On September 12, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Most Holy Name of the Virgin Mary. The holiday was officially instituted by Pope Innocent XI, and the celebration dates back to the early 16th century, when Spanish Catholics began commemorating the special graces, intercession, and mediation of Mary.
Over the centuries, the Blessed Virgin has been graced with a multitude of different titles, names or invocations, such as Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Queen of Peace and many others.
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Here are seven of the most popular titles or invocations of the Virgin Mary:
Our Lady of Fatima
The Blessed Virgin received this title when she appeared to three shepherd children in the small village of Fátima, Portugal, in 1917.
In the context of the First World War, the Virgin Mary appeared six times to the venerable Lucía Dos Santos and to Saints Jacinta and Francisco Marto, and ordered them to pray the Rosary daily, showed them a vision of hell and warned them of the trials that would afflict the world through war, famine and persecution of the Church. In her last appearance to the children, she called herself “the Lady of the Rosary.”
Our Lady of Lourdes
On a cold February day in 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to 13-year-old Saint Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France.
Throughout 18 apparitions, the Virgin told him to pray the Rosary, to ask for the conversion of sinners and that a chapel had to be built in that place. This place is still home to the healing waters that millions of pilgrims visit each year at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
The most popular Marian devotion in Mexico, and one of the most widespread in Latin America, is the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Mary appeared to a humble Native American, Saint Juan Diego, on a hill in present-day Mexico City, in 1531. She asked that a church be built on the site and left an image on Juan Diego’s tilma that still shows no signs. of deterioration almost 500 years later. Between 18 and 20 million pilgrims visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe annually.
Our Lady of the Rosary
The Blessed Virgin Mary received the title of Our Lady of the Rosary in the 16th century from Pope Pius V, after he attributed a naval victory to the Virgin’s intercession that secured Europe against Turkish invasion.
The crews of more than 200 ships prayed the Rosary in preparation for the battle, as did Christians throughout Europe, encouraged by the Pope. When the Pope was informed of the day’s events—that all but 13 of the nearly 300 Turkish ships had been captured or sunk—he understood the importance. He felt moved to institute the feast now universally celebrated as Our Lady of the Rosary.
Our Lady of Sorrows
The devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows is almost 1,000 years old and encourages the faithful to reflect on the Seven Sorrows of Mary, which begin with the prophecy of Saint Simeon told to the Virgin and culminate with the events of the passion and death of Christ.
The Virgin, untier of knots
One of the many devotions that Pope Francis has promoted during his pontificate is the devotion to Our Lady, Untier of Knots. A painting of the Virgin, which was completed around the year 1700, shows her untying knots from a long ribbon.
The image was inspired by the painter’s grandparents, who years before avoided divorce after meeting with their priest, who took a tape of the marriage ritual and asked for the intercession of the Virgin Mary to untie the knots of their marital difficulties.
Queen of Peace
The title of Queen of Peace, or Our Lady of Peace, dates back to the 16th century, when Jean de Joyeuse gave a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary to his bride, Françoise e Voisins, on their wedding day.
The statue, called Notre Dame de Paix, or Our Lady of Peace, depicted Mary holding an olive branch in her right hand and the Prince of Peace, Jesus, seated on her left arm. The statue became a family heirloom and was passed on to her grandson, Henri Joyeuse, who joined the Capuchins in Paris.
The statue remained with the Capuchins for the next 200 years; and on July 9, 1906, in the name of Saint Pius X, the archbishop of Paris ceremonially crowned the statue of Our Lady of Peace, thus becoming venerated as Our Lady, Queen of Peace.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.
Francesca Pollio Fenton
Francesca Pollio Fenton is the Social Media Manager at Catholic News Agency. She received her bachelor’s degree in Communications with an emphasis in Digital Media from the University of Colorado, Denver (United States).