Reflections

From the sermons of St Bernardine of Siena

The name of Jesus is the splendour of preachers, because it causes his word to be proclaimed and heard with glowing splendour. Whence, do you think, came the great, sudden and shining light of faith that filled the world, if not from the preaching of Jesus? Was it not by the light and sweetness of...

St Bonaventure

In the eternal Kingdom, every good gift and every perfect gift comes down in plenty and abundance from the Father of Lights, through Jesus Christ; for he is the one who can do all things and renews everything. He is an aura of the might of God and a pure outpouring of the glory of...

Quotes from Pope Francis

Speaking about hope, Pope Francis asked priests to cultivate this virtue, “which for Christians has the name of Jesus” Hope is “a gift of the Holy Spirit and for this reason Paul was to say that it never disappoints”. It also has a name; and “this name is Jesus”. It is impossible to say one...

Blessed John Paul II

Jesus was the name given by the angel before Christ’s birth. It was the name by which our Lord was known in His family and among His friends in Nazareth. Exalted by the crowds and invoked by the sick during the years of His public ministry, it calls to mind His identity and mission as...

Mons. Ronald Knox on “The Divine Name”

There is a sort of magic about names; it does not come as a surprise, when St Paul tells us that the name of Jesus is high above every name, or when hymns of the holy Name, litanies etc. figure in the devotional life of Christendom. For the Jewish people the divine Name was a...

On Devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus

William A. Thomas “Blessed be the name of Jesus” January is the Month during which the Church places great emphasis on the Holy Name of Jesus. There are several reasons for this, but first and foremost it is because the second Commandment tells us that “One should not take the Name of the Lord your...

The Power of the Holy Name

The Jesus Prayer in Orthodox SpiritualityBy Kallistos Ware, Bishop of Diokleia. Publication Details: This is a Fairacres Publication, by the Society of the Love of God, Oxford Prayer and Silence ʻWhen you pray,ʼ it has been wisely said by an Orthodox writer in Finland, ʻyou yourself must be silent. . . . You yourself must...

St. Bernard Sermon on the Holy Name of Jesus

(The following is a sermon of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, as quoted in Dom Prosper Guéranger’s entry in The Liturgical Year for the Feast of the Holy Name, in Volume II of the 1983 Marian House edition of the English translation by the Benedictines of Stanbrook.) “The Name of Jesus is Light, and Food, and...

The Sweet Name of Jesus

The holy name of Jesus produces holy thoughts in us, fills the soul with noble sentiments, strengthens virtue, lets good works bloom, and nourishes pure affections. All nourishment leaves our soul dry, if it contains not that penetrating oil, the name Jesus. When you take up your pen, write the name Jesus: you may make...

St Bernardine of Siena

St Bernardine of Siena JESUS Glorious name, gracious name, Name of love and of power! Through you sins are forgiven, Through you enemies are vanquished, Through you the sick are freed from their illness, Through you those suffering in trials Are made strong and cheerful. You bring honour to those who believe, You teach those...