Invocation of
the Holy Name

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Click on the link above titled

"The Litany of the Most Holy Name of Jesus"
to say the Litany.

 When you pray in Jesus' name you come boldly before God because of the power of his name.  In invoking Our Lord's name with reverential faith, one is turning to Him and imploring His divine assistance.  Jesus gives us His authority to make requests of the Father.  When we ask in His name, it is as though Jesus Himself were making the request.  In that name there is absolutely awesome power.
 
John 14:13-14  And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son .If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.

John 16:23 On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
 
To pray in his name is to ask by his authority; and to ask by his authority is to ask in accordance to his will as revealed in his word.  So when we prepare to ask something of God in Jesus' name, we need to be sure that our request reflects His will, not ours. 

When we pray, it must be from the heart with all sincerity, and in faith. 

The Ministry of

THE HOLY NAME SOCIETY

The Confraternity of the Most Holy Name of God and Jesus is an indulgenced confraternity in the Catholic Church.

The primary object of the society is to promote due love and reverence for the Holy Name of God and Jesus Christ.

The secondary object is to suppress blasphemy, perjury, oaths of any character that are forbidden, profanity, unlawful swearing improper language, and, as far as the members can, to prevent those vices in others
[Pius IV, 13 April 1564].

The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus

The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus is celebrated on January 3rd.

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IHS is a Christogram - a combination of letters that represent the holy name "Jesus." Early scribes would abbreviate the sacred names of Jesus by using the first two letters of the name, or the first and last letters, with a line over the letters. For example, the Greek letters Chi-Rho (which looks like our English X and P) was an abbreviation for the name "Christ." Likewise, I (iota) and H (eta) are the first two Greek letters for "Jesus." Sometime in the second century, the third letter, S (sigma), was added, thereby rendering IHS. These Christograms, such as XP or IHS, served as secret codes, whereby inscribed on a tomb, they indicated a deceased Christian, or on a doorpost, a Christian home.  Due to the decline of Greek and predominance of Latin, IHS was aviewed as an acronym for the Latin Iesus Hominum Salvator, meaning "Jesus Savior of Mankind."
 

We observe the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus on January 3rd each year as a formal way and appointed time to give honor to the Name of Jesus.  It is a special feast among Franciscans because of the mission and ministry of the Franciscan friar St. Bernardine of Siena (b.1380 – d.1444).  St. Bernardine and his student St. John of Capistrano (1386-1456) used the Christogram IHS to promote devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. In their preaching missions throughout Italy, they carried wooden placards with the IHS surrounded by rays. St. Bernardine and St. John blessed the faithful with this monogram, invoking the name of Jesus, and many miracles were reported. They also encouraged people to have the monogram placed over the city gates and the doorways of their homes, instead of a family crest, to show their devotion and allegiance to the Lord. Countering the objections of some who considered this veneration superstitious, Pope Martin V in 1427 approved the proper veneration to the Holy Name and asked that the cross be included in the monogram IHS.
 
 
The name Jesus means “God saves”; "Yahweh saves;" or "Yahweh is salvation".  Just as a name gives identity to a person, the name of Jesus reminds us of who He is and what He has done for us.
 
What is most important is that each of us shows proper respect, reverence and devotion for the name of Jesus. It is with great reverence that we bow our head when we hear or say the name of JESUS.  The name of Jesus reminds us of all the blessings we receive through our Holy Redeemer.
 
Philippeans 2:8-10 he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth
 
 
The Name stands as a complete summary and description of our Lord's character and office, and it is under this aspect that it has been regarded by thousands of saints, whose hearts have melted at its mere sound. To them Jesus is their God, Jesus is their King, Jesus is their Redeemer, Jesus is their Mediator, Jesus is their Saviour, Jesus is their great Priest, Jesus is their Intercessor, Jesus is the Captain under Whom they fight, Jesus is the Leader Whom they follow, Jesus is their Teacher, Jesus is the Giver of their law, Jesus is the Spouse and Shepherd of their souls, Jesus is their Light, Jesus is their Life, Jesus is the Judge before Whom they rejoice to think that they must one day stand, Jesus is their final and eternal Reward, for which alone they live.
 
His Name tells us that He is, unbounded Charity, infinite Mercy, extremest Kindness, deepest Humility, most devoted Piety, transparent Simplicity, uttermost Poverty, Chastity without a stain.
 
 

Devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus
is deeply rooted in the Sacred Scriptures.

 
The devils were powerless because of his name (Luke 10:17). The demons were cast out in his name (Mark 16:17-18). Healing occurred in his name (Acts 3:6, 3:16, 4:10). Salvation comes in his name (Acts 4:12, Rom. 10:13). We are to baptize in his name (Matt. 28:19). We are justified in his name (1 Cor. 6:11). Everything we do and say is done in his name (Col. 3:17).

Luke 10:17  The seventy[-two] returned rejoicing, and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.”
 
Mark 16:17-18  These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages.

Acts 3:6  Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, [rise and] walk.”

Acts 3:16   And by faith in his name, this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong, and the faith that comes through it has given him this perfect health, in the presence of all of you.

Acts 4:10  then all of you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in his name this man stands before you healed.

Acts 4:12  There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”

Romans 10:13  For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”^l
 
Matthew 28:19  Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,
 
1Corinthians 6:11  That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

 
Colossians 3:17  And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.