The Most Holy Name of Jesus, the Month of January and the Feast

[Edited since posting.]

In case you haven’t noticed, this ministry is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus, “Nomen Christi” in Latin. So we always encourage honor and devotion to His Name. January is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. The month begins with the feast of the Circumcision in the trad, which commemorates the moment Our Lord received His Holy Name and it was also the first shedding of His Blood. On the 3rd, we celebrate the feast of this Name in the post-con calendar and in the trad it is Sunday, the 4th. Let us find devotions this month which honor and glorify His Name and always defend it from profanation!

Here are some excerpts from the feast of the Holy Name Tridentine Mass:

“In the Name of Jesus let every knee bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: and let every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.”

“O Lord our Lord: how admirable is Thy Name in the whole earth!”

“O God, Who didst constitute Thine only-begotten Son the Savior of mankind, and didst bid Him to be called Jesus: mercifully grant, that we who venerate His holy Name on earth, may fully enjoy also the vision of Him in heaven.”

“For there is no other Name under heaven given to man, whereby we must be saved.”

“Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations: that we may give thanks to Thy holy Name, and may glory in Thy praise.”

“Thou, O Lord, our Father and our Redeemer: from everlasting is Thy Name.”

“Alleluia, alleluia. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless His holy Name. Alleluia.”

“I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify Thy Name for ever: for Thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild: and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon Thee, alleluia.”

“May Thy blessing, O most merciful God, by which every creature lives, sanctify, we beseech Thee, this our Sacrifice, which we offer unto Thee to the glory of the Name of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that it may be well-pleasing to Thy Majesty for Thy praise, and profit us unto salvation.”

“All the nations Thou hast made shall come and adore before Thee, O Lord, and they shall glorify Thy Name: for Thou art great; and dost wonderful things: Thou art God alone. Alleluia.”

“O almighty and everlasting God, who didst create and redeem us, look graciously upon our prayer, and with a favorable and benign countenance deign to accept the Sacrifice of the saving Victim, which we have offered to Thy Majesty in honor of the Name of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ:

that through the infusion of Thy grace we may rejoice that our names are written in heaven, under the glorious Name of Jesus, the pledge of eternal predestination.”

The Second Commandment-What Does it Mean to Us?

I love holy cards and when I see them, I always take….more than my fair share (hey, I’m a prepper-it’s what I do!). I recently came across one explaining the importance of the Second Commandment:

Our Lord revealed to Sr. Marie de Saint-Pierre, a French Carmelite nun, the need for mankind to make reparation for the terrible sin of blasphemy. He told her: “Oh, if you only knew what great merit you acquire by saying even once:

Admirable is the Name of God!

…in the spirit of reparation of blasphemy!”

This card was published by Our Lady of the Rosary Library, based in Prospect, Kentucky. They seem to do good work. You can purchase their holy cards, in addition to books, rosaries, medals, etc., on their site store.

As the name of Nomen Christi Apostolate shows, we are greatly dedicated to the Holy Name of Christ. We are also dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima.

What does the Second Commandment mean in our own lives? Obviously, we are not ourselves, going to take His Name in vain, but it is certain, we will be exposed to this sin. We should avoid any entertainment that commits this sin, especially if we have children in the home. The more difficult thing, is responding properly when someone in our presence speaks the Name of Jesus or God in a flippant or even disrespectful way (if they respond badly, maybe you don’t need this person as a friend). This takes a game plan and practice. It is a social skill that we all need to develop. It is not just the Name of God we must defend, but also Catholic moral teaching, when we get into discussions where these issues pop up. Again, a social skill that requires practice. It might be okay to make a mistake once. It is not okay to fail to learn from it and make a plan for the next time it happens. We all must decide for ourselves how we will handle these situations. If you have not developed this skill, rather than tell you how I deal with it, please pray on it and come up with your own way. As I always say, I am not interested in dictating to anyone. I would like to see people creatively use their own minds and hearts to solve problems for themselves.

"But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth."

Apocalypse 3:16

As we can see by the Scripture quote from Apocalypse, God will not look kindly on our generation for this sin. Perhaps this is one reason we see the present chastisement. Let us resolve to more valiantly defend His Holy Name!

Image courtesy https://ryannstyles.blogspot.com