The Feast of the Holy Name of Mary

In 1863, the Ottoman Turks were poised to march through Europe taking advantage of a disunity among the monarchs who could not put up a common front against the imminent invasion. Immediately, on its path, was the city of Vienna that survived a previous siege when rains bogged down the heaviest of their cannons. Moreover, snowfall in early October finally forced the Turks to call off the attack. This time, eight weeks of fighting wearied both sides, but the outnumbered Christians would surely be overrun in this war of attrition.

Suddenly, on September 12, from the surrounding hills appeared the feared Hussar cavalry led by the Polish King Jan Sobieski. The cavalry swept through the Turkish camp resulting in a route. The king humbly declared, “I came. I saw. God conquered.” Remember our EDSA 1 story of God’s children, we have Mary, our Mother to come for us whenever we call on her name.

This victory was attributed by the Church to the Holy Name of Mary. Sadly, today, more people remember September 11 when terrorists slammed commercial jetliners into buildings in New York. May we invoke the Holy Name of Mary in our daily prayers, all the days of our life.