Most Holy Name of Mary

To Jesus through Mary! A joyous feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary! Today’s memorial feast kicks off a week of momentous days in the Church year. Coming up on Monday we celebrate the Exaltation of the Cross, on Tuesday we remember Our Lady of Sorrows, we also celebrate Fall Ember Days this week as well as the feast of St. Robert Bellarmine- a bishop and Doctor of the Church. Holy smokes! What a week!

The Church liturgical calendar gives us lots of things to think about and things to commemorate as we go about our daily lives, so The Cause of Our Joy this week will take a deep dive into the above celebrations. As usual, we thank you for joining us, and without further ado, let’s get into this!

Battle of Vienna
A lot of Catholics are familiar with the Battle of Lepanto and the Feast of Our Lady of Victory/Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7th, but did you know that today’s feast day, the Holy Name of Mary, came from a similar military battle and victory? Check out the story here — it’s a quick easy read that really gave us new understanding and appreciation for today’s celebration!

Exaltation of the Cross
On Monday, September 14, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Exhalation or Triumph of the Holy Cross. It is a special feast day set aside to remember two historical events: the finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, and the dedication of the basilica and shrine built on the site of the Crucifixion at Calvary. This great feast day not only celebrates those events, but that God’s greatest work was the salvation of man which came about by the death and resurrection of Jesus. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.

Our Lady of Sorrows
The month of September is dedicated by the Church to Our Lady of Sorrows, to the spiritual martyrdom of Mary, Mother of God. The Church also celebrates the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows on Tuesday, September 15. This feast originated in the 17th century, but has much deeper roots. When Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the temple, Simeon told Mary that her heart would be pierced with a sword of sorrow. To learn more of the history of this memorial and about devotion to Our Lady under this title, follow this link to Catholic Culture.

Remembering September 11, 2001
Yesterday marked the 19th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the US. It was a day none of us will forget. But through the anguish, there are so many stories of heroes, like Fr. Michal Judge and others who laid down their lives for their fellow man. There are also stories of those who survived and lived and wondered why did God spare them? Here is one such story of a pain and loss from a man who made it out of tower one of the World Trade Center. .  

Saint Spotlight 
St. Robert Bellarmine, whose feast is this coming Thursday, was a smart man who spent a lot of his time working on battling the Protestant Reformation. We found a 2-minute video that outlines the wisdom of this Saint and we also discovered this piece, 5 Facts About St. Robert Bellarmine that we found interesting!

Marian Minute
In our research this week, we came upon a title of Mary that we hadn’t heard of before, Our Lady of Waiting. It is said that Our Lady visited Lebanon with Jesus and waited in the village of Mantara for him to return when he had gone to Tyre and Sidon, hence the title she received here. St. Helena of Constantinople, some three hundred years later, donated an icon to the sanctuary, which is still there! To learn more about this beautiful shrine, head over to Aleteia, where there is also a slideshow of this beautiful shrine.

Sunday Readings
The main themes in this Sunday’s readings are mercy and forgiveness. The second reading tells us that we need to forgive and in turn, our sins will be forgiven. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the man who is forgiven of his debts but then does not extend that mercy on those indebted to him. When asked how many times we are to forgive our brother, Jesus says that we are to forgive not 7 times, but 77 times! For a more complete reflection, we found this article, How Many Times Do We Have To Forgive, at Catholic Exchange.

Liturgical Living
Here are some links to celebrate some important feast days this week.

Holy Name of Mary, September 12

Exaltation of the Cross, September 14

Our Lady of Sorrows, September 15

Marian Center Update
It’s easy to practice social distancing while attending our exhibit on Marian Apparitions! And you can shop at the Marian Center Gift Shop.

We are now on our Fall schedule. Come visit us from Tuesday-Saturday, 10 to 3. Hope to see you soon!

To Christ Through Mary,

Katie Moe and Lori Mercer


P.S. Please forward this email to friends and encourage them to sign up for our email newsletter

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.