet Name comes to my lips, you appear to me as a masterpiece of God's power, so perfect and so sublime, that even the hand of Almighty God could not produce anything more perfect in the form of a pure creature. May my soul always find comfort in your Holy Name! A mother, as she hears her child lisping her name, is thrilled beyond all telling, at all times; and, better than she, you will understand me when I say, "Hail Mary!"

2. Mary, Mother of God, your Name means Lady and Queen. If Jesus is Our Lord, then you are Our Lady. You rule in Heaven and on earth. You are the Queen of your Son's kingdom. In Heaven, all your subjects are crowned by the King of kings, and they pay homage to you. Here on earth, kings and rulers lay, at your feet, their crowns, their very selves. Hell is forced to bear the weight of your lasting hatred. Satan is more humiliated at seeing himself under the heel of the lowliest of creatures, than at feeling himself crushed by God's almighty arm.

You are my Queen, my Lady. I long for your complete dominion over me—over my body, my soul, my senses, over all that I am and have. I regard that dominion as a shining star—lighting and guiding my life.

Mary, My Mother, your Name means Star of the Sea. You are the Morning Star—the Morning Star that announces the arrival of the Sun of Justice. You are to be our guide toward the haven of salvation. I fix my gaze on that Star and wish never to turn from it. I find faith in its light and hope in its help. As a slave of love, I willingly deliver myself to the everlasting service of so wonderful and majestic a Lady.

Your Name means Sea of Bitterness. You experienced a sea of bitterness in your life, so that you might be an example to us, in our sufferings, and so that we might learn, from your own sorrow, to sympathize with others in theirs. We know that you are ever ready to be our help in trouble, our solace in affliction, our hope in despair.

3. Mary, Mother of God, your Name means "full of light" and "light-giving." How well your Name gives expression to your position and your mission in life—your divine Motherhood. In virtue of this privilege, you reflect, as a spotless mirror, the eternal Light of the Word, which is first poured into you and illuminates you. Being filled with light from Heaven, you have shed brightness upon the whole world, by giving birth to the Eternal Light, Our Lord Jesus Christ, although still remaining in the glory of your virginity.

As Mother of the spiritual and heavenly, you are the Mediatrix of the light of grace to mankind. Truly, you are "light-giving," because you have given us Jesus, the Light of the World. Jesus is our life and you have given Him to us. He has reconciled us to God. He is for us the source of all grace, the cause of our supernatural life. To you, then, we owe the salvation which Jesus brought to us. To you we owe the life of grace, without which there is no escape from the death of sin. No one is saved, except through you, no one comes to life, except through you. You are our Mother, the Mother of all the living. You are our spiritual Mother in the order of grace. You are our Mother, because you have begotten us to the life of grace. It is to you, after God, that we are indebted for our spiritual life—the life of the children of God. As breathing is not only a sign, but even a cause of life, so your Name, which is constantly found on the lips of your servants, both proves that they are spiritually alive, and, at the same time, causes and preserves their life, and gives them every help in their needs.

Teach me to utter your most Holy Name, that it may fill my heart with hope and burning love for you; and, that loving you, I might reach the Light of the World.

Mary, My Mother, glorious is your Name for those who pronounce it at death, for they need not fear all the powers of Hell. As wax melts before fire, so do the devils lose their power against those souls, who remember to speak your Name and devoutly invoke it. May your Name be the last sound that escapes my lips upon this earth and the first I breathe in Heaven. Amen.

PRAYER TO THE HOLY NAME OF MARY
(more formal with "Thee" & "Thou")

1. Mary, Mother of God, thy Name is most glorious and most powerful. After the most holy and adorable Name of Jesus, there is no name more glorious and more powerful than thine. At the mention of it, the angels rejoice and the devils tremble; through the invocation of thy Name, sinners obtain grace and pardon.

Thy Name is the name of the one I love. At the same time, thy Name brings before me thy virtues, thy merits, and thy beauty. Merit and glory attend thy Name. How I long to repeat It unceasingly, so as to spread its fame, to carry that fame to every shore, to imprint it on every mind. Teach me to utter thy Name with deep respect, because, after the Name of Jesus, it is most sacred and revered above all others.

When I say "Hail, Mary!" I breathe the Name of one who is Virgin and Mother, Mother of God and Mother of men, my Mother. I need not see thee appear, as thou did to so many others. I am unworthy of that. But when I say "Mary," in an instant thou art there before me, and I feel, in my heart, a stirring of joy and comfort. Thou dost see me, smile upon me, listen to me, stretch thy arms out to me, because thou hearest my prayer and, like a mother, thou art anxious to help thy child. After the Name of Jesus, neither Heaven nor earth can utter a Name by which my faith and love receive more abundant grace, reassuring hope, and lasting sweetness.

Mary, My Mother, as often as thy sweet Name comes to my lips, thou appear to me as a masterpiece of God's power, so perfect and so sublime, that even the hand of Almighty God could not produce anything more perfect in the form of a pure creature. May my soul always find comfort in thy Holy Name! A mother, as she hears her child lisping her name, is thrilled beyond all telling, at all times; and, better than she, thou wilt understand me when I say, "Hail Mary!"

2. Mary, Mother of God, thy Name means Lady and Queen. If Jesus is Our Lord, then thou art Our Lady. Thou rulest in Heaven and on earth. Thou art the Queen of thy Son's kingdom. In Heaven, all thy subjects are crowned by the King of kings, and they pay homage to thee. Here on earth, kings and rulers lay, at thy feet, their crowns, their very selves. Hell is forced to bear the weight of thy lasting hatred. Satan is more humiliated at seeing himself under the heel of the lowliest of creatures, than at feeling himself crushed by God's almighty arm.

Thou art my Queen, my Lady. I long for thy complete dominion over me—over my body, my soul, my senses, over all that I am and have. I regard that dominion as a shining star—lighting and guiding my life.

Mary, My Mother, thy name means Star of the Sea. Thou art the Morning Star—the Morning Star that announces the arrival of the Sun of Justice. Thou art to be our guide toward the haven of salvation. I fix my gaze on that Star and wish never to turn from it. I find faith in its light and hope in its help. As a slave of love, I willingly deliver myself to the everlasting service of so wonderful and majestic a Lady.

Thy Name means Sea of Bitterness. Thou didst experience a sea of bitterness in thy life, so that thou might be an example to us, in our sufferings, and so that we might learn, from thy own sorrow, to sympathize with others in theirs. We know that thou art ever ready to be our help in trouble, our solace in affliction, our hope in despair.

3. Mary, Mother of God, thy name means "full of light" and "light-giving." How well thy Name gives expression to thy position and thy mission in life—thy divine Motherhood. In virtue of this privilege, thou dost reflect, as a spotless mirror, the eternal Light of the Word, which is first poured into thee and illuminates thee. Being filled with light from Heaven, thou hast shed brightness upon the whole world, by giving birth to the Eternal Light, Our Lord Jesus Christ, although still remaining in the glory of thy virginity.

As Mother of the spiritual and heavenly, thou art the Mediatrix of the light of grace to mankind. Truly, thou art "light-giving," because thou hast given us Jesus, the Light of the World. Jesus is our life and thou hast given Him to us. He has reconciled us to God. He is for us the source of all grace, the cause of our supernatural life. To thee, then, we owe the salvation which Jesus brought to us. To thee we owe the life of grace, without which there is no escape from the death of sin. No one is saved, except through thee, no one comes to life, except through thee. Thou art our Mother, the Mother of all the living. Thou art our spiritual Mother in the order of grace. Thou art our Mother, because thou hast begotten us to the life of grace. It is to thee, after God, that we are indebted for our spiritual life, the life of the children of God. As breathing is not only a sign, but even a cause, of life, so thy Name, which is constantly found on the lips of your servants, both proves that they are spiritually alive, and, at the same time, causes and preserves their life, and gives them every help in their needs.

Teach me to utter thy most Holy Name, that it may fill my heart with hope and burning love for thee; and, that loving thee, I might reach the Light of the World.

Mary, My Mother, glorious is thy Name for those who pronounce it at death, for they need not fear all the powers of Hell. As wax melts before fire, so do the devils lose their power against those souls who remember to speak thy Name and devoutly invoke it. May thy Name be the last sound that escapes my lips upon this earth, and the first I breathe in Heaven. Amen.