Sept. 12: HAPPY FEAST DAY OF THE HOLY NAME OF MARY. “Call upon Mary!” St. Bernard’s Homily

Dear friends, Happy feast day of the Holy Name of Mary!

Below you have a very beautiful homily of St. Bernard on the Holy Name of Mary. I encourage you to meditate on it so as to grow in your filial trust and love to Our Mother in heaven.

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SAINT BERNARD: HOLY NAME OF MARY
A HOMILY OF ST. BERNARD, ABBOT & DOCTOR

IV

    “AND THE VIRGIN’S NAME WAS MARY.” Let us speak a little about this name, which is said to mean “star of the sea,” and which so well befits the Virgin Mother. Rightly is she likened to a star. As a star emits a ray without being dimmed, so the Virgin brought forth her Son without receiving any injury. The ray takes naught from the brightness of the star, nor the Son from His Mother’s virginal integrity. This is the noble star risen out of Jacob, whose ray illumines the whole world, whose splendor shines in the heavens, penetrates the abyss, and, traversing the whole earth, gives warmth rather to souls than to bodies, cherishing virtues, withering vices. MARY IS THAT BRIGHT AND INCOMPARABLE STAR, WHOM WE NEED TO SEE RAISED ABOVE THIS VAST SEA, SHINING BY HER MERITS, AND GIVING US LIGHT BY HER EXAMPLE.

V

    “All of you, who see yourselves amid the tides of the world, tossed by storms and tempests rather than walking on the land, do not turn your eyes away from this shining star, unless you want to be overwhelmed by the hurricane. IF TEMPTATION STORMS, OR YOU FALL UPON THE ROCKS OF TRIBULATION, LOOK TO THE STAR: CALL UPON MARY! IF YOU ARE TOSSED BY THE WAVES OF PRIDE OR AMBITION, DETRACTION OR ENVY, LOOK TO THE STAR, CALL UPON MARY. IF ANGER OR AVARICE OR THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH DASH AGAINST THE SHIP OF YOUR SOUL, TURN YOUR EYES TO MARY. IF TROUBLED BY THE ENORMITY OF YOUR CRIMES, ASHAMED OF YOUR GUILTY CONSCIENCE, TERRIFIED BY DREAD OF THE JUDGMENT, YOU BEGIN TO SINK INTO THE GULF OF SADNESS OR THE ABYSS OF DESPAIR, THINK OF MARY. IN DANGERS, IN ANGUISH, IN DOUBT, THINK OF MARY, CALL UPON MARY. LET HER NAME BE EVEN ON YOUR LIPS, EVER IN YOUR HEART; AND THE BETTER TO OBTAIN THE HELP OF HER PRAYERS, IMITATE THE EXAMPLE OF HER LIFE:   “Following her, thou strayest not; invoking her, thou despairest not; thinking of her, thou wanderest not; upheld by her, thou fallest not; shielded by her, thou fearest not; guided by her, thou growest not weary; favored by her, thou reachest the goal. And thus dost thou experience in thyself how good is that saying: ‘AND THE VIRGIN’S NAME WAS MARY.'”

Prayer:

GRANT, WE BESEECH THEE, ALMIGHTY GOD, THAT THY FAITHFUL, CALLING UPON THE NAME OF THE VIRGIN MARY AND REJOICING IN HER PROTECTION, MAY, BY HER MOTHERLY INTERCESSION, BE DELIVERED FROM THE EVILS OF THE EARTH AND ADVANCE TO THE ETERNAL HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN.
THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD. AMEN.