The Most Holy Name of Jesus
Sanctissimi Nominis Iesu
Kept on the Sunday between the Circumcision and the Epiphany, this feast honours the saving Name of Jesus, given by God and announced by the Archangel Gabriel, in which alone there is salvation.
On the Sunday that falls between the first and sixth of January — or, when no Sunday occurs there, on the second of January — the Church celebrates the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus. The feast follows naturally upon the Circumcision, on which the Child received the Name foretold by the Archangel Gabriel: “Thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). The Name itself means “God saves,” and the whole mystery of redemption is contained within it.
The power of the Holy Name
Sacred Scripture exalts the Name of Jesus above every other. Saint Paul writes that God “hath given him a name which is above all names: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth” (Philippians 2:9–10). Saint Peter declared before the rulers that there is salvation in no other, “for there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). To pronounce this Name with faith and reverence is itself a prayer, and the Church teaches her children to invoke it in life and to hold it dear in death.
A devotion fostered by the saints
Devotion to the Holy Name flourished especially through the preaching of Saint Bernardine of Siena and Saint John Capistran in the fifteenth century, who carried before the people the monogram IHS, the first letters of the Holy Name in Greek. The Church gave the devotion a place in her public worship, and the feast spread until it was extended to the universal Church. In honouring the Name, the faithful honour the Person of the Saviour Himself, for to love His Name is to love Him.
Honouring the Name
The Church has long encouraged the faithful to bow the head at the mention of the Holy Name, and to make it the refuge of the soul in temptation and trial. In a world that often takes that Name in vain, the feast is a call to reverence: to speak it with love, to invoke it with confidence, and to make it, as the saints did, the last word upon the lips at the hour of death.
The Collect
O God, who didst appoint thine only-begotten Son to be the Saviour of mankind, and didst command that he should be called Jesus: mercifully grant; that we who venerate his holy Name on earth, may also enjoy the sight of him in heaven.
Deus, qui unigénitum Fílium tuum constituísti humáni géneris Salvatórem, et Iesum vocári iussísti: concede propítius; ut, cuius sanctum nomen venerámur in terris, eius quoque aspectu perfruámur in cælis.
Patronage
The Holy Name of Jesus is honoured throughout the universal Church and is invoked as a sure refuge in temptation and at the hour of death; the monogram IHS, promoted by Saints Bernardine of Siena and John Capistran, remains its familiar emblem.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar, the Most Holy Name of Jesus is kept as an optional memorial on 3 January rather than on the Sunday after the Circumcision.
Common Questions
When is the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus?
In the 1962 calendar it is kept on the Sunday between 2 and 5 January; when no such Sunday occurs, it is observed on 2 January. It is a Second Class feast.
Why does the Church honour the Name of Jesus?
Because the Name was given by God Himself and announced by the Archangel Gabriel, and it means “God saves.” Scripture teaches that in this Name alone there is salvation, and that at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow.
What does IHS stand for?
IHS is an ancient monogram of the Holy Name, formed from the first letters of Jesus in Greek. It was made widely known by the preaching of Saint Bernardine of Siena and remains a beloved symbol of devotion to the Holy Name.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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