The Most Holy Name of Mary 2023

Truly it is worthy and just, right and profitable to salvation that we should give Thee thanks always, here and everywhere, o Lord, Holy Father, almighty and eternal God: Who willed the blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of Thine Only-begotten Son, since no other mother was befitting for God than a virgin, and no other Son was befitting for the Virgin than God. And just as at the name of Jesus, every knee of those in heaven, on earth and below bends before Thy divine majesty; so also, at hearing the name of Mary, the heavens bow down, the earth falls prostrate, those below tremble, and confess that in the Virgin Mother, Thy omnipotence must be adored. And therefore with the Angels and Archangels, with the Thrones and Dominations, and with all the army of the heavenly host, we sing the hymn to Thy glory, saying without end: Holy, Holy, Holy... (The Ambrosian Preface for the feast of the Holy Name of Mary.)

A statue of the Virgin Mary on top of the tallest pinnacle of the cathedral of Milan, and affectionately known as “La Madonnina - the Little Madonna.” The cathedral is dedicated to Her Nativity. (Image from Wikimedia Commons by Ibex 73, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Vere quia dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper hic et ubique gratias agere, Domine, sancte Pater, omnipotens aeterne Deus: Qui beatissimam Mariam Virginem Unigeniti tui Genitricem esse voluisti: quoniam nec alia Deum mater decebat, quam virgo; nec virginem alius Filius, quam Deus. Sicut autem divinæ majestati tuæ in nomine Jesu omne genuflectitur caelestium, terrestrium, et infernorum; sic, audito Mariæ nomine, inclinantes se coeli, terra procumbens, trepidantes inferi tuam in Virgine Matre adorandam omnipotentiam confitentur. Et ideo cum angelis et archangelis, cum thronis et dominationibus, cumque omni militia caeliestis exercitus, hymnum gloriae tuae canimus, sine fine dicentes: Sanctus...