Andrew Mantegna, Lamentation of Christ
Thomas Griffin 9/12/25
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September 12th is the feast of the Holy Name of Mary. Throughout the life of Jesus it is easy to view and assume how Mary cared for her Son. Throughout the centuries, the Church has also been cared for and been looked after by the Mother of Christ. Throughout every moment of your life, she has been there for you as well.
Ultimately, the Catholic teaching on the importance of Mary for our lives is rooted in the common understanding of our need for our earthly mothers: we need our moms to take care of us and we need to trust that we are never alone.
Mary shows her desire to take care of us and be with us at the Visitation, in her long journey to rejoice with Elizabeth and care for her as she gives birth to John the Baptist. Her loving presence is also seen in the gentleness of Mary wrapping Jesus in swaddling clothes and placing him in a manger. She did so with a deep intentionality. Mary held the Son of God and peered into his eyes in a way that was transformative and everlasting. Invoking the name of Mary is our way of attempting to see her vision for us as her children.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini once explained the power of Mary’s name in this way: “If you are in danger, if your hearts are confused, turn to Mary; she is our comfort, our help; turn towards her and you will be saved.” Confusion can arise in our hearts because of a pain that we are enduring. That pain might seem like it is never going to fade. Turning to Mary as a sure help reveals that we have a Motherly presence desperately desiring to comfort us in our sorrow.
When we turn to her in our pain, she tells us: “I know what you are going through. When I watched my Son be killed, it was the worst pain of my life.” In the recognition and admittance of our struggles we can be assured that our Mom in heaven understands us and is with us. Just like a child who falls and gets injured, we all need our mothers when we are hurting. That is why the Church has given us the feast of the Holy Name of Mary.
In the same way that we call out, “mom,” to our earthly mothers, may we also call out to our heavenly Mother for assistance. She knows our pain and desires to comfort us. For St. Bernard of Clairvaux said, “If she holds you, you will not fall; if she protects you, you need not fear; if she is your guide, you will not tire; if she is gracious to you, you will surely reach your destination.”
Being tired is a universal human condition. Some are tired of chronic illness. Some are tired of the violence in our world. Others are tired of the feelings of isolation, loneliness or despair. Mary reveals that we can always have hope. She experienced the murder of her Son, but she also experienced his glorious triumph over death. It is the comfort of that empty tomb which she desires to most dearly communicate to her children.
Finally, we need to call on our Mother in heaven because she teaches us to trust more in God. “From Mary,” Pope St. John Paul II said, “we learn to surrender to God’s Will in all things. From Mary we learn to trust even when all hope seems gone. From Mary we learn to love Christ, her Son and the Son of God.”
It is surrender to our current circumstances which can be so challenging. Often we wish that the cards we have been dealt in life would be different. Pain, suffering, misfortune, and trials can often breed a sense of despair. Mary seeks to dismantle those feelings with the message that God is always faithful and always near. In the face of being pregnant before living with her husband, she trusted in God. When there was no room for the God-child to be born in Bethlehem, she trusted in God. In the face of Herod’s desire to kill Jesus as a baby, she trusted in God. And, when she viewed the brutal beating and murder of her Son, she trusted in God.
Trust can be challenging. However, the road to surrender begins with the knowledge that we never walk alone. We have a God who entered time and was born of a woman. That God, Jesus Christ, is alive today because he defeated death. If we seek to meet him as a real living person, let us call upon his Mom – she is waiting to bring us to him.
Thomas Griffin is the chairperson of the religion department at a Catholic high school on Long Island where he lives with his wife and children. He has a masters degree in theology and is a masters candidate in philosophy. Thomas is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Empty Tomb Project: The Magazine. He is the author of Let Us Begin: Saint Francis’s Way of Becoming Like Christ and Renewing the World.
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