Honoring Mary in September
Although May is the month officially dedicated to Mary, September has its fair share of Marian feast days. Keep reading to learn a little bit about four major Marian feast days this month!
September 8: Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
There are no confirmed accounts of Mary's birth, but the Gospel of James (an apocryphal book which is not considered divinely inspired or necessarily historically accurate) gives us the story of her nativity that has been handed down through the ages. This story tell us of Joachim and Anne, a wealthy, childless couple who looked to Abraham and Sarah for hope of conceiving; after much prayer, God blessed them with the Immaculate Conception. As St. Augustine wrote regarding Mary and her birth, "She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley. Through her birth the nature inherited from our first parents is changed."
September 12: Most Holy Name of Mary
The feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary is a counterpoint to the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus; its observance was extended to the whole Church after the Polish victory over the Turks in 1683. The name of Mary is a holy one because she is the Mother of God, and as she declared in the Magnificat, "all generations shall call me blessed."
Read more about the Holy Name of Mary here.
September 15: Our Lady of Sorrows
The devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows is a meditation on the Seven Sorrows of Mary, events recorded in the New Testament that both foreshadowed and caused the profound sorrow Mary experienced in the death of her Son. This devotion rose in prominence thanks to the efforts of the Servite order, which was founded in 1240 after seven men received the same vision from Mary, directing them to found a new order and spread devotion to her Seven Sorrows.
The Seven Sorrows are as follows:
- The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:33–35)
- The flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13–15)
- Loss of the Child Jesus for three days (Luke 2:41–50)
- Mary meets Jesus on His way to Calvary (Luke 23:27–31; John 19:17)
- Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (John 19:25–30)
- The body of Jesus being taken from the Cross (Luke 23:50–54; John 19:31–37)
- The burial of Jesus (Isaiah 53:8–9; Luke 23:50–56; John 19:38–42; Mark 15:40–47)
Read more about Our Lady of Sorrows here.
September 28: Our Lady, Undoer of Knots
Our Lady, Undoer of Knots as a devotion developed about 300 years ago, but is grounded in a quote from St. Irenaeus of Lyons from the second century: “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith.”
This unique devotion to Mary has brought countless people solace. We have created the knots in our own life through our sin, both individual and collective. As much as we may try to undo those knots, we cannot; only God can. Mary, as mediatrix, can play an important role in interceding for us. By turning over the knots in our life to Mary, she can in turn make our case to her Son. Though a devotion to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots may not make all of our problems miraculously disappear, we will be filled with spiritual graces that will loosen their grip on us.
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