Holy Name of Mary

Most Holy Name of Mary, Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, or simply Holy Name of Mary is a feast in the Roman Catholic Church which is celebrated on September 12. It was made a universal feast by Pope Innocent XI to commemorate victory at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. The feast celebrates the name of Mary the mother of Jesus. 
The feast exemplifies the Roman Catholic focus on Mariology and the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At Rome one of the twin churches at the Forum Trajani is dedicated to the Name of Mary. 
==History==
The feast was only a local one at its inception in 1513, when it was instituted in Cuenca, Spain. It was initially celebrated on September 15. In 1587 Pope Sixtus V moved the celebration to September 17. Pope Gregory XV extended the celebration to the Archdiocese of Toledo in 1622. In 1666 the Discalced Carmelites received the faculty to recite the Office of the Name of Mary four times a year (duplex). In 1671 the feast was extended to the whole Kingdom of Spain. After the victory of John III Sobieski over the Turks in the Battle of Vienna in 1683, the feast was extended to the whole Church by Pope Innocent XI, and assigned to the Sunday after the Nativity of Mary. Prior to the battle King John had placed his troops under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After the battle Pope Innocent XI, wishing to honor Mary, extended the feast to the entire Church. 
==Date of the feast==
In the Ambrosian Calendar of Milan the feast of the Holy Name of Mary was assigned to September 11th. By the time of the General Roman Calendar of 1954 the date was set on September 12. After a short period when it was removed because it was a duplication of the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 8,"Calendarium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 138 it was restored to September 12."Martyrologium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7)
==References==
==External links==
*Catholic Encyclopedia: Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary
Category:Catholic holy days
Category:Marian devotions
Category:Titles of Mary
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