One morning, while I was sitting in the parking lot of a lovely church at the Jersey shore, I noticed a lovely statue of Mary in the garden directly in front of my car. I had never seen anything like it before. There was something about her face that drew me. Upon closer examination I saw that the statue was titled, “Our Lady of the Smile.”

Immediately, I smiled. I wondered how many others had that same reaction, and I marveled that I had never heard of this title of Mary before. I wondered where this title originated and imagined there must be many other titles of which I was unaware.

A little research led me to the story of St. Therese of the Child Jesus who was critically ill as a young child and, doctors feared, close to death. A family statue of Mary as Our Lady of Victory was in the room and Therese’s sisters knelt to pray for her recovery.

In her autobiography, “Story of a Soul,” St. Therese, the Little Flower, writes, “All of a sudden the Blessed Virgin appeared beautiful to me, so beautiful that never had I seen anything so attractive; her face was suffused with an ineffable benevolence and tenderness, but what penetrated to the very depths of my soul was the ‘ravishing smile of the Blessed Virgin.’ At that instant, all my pain disappeared, and two large tears glistened on my eyelashes, and flowed down my cheeks silently, but they were tears of unmixed joy. Ah! I thought, the Blessed Virgin smiled at me, how happy I am…”

As the story was shared, devotion to Our Lady of the Smile grew.

The Marian month of May is a wonderful time to help children to get to know Mary, who is beloved and honored all over the world. They may have wondered, like me, why she is called by so many titles and what they mean.

While some of her titles are officially accepted by the Church, others are the result of pious tradition. All are meaningful.

The All About Mary website at Dayton University explains that among the reasons for her varied titles are:

She is a person. And as a person, descriptions of her are unlimited. “As individuals we are ineffable, meaning nobody – except God – has the last world on who we are and may become.” Certainly, that is true of Mary, of all people! And I love that description of an individual, something so important for children to know – they are not limited in who they may become. Many of Mary’s titles reflect her character and her roles – Mother of God, Queen of Peace, Star of the Sea, Queen of the Angels, Seat of Wisdom.

She is our intercessor. Since ancient times, the faithful have gone to Mary with all their needs, and, as human beings, our needs are many. Many of her titles reflect her role in giving us aid and maternal care, such as Our Lady of Comfort; Mary, Help of Christians; Mother of the Poor, Untier of Knots, and Mother of Mercy.

She belongs to all places and cultures. Mary is so loved in all parts of the world and by people of every race and culture, that it’s no surprise she bears titles that identify her as part of those places and people.

also carries the titles of some of places where she appeared, or some of the characteristics show in the apparition, such as Our Lady of the Smile; Our Lady of Knock, Ireland; Our Lady of Candles, Philippines, and Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico.

Teachers: Check out RCL Benziger’s online Catholic resources for Marian Devotion, and Mary, Our Mother resource pages, which include various grade level activities for lessons on Mary, as Our Lady of the Abandoned Ones; Our Lady of Abundance; Our Lady of the Candles; Our Lady of Good News; Our Lady of the Grasshopper, and Our Lady of the Smile.

About the Author
Mary Clifford Morrell, mother of six and grandmother to ten, is a Catholic journalist, editor, and author who has served the Dioceses of Metuchen and Trenton, New Jersey; Burlington, Vermont, and RENEW International in the areas of religious education and communication.