The past week was pretty much given entirely to Mary. On Monday, we celebrated her birth and yesterday we celebrated her holy name. She holds a very unique place in the Church in this regard, for we only celebrate three birthdays, Christ's, John the Baptist's, and Mary's. What's interesting, however, is that the birthdays of the first two are celebrated as solemnities, while Mary's is only a feast (albeit still important). The celebration of her name, on the other hand, is a privilege she shares with her Son, Jesus, and both the Holy Name of Jesus and the holy name of Mary are celebrated as memorials.
So the questions naturally present themselves: What should we draw from this apparent lack of full solemnity? Is Mary somehow lessened in her importance? What is the Liturgy trying to show us?
From the start, two things are theologically obvious; our Lord is higher in dignity and majesty than our Lady, and St. John the Baptist is lower in dignity and majesty than her. So why is John's birthday celebrated as a solemnity? It is because John's birth foreshadows and points to Christ. In the Gospel of Luke the birth of John comes before the birth of Christ. The Liturgy has also mirrored this imaging between the two celebrations. Thus, celebrating the birth of John is really a celebration of Christ. Furthermore, this is shown by the fact that the Beheading of St. John the Baptist is celebrated only as a memorial on August 29. His beheading relates primarily to him, but his birth relates to Christ, for it is the herald of our coming salvation.
Mary on the other hand, is the dawn of our salvation. One of her titles is "Morning Star," for her Immaculate Conception and birth were a sign of our approaching salvation. As the entrance antiphon for her nativity proclaims, "From her arose the sun of justice, Christ our God." The morning star is a planet, which appears in the sky just before dawn, i.e. the rising of the sun. Mary is given a feast then, because her birth, while not part of our salvation, was nevertheless, a sign of it. She was born of aged parents and she was born without ever having possessed the stain of Original Sin.
Within her birth we may see an image of the human race. Our race had grown old under the burden of sin, but Christ renews it and cleanses it! That which took place, and continues to take place, within the entire Church, took place first in Mary.
The feasts of the Church which directly concern our salvation are ranked as solemnities, those which give us glimpses into the great mystery of Christ and His Church are feasts, and those which proclaim His marvels and wondrous works are memorials. While that is not exhaustive or a scientific manner for describing the reasons the Church gives for Her assignments, it does allow us to see the reason the Nativity of Mary is ranked as a feast. Within her birth we see our new birth. Additionally, it is only because of her human birth that Christ was able to possess our humanity. Mary, though immaculately conceived, was still born in the natural manner. Thus, she was able to give God the Son our nature, when He took flesh in her womb. All of this shows us the sublime mystery of Christ's relationship with us, His Church.
The Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, then, like the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, is ranked as a memorial because it proclaims a marvel of God and His work. Jesus' name means "The LORD saves," obviously showing His mission in becoming man and taking on a human name, namely to redeem us. The holy Name of Mary may be translated in many possible ways. One way could mean "Lady," which would naturally refer to her exalted dignity above the angels and saints, her purity and holiness, and her role as Mother of the Church and our Mother. The other possible meanings for her name are referring to "bitterness," or "myrrh" which would obviously relate to the sufferings she underwent to participate fully in the Mystery of our Redemption, setting us an example to follow, or something to do with "light" or "light giver," particularly "star of the sea." This, of course, shows that she is both a beacon to us to imitate in following Christ, from whom He received His humanity (All etymology from Wikipedia Page: Holy Name of Mary).
Whatever the exact meaning of her name at the time, though, we venerate the name because it is always a reminder of how God has worked gloriously through her. Through her the was born Christ our God, and she has shown us the way to salvation by her perfect life!
Mary, Star of the Sea, our Lady and our Mother, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
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