Monday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
What's in a name?
For the ancients knowledge of a person's name enabled a kind of control over them. This is why YHWH, in the burning bush, would not give Moses his name. You can't try to control me, Moses, as you did the gods of Egypt. A turning point when driving out evil entities is to get the demon to divulge their name. Remember that when you next assist at an exorcism.
Today we honor the name of Mary. Mary was the most popular girls name in all Christendom until the 1970s. Traditionally “Mary” was the name given to a first born daughter.
Its biblical roots are with Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. Matriarch and prophetess, she was strong in an age when women were supposed to be docile. She supported her illustrious brothers along that arduous desert trek. At a tender age Miriam was a quick-thinker. Remember her among the bulrushes and how she protected baby Moses?
The oldest oral source in all of the Bible is the Song of Miriam at the Sea of Reeds: “I will sing to the Lord who is glorious triumphant. Horse and chariot he has cast into the sea!” (Exodus 15:1) Scholars contend that it comes straight from the mouth of the prophetess herself and may have been the refrain sung by Israel as the hand of God swooped down on pharaoh and his charioteers. It’s the oldest oral tradition in the Bible—all the way back to the 13th century BCE. I find that astounding.
The mother of Jesus was named after this matriarch of the exodus, and after another Jewish heroine as well—Mariamme (Mar-ee-am-EE), a descendant of Judah’s national heroes the Maccabees. Mariamee was the wife of Herod the Great who deeply loved her but let his mad paranoia get the better of him, having her executed. Naming Jewish girls “Mariamme” was an act of resistance. There are seven Marys in the Gospels, the most popular feminine name in Judaism. Mariam, Mariamme, and Mary all translate from the Hebrew “rebellious.” Apropos.
St. Louis de Montfort (d. 1716) said of our Lady, “There is not a child who does not praise her by lisping her name. There is scarcely a sinner, however hardened, who does not possess some spark of confidence in her name. The very devils in hell cower at the mention of her name.”
Today’s memorial, as well as the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, helps us focus on the significance of our own personal names. We are reminded of our baptisms when we were given our name in Christ. It is the name by which we are known by God.
What follows is from a traditional litany to the Holy Name of Mary:
Heavenly Father, of Whom Mary is Daughter, have mercy on us.
Eternal Word, of Whom Mary is Mother, have mercy on us.
Holy Spirit, of Whom Mary is spouse, have mercy on us.
Divine Trinity, of Whom Mary is Handmaid, have mercy on us.
Mary, An archangel proclaimed you forever blessed. May your name be spoken with honor, because you are closer to God than we are, because you know God more intimately than we do, and because we trust that you will pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
-Timothy J. Cronin