Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus

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“Holy Name” redirects here. For other uses, see Holy Name (disambiguation).

The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus is celebrated in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar observance found in the liturgical calendar, at least at local level, since the end of the fifteenth century. The veneration of the Holy Name was extended to the whole Roman Catholic Church 20 December 1721, during the pontificate of Innocent XIII.

The celebration has been held on different dates, usually in January, for 1 January, eight days after Christmas, commemorates the circumcision of the child Jesus; as recounted in the Gospel read on that day, "at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb" (Luke 2:21).

Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians kept the feast on 14 January; Dominicans 15 January; in some localities the date was 8 January, in others 31 January, in some localities in Great Britain on 7 August. The date of the second Sunday after Epiphany was chosen by the Carthusians, then by Spain in general. This was the date assigned to the celebration when, in 1721, it was inserted into the General Calendar of the Latin Church. In the reform of Pope Pius X, it was moved to the Sunday between January 2 and 5 inclusive; in years when no such Sunday existed the celebration is observed on 2 January. The reform of the liturgical calendar by the motu proprio Mysterii Paschalis of 14 February 1969 removed the feast, "since the imposition of the name of Jesus is already commemorated in the office of the Octave of Christmas." However, the Mass texts of the Holy Name of Jesus were preserved, being placed with the Votive Masses. (See Variationes in Calendarium Romanum Inductae in Calendarium Romanum [Vatican Polyglot Press, 1969], page 115.) The celebration was restored to the General Roman Calendar with the 2002 Roman Missal, assigned as an optional memorial to the first free day after 1 January, namely 3 January.

IHS or JHS monogram of the name of Jesus

[edit] Veneration of the Holy Name

The veneration of the Holy Name was encouraged by the example of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who apostrophized it in many sermons. But the greatest promoters of this devotion were St. Bernardino of Siena and his follower St. John Capistrano. "They carried with them on their missions in the turbulent cities of Italy a copy of the monogram of the Holy Name, surrounded by rays, painted on a wooden tablet, wherewith they blessed the sick and wrought great miracles. At the close of their sermons they exhibited this emblem to the faithful and asked them to prostrate themselves, to adore the Redeemer of mankind." (Catholic Encyclopedia) The practice of showing the monogram of Jesus over gates and above doors largely begins with their exhortations, which had an unorthodox air that brought Bernardino before the tribunal of Pope Martin V. But St. John Capistrano defended his master so successfully that the pope not only permitted the veneration of the Holy Name, but also assisted at a procession in which the holy monogram was carried. The tablet used by St. Bernardino is venerated at the basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli at Rome.