MEMORIAL OF THE MOST HOLY NAME OF MARY AND THE MEMORIAL OF SAINT GUY OF ANDERLECHT, HERMIT ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 12TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary and Saint Guy of Anderlecht, Hermit. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for all those seeking for life partners, may God grant their heart’s desires. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those mentally and physically ill, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for the poor and needy and for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏
THE MOST HOLY NAME OF MARY: On this day, the Church venerates the Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary because of her unique privilege as the holiest of creatures, the Mother of God, and the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Her name is therefore a royal one of the highest order, and as such should be given the greatest honor after that of her Divine Son, Jesus Christ. Instituted in 1513, the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary honors the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, as blessed and marks the very mention of her name as holy and deserving of respect and devotion. The feast day encourages us all to pray for her intercession to deepen our love of Christ and our relationship with the Lord. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “We venerate the name of Mary because it belongs to her who is the Mother of God, the holiest of creatures, the Queen of heaven and earth, the Mother of Mercy. The object of the feast is the Holy Virgin bearing the name of Mirjam (Mary); the feast commemorates all the privileges given to Mary by God and all the graces we have received through her intercession and mediation.” Over the years, more than seventy meanings have been attached to the name Mary—most based on devotion rather that philology. The two meanings that are most prevalent nowadays are: “The Exalted One” and “The Sublime One”. The latter seems to be most probable of all—and it certainly fits the Blessed Virgin very well. The name of Mary is celebrated as: (1) a name of honor, for God has so exalted her name that human lips will never cease to praise her; (2) a holy name, for it marks out the woman who was entirely full of grace and found favor with God and gave birth to the Son of God; (3) a maternal name, for the Lord Jesus dying on the altar of the Cross gave her to us as our Mother so that we might call upon her and be strengthened in our needs; and (4) a name responsive to need, for the faithful on whose lips her name echoes turn to her with confidence as their Star of hope and their Mother in time of danger. This feast is a counterpart to the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus; both have the possibility of uniting people easily divided on other matters.
The feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary began in Spain and was approved by the Holy See in 1513 and in 1671 was extended to all of Spain and the Kingdom of Naples. In 1683, John Sobieski, king of Poland, brought an army to the outskirts of Vienna to stop the advance of Muslim armies loyal to Mohammed IV of Constantinople. After Sobieski entrusted himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he and his soldiers thoroughly defeated the Muslims. Pope Innocent XI extended this feast’s observance to the entire Church in 1683 in thanksgiving for the victory of John Sobieski, King of Poland over the Turks, who were besieging Vienna and threatening the West. The feast was assigned to September 12, the date of the victory and only four days after the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The feast remained in the Universal Roman Calendar as a lesser Feast of Mary until the publication of the new Roman Missal revised in accord with the principles of the Secondd Vatican Council, when it was dropped as being a duplication of Mary’s Nativity. It has now been restored in the Roman Missal of John Paul II, which appeared in 2003. The Church teaches that God the Father is glorified first of all on account of the Name of Jesus, i.e., on account of the Person of His Son, His power and saving mission—in no other name is there salvation. The Father is then glorified on account of the Name of Mary, i.e., on account of the person of Christ’s Mother and her mission in the History of Salvation.
The ancient Onomastica Sacra have preserved the meanings ascribed to Mary’s name by the early Christian writers and perpetuated by the Greek Fathers. “Bitter Sea,” “Myrrh of the Sea,” “The Light Giver,” “The Enlightened One,” “Lady,” “Seal of the Lord,” and “Mother of the Lord” are the principal interpretations. These etymologies suppose that the Hebrew form of the name is Maryãm, not Miryãm. From the time of St. Jerome until the 16th century, preferred interpretations of Mary’s name in the West were “Lady,” “Bitter Sea,” “The Light Giver,” and especially “Star of the Sea.” Stella Maris was by far the favored interpretation. The revival of Hebraic studies, which accompanied the Renaissance, led to a more critical appraisal of the meanings assigned to Our Lady’s name. Miryãm has all the appearance of a genuine Hebrew name, and no solid reason has been discovered to warrant rejecting the Semitic origin of the word. The Hebrew name of Mary, Miryãm, (in Latin Domina) means lady or sovereign; this Mary is in virtue of her Son’s sovereign authority as Lord of the World. We call Mary our Lady as we call Jesus our Lord, and when we pronounce her name we affirm her power, implore her aid and place ourselves under her protection. Patron Saint of people named Stella Maris, Estelle, Astrid, Astra, Muriel or Mary.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.🙏
PRAYER: Almighty God, grant that all who celebrate the glorious Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary may obtain the benefits of Your mercy. Amen 🙏
SAINT GUY OF ANDERLECHT, HERMIT: St. Guy (950–1012), also known as the “Poor Man of Anderlecht,” was poor and uneducated but led an austre life. Layman, Guy was a farm labourer born in Brabant around 950 to pious parents of humble means in the country village of Anderlecht near Brussels. Born in poverty, he was trained in his faith by his pious parents and lived happily with his humble work in poverty. As a child St. Guy had two loves, the Church and the poor. Having no money for school, from his childhood he served the poor and fostered a great devotion to the Church while praying for the grace to love and accept his poverty. St. Guy was regarded as a young saint by those who knew him. The love of prayer growing more and more, he left his poor home at Brussels to seek greater poverty and closer union with God. He arrived at Laeken, near Brussels, and there showed such devotion before Our Lady’s shrine that one day, a priest who noticed his great reverence while praying in church, invited him to stay and serve the Church for a small sum, he was made sacristan of the church at Laeken near Brussels. Thenceforth his great joy was to be always in the church, sweeping the floor and ceiling, polishing the altars, and cleansing the sacred vessels. During the day St. Guy still found time to befriend and help the poor, so that his almsgiving became famous in all those parts and at night he would work and pray in the church; these were his two great loves. He served in this way joyfully and faithfully.
According to Legend, St. Guy had a failed “get rich quick” scheme, he invested his small savings in a business which failed. After losing his home and his job, he realized he needed to re-embrace his life of poverty. One day a shipping merchant from Brussels, hearing of the generosity of this poor sacristan, came to Laeken, prompted by a devil he wanted to take St. Guy away from his holy work as a Sacristan, offered him a share in his business and presented St. Guy with a lucrative opportunity to invest his small savings into a business venture. St. Guy could not bear to leave the church; but the offer seemed providential, and he at last closed with it, not recognizing the temptation. St. Guy accepted the job offer under the pretense of making more money to give to the poor, and he left his position as Sacristan. When his first cargo ship sunk as it left the harbor, St. Guy realized his error and the deception he had succumbed to in giving up his happy and humble work serving Christ. He went back to the church and found that the sacristan position had been replaced. Left without a job and no money, St. Guy was so filled with remorse over his foolish decision that he went on a penitential pilgrimage. He visited Rome, the Holy Land, and other shrines, wandering from shrine to shrine as far as Jerusalem on pilgrimage over a period of seven years. In 1020 he returned home to Anderlecht exhausted and sick and died shortly afterwards at the public hospital in Anderlecht. As he died, a light shone round him, and a voice was heard proclaiming his eternal reward. Through the years a cult formed around his grave and his shrine became a popular pilgrim site, particularly associated with horses. Miracles were reported at the grave of this ‘poor man of Anderlecht’, after which a church was built in his honor. St. Guy is the Patron Saint of Anderlecht, Belgium; against mad dogs; against rabies; against epilepsy; bachelors; epileptics; horned animals; laborers; work horses; hydrophobia; convulsions; bell ringers; farmers; sacristans, sextons and protection of outbuildings such as sheds and stables. His feast day is September 12th.
Saint Guy of Anderlecht, Hermit ~ Pray for us 🙏