View Message

I wrote a little last summer about my reverence toward the name Mary; I've since had the pleasure to meet a lady by this name - near my age, so I've reconsidered it with a clearer reflection.

---

Mary (or Marie) for Catholics in the Northeast part of the US – at least in Parishes I’ve belonged is somewhat untouchable due to an intransient value-—beyond that of God. The depth of reverence it holds is not easy to describe: I do not believe in the catholic Trinity, though raised to believe it – (I am somewhere between agnostic or atheist) yet somehow, I still hold the same reverence for the name Mary. I don’t remember knowing any boys by the name of Mary, yet if I did, (I would certainly remember); and no one with such a name, teased though he may be, can bear such denigration—even if the child is insulted at the moment, he will surpass it; this is the mindset in which I was raised. For me – the name Mary holds this value or meaning, not so much with Marie: others I believe understand it as Marie (or as either). Mary is the mother of God – but here the word mother does not involve gender, even with the ‘she’ or ‘her’ pronouns – no human concept, thought, activity, or notion can affect it. Mary is “of a purity &/or perfection that is beyond human reality”. It seems that US records show that quite a few males were given this name – but not during my lifetime: I would not think that the records would reflect confirmation names unless these names were registered with US Social Security Department - but for confirmation names, I do not know. Perhaps a priest in the US would amend his name legally & register it with the state & SSN department - but I've no certainty on this.