“Master, where do you live? Come and see. “(Jn 1:38-39) While the first disciples – and future Apostles – seek to know more about that Jesus whom John the Baptist designated as the promised Messiah, Jesus merely invites them to come with him. He might well give them a full account of the Incarnation and then the Redemption to come, but they are not ready: it is too dense a mystery and goes too far beyond the notions of a Galilean sinner – and indeed of a created intelligence – to lend themselves to an explanation in a few words. You don’t prepare to grasp something from God’s plan by quickly consulting a Wikipedia note! Then Jesus only invites them to follow His Person. Everything will come in its time.

This is the case with Our Lady. We cannot access Jesus without going through his holy Mother. But her mystery is likewise too dense, too supernatural. It is impossible to exhaust it in a few words: the litanies are struggling endlessly – and never getting tired of it. So the Gospel begins by giving us in some way its address: “and the name of the Virgin was Mary” (Lk 1:27). With this, we know who to contact, we know who to pray to. Dogma, theology, will follow: Immaculate Conception, the virginal conception of Jesus, virginity intact until her last earthly day, Assumption and Coronation in Heaven, Universal Mediation of Graces: all this, Jesus’ disciples will learn in their time. But first they must know how to access the Mother of Jesus. Her name is Mary, she is from Nazareth, she is the discreet wife of the carpenter Joseph.

It is a great honour to know this Name: you don’t give your name to just anyone. The devil is reluctant to reveal his name, because he loses his influence when it is brought to light. Men also protect their personal information: today we are fighting to protect the personal data of individuals from any trafficking! God himself wanted to put much solemnity into the revelation of his Name, Yahweh, and the Jews showed great respect for this word. Jesus, in his speech after the Last Supper, summarizes his preaching by saying: “Father, I have manifested your Name to men. “(Jn 17:6) As if this were the pinnacle of his entire work. But the Holy Name of Mary was given to us simply, not that it is of little importance, but the good Lord wanted it to be easily used.

This Name is revealed to us so that we can invoke it with confidence. Until the last moment of our lives, and for the most repudiated sinner, it is still possible to invoke Mary, “now and at the hour of our death”. It is revealed to us so that we can sing its praises (Salve Mater misericordiae… O Maria!). Finally, so that we can repair for the blasphemies by which this most holy name is outraged.

Let’s not say it in vain!