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This Feast
is associated with the Feast of the Circumcision, for it is when a child
was circumcized that he received a name and was accepted as a son of Abraham
and a full member of his family (the Feast of the Holy Family will come soon,
after the Feast of the Epiphany on the 6th). So honored is His Holy Name
that devout Catholics bow their heads (men removing their hats) at the sound
of "Jesus" (or "Iesus" in Latin), both inside and outside of the liturgy.
To protect the sacredness and honor due the Holy Name, when hearing the Name
of the Lord taken in vain, it is right to pray "Sit nomen Dómini
benedíctum!" ( "Blessed be the Name of the Lord"), to which the reply,
if overheard, is "Ex hoc nunc, et usque in sæculum!" ("from this time
forth for evermore!"). .
While there are no special customs that I am aware of, it is so that if we
utter His Name with devotion, we receive a partial
indulgence. A plenary indulgence, under the
usual conditions, may be received if we visit a church or chapel on this
day. A good thing to do to fulfill these conditions is to recite the
Litany of the Holy Name, especially in a church
or chapel. You can download the Litany, in Microsoft Word .doc format, in
English and
Latin.
And here are the thoughts of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (who wrote the hymn
"Iesu Dulcis Memoria" which is sung today) on the most holy Name of
Jesus:
The sweet Name
of Jesus produces in us holy thoughts, fills the soul with noble sentiments,
strengthens virtue, begets good works, and nourishes pure affections. All
spiritual food leaves the soul dry, if it contain not that penetrating oil,
the Name Jesus. When you take your pen, write the Name Jesus: if you write
books, let the Name of Jesus be contained in them, else they will possess
no charm or attraction for me; you may speak, or you may reply, but if the
Name of Jesus sounds not from your lips, you are without unction and without
charm. Jesus is honey in our mouth, light in our eyes, a flame in our heart.
This name is the cure for all diseases of the soul. Are you troubled? think
but of Jesus, speak but the Name of Jesus, the clouds disperse, and peace
descends anew from heaven. Have you fallen into sin? so that you fear death?
invoke the Name of Jesus, and you will soon feel life returning. No obduracy
of the soul, no weakness, no coldness of heart can resist this holy Name;
there is no heart which will not soften and open in tears at this holy name.
Are you surrounded by sorrow and danger? invoke the Name of Jesus, and your
fears will vanish.
Never yet was human being in urgent need, and on the point of perishing,
who invoked this help-giving Name, and was not powerfully sustained. It was
given us for the cure of all our ills; to soften the impetuosity of anger,
to quench the fire of concupiscence, to conquer pride, to mitigate the pain
of our wounds, to overcome the thirst of avarice, to quiet sensual passions,
and the desires of low pleasures. If we call to our minds the Name of Jesus,
it brings before us His most meek and humble heart, and gives us a new knowledge
of His most loving and tender compassion. The Name of Jesus is the purest,
and holiest, the noblest and most indulgent of names, the Name of all blessings
and of all virtues; it is the Name of the God-Man, of sanctity itself. To
think of Jesus is to think of the great, infinite God Who, having given us
His life as an example, has also bestowed the necessary understanding, energy
and assistance to enable us to follow and imitate Him, in our thoughts,
inclinations, words and actions. If the Name of Jesus reaches the depths
of our heart, it leaves heavenly virtue there. We say, therefore, with our
great master, St. Paul the Apostle: If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ,
let him be anathema.
Read more about
devotion to the Holy Name here. |
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