This week the Church celebrates: the Nativity of Mary (8th), the Holy Name of Mary (12th), and Our Lady of Sorrows (15th).
Mary plays one of the most important roles in the history of our salvation as the one who bore the Savior of the world. The Nativity of Mary commemorates her holy birth - her birth serves as a glimmer of light for a fallen world because it is the precursor to the birth of Christ, the light of the world.
Although we don’t know the exact date of Mary’s birth—there is no reference to it in Scripture—the Church relies on the Protoevangelium of James, which gives a detailed account of Mary’s birth and a conversation between Mary’s mother Anne and her midwife.
The Holy Name of Mary reminds us of her favor with God as the one chosen to be mother of Jesus. The very mention of her name reminds us that she is full of grace, has found favor with God, and is blessed among all women. Her name also symbolizes her call to motherhood for all of creation. At the moment of Christ’s death on the cross, he gave his mother to all of us (John 19:26-27), and thus the mention of her name serves as a reminder that we have a heavenly mother that responds to all of our needs, protects us from evil, and intercedes for us. St. Louis de Montfort wrote, “There is not a child who does not praise her by lisping a ‘Hail Mary’; there is scarcely a sinner, however hardened, who does not possess some spark of confidence in her. The very devils in hell, while fearing her, show her respect.”
The feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows commemorates the profound suffering Mary experienced during the crucifixion and death of her Son. Historically, the sorrows of Mary were sevenfold, which included the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt; the loss and finding of Jesus in the Temple; meeting Jesus on the road to Calvary; standing at the foot of the cross; holding Jesus’s lifeless body as he was taken down from the cross; and his burial.
Mary’s earthly life and death is little known to us in Scripture, and yet these Feast Days help us to contemplate the defining moments of her life marked by her humble servitude and eternal splendor.