Christ the Cornerstone

As we mark a day of horror, let us also honor the hope of Mary

Today, September 11, we remember with great sorrow the day 25 years ago when so many of our sisters and brothers lost their lives because of senseless acts of violence and terror. Nearly 3,000 people died on this day in 2001 in New York, Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, Pa.

9/11, as this day has come to be known, was a day of horror and destruction, but it was also a day when many first-responders from diverse backgrounds and walks of life demonstrated extraordinary heroism and courage. We mourn the victims with bitter tears, but we also thank God for the men and women of 9/11 whose heroism is an enduring sign of hope in a world too often consumed by despair. During today’s 25th anniversary remembrance, millions of Americans will join together in a powerful expression of unity—putting aside differences to remember those who gave their lives on this tragic day.

Let us pray that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace, will unite us with our fellow Americans, and with people from every race and nation throughout the world, in working to make nonviolence a permanent way of life for all. May our observance of tragic days like 9/11 be a vivid reminder that peace is only possible when we refuse to allow anger, hatred, racism and religious intolerance to exist in our hearts and in our world.

Tomorrow, Saturday, September 12, we will celebrate the Memorial of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our Blessed Mother is known by many different names and titles that emphasize her various honors and that identify specific places or circumstances that are associated with her such as Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima.

Tomorrow’s feast, for example, was added to the liturgical calendar by Blessed Pope Innocent XI in thanksgiving for the deliverance of the city of Vienna from the Ottoman siege on September 12, 1683. The victorious Christian commander at Vienna, Polish King Jan Sobieski, had previously entrusted his army to Mary’s protection before the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa. Thus, a particular devotion to the Blessed Virgin was seen as influencing the outcome of this historic battle, and her holy name is reverenced on this day because of her closeness to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

Catholics venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary because God gave her a special role in the Incarnation and in the life of the Church. To venerate means to show deep respect, honor or reverence for a person, place or thing, often because of great age, wisdom, holiness or talent. Veneration is not worship which belongs to God alone.

Mary receives a high honor among God’s people because of her absolutely unique relationship to Jesus and because God’s grace was exceptionally manifested in her life. We Catholics believe that honoring Mary ultimately protects and proclaims the truth about who Jesus is as both divine and human. The honor given to the mother flows from the dignity of her Son.

In the great scriptural hymn, The Magnificat, Mary declares: “All generations will call me blessed” (Lk 1:48). Believers see Marian veneration as a fulfillment of this biblical prophecy. Mary does not attribute her greatness to herself; she immediately explains it by saying that “the Almighty has done great things for me” (Lk 1:49). Catholics honor Mary both because God has acted so magnificently in and through her and because her free acceptance of God’s will for her set in motion Christ’s incarnation, his public ministry, and his passion, death and resurrection.

As he was dying on the cross, Jesus said to St. John the Apostle, “Behold, your mother” (Jn 19:27). The Church understands John, the beloved disciple, as representing all who are faithful disciples. Mary, the Mother of God (Theotokos) became, in a spiritual sense, Mother of the Church and our mother. We venerate her with the same reverence and respect that we owe to all our mothers, and we recognize the name “mother” as being among the greatest of the holy names of Mary.

Whenever Pope Leo XIV urges the leaders of the world, and all of us, to pray and work for peace, he invokes the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace. “As our world continues to be wounded by wars in the Holy Land, in Ukraine, and in other parts of the world,” our Holy Father invites faithful Catholics, and all people of good will, to pray and fast “imploring the Lord to grant us peace and justice, and to wipe away the tears of those who suffer because of ongoing armed conflicts.”

Let us join with Pope Leo in praying, “May Mary, Queen of Peace, intercede so that people everywhere may find the path of peace.” †