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Views from the Choir Loft

The Hallowed Name 1

Fr. David Friel · January 3, 2017

N THE CATHOLIC tradition of many centuries, the month of January has been dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. Today, in particular, the Church celebrates the great Name of salvation as an optional memorial in the Ordinary Form.

This occasion is celebrated as a second class feast in the Extraordinary Form on the first Sunday of the year or on January 2. The celebration was removed from the calendar in the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, although a votive Mass in honor of the Holy Name was retained. The feast was restored, as an optional memorial, by the 2002 revision of the Roman Missal.

I am struck each year by the beauty of the orations for today’s Mass in the Ordinary Form. Neither in the Collect nor the Prayer over the Offerings nor in the Prayer after Communion does the name “Jesus” appear. What a marvelous reservation of the Holy Name! Catholics of a certain age would remember the custom of preachers avoiding the overuse of the Divine Name, substituting instead equivalents such as “our Blessed Lord,” “Christ our Savior,” etc. By limiting their employment of that most sacred and powerful Name, the preachers of old and the prayers of the new Roman Missal intend to cultivate a practical reverence for the Son of God.

This is not, however, the only tradition. In fact, the three orations of the Mass formula in the Extraordinary Form do include mention of the Name. The man, moreover, who is most responsible for spreading the Holy Name devotion in the Church, St. Bernardine of Siena (d. 1444), was also responsible for the insertion of the Name, “Jesus,” into the prayer, Hail Mary. Therefore, the approach of St. Bernardine was to increase the frequency of the Name’s utterance. A similar example is found in the missionary work of the North American martyrs, who wrote the Name, “Jesus,” on trees throughout the forest as an aid to the conversion of the Iroquois people.

It would seem, then, that there are two legitimate traditions. This diversity, in itself, is a beauty of the Church. But perhaps what is most significant is not which of these traditions we choose to follow. Whether we withhold our expression of the Divine Name or speak it frequently, our purpose should be the same: to render honor unto Him Whose Name it is.

Laudetur Iesus Christus — Nunc et in aeternum!


Editor’s Note : I hope Fr. Friel will not mind the addition of an excerpt from the life of Saint Isaac Jogues, wherein this holy priest talks about his captivity by the Iroquois:

“How often, though in a strange land, have we sung the canticle of the Lord; and the woods and the mountains about resounded with the praises of their Creator, which never—since their creation—had they heard. How often on the stately trees of the forests did I carve the most SACRED NAME of JESUS, so that, seeing it, the demons might take to flight, and hearing it, they might tremble with fear?”

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Roman Missal Third Edition Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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    26 January 2023 • FEEDBACK
    “Jeff, I wanted to personally thank you for your spiritual witness at the Symposium & often blogs that you write too. Praying that prayer in the mornings My God, my Father and my all (by Cardinal Merry Del Val), mentioning saints’ stories of Brébeuf, Jogues, John Vianney, monks who fought in WWII, their hard work in spite of terrible conditions, their relentless zeal for the faith, their genuine love for the laypeople they served, etc. Overall though—more than anything concrete I can point to that you did or said—it was your demeanor at the Symposium. I could tell you really absolutely love and believe the Catholic Faith. You don’t get that everywhere, even in Church circles. And your humility is what then makes that shine even brighter. It is super inspiring! God is working through you probably way more than you know.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Symposium Draft Schedule Released!
    Those who head over to the Symposium Website will notice the tentative schedule for 2023 has been released. This is all very exciting! Very soon, we will begin accepting applications, so please make sure you have subscribed to our mailing list. If you are subscribed, that means you'll hear announcements before anyone else. (It’s incredibly easy to subscribe to our mailing list; just scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.)
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    Good Friday Polyphony by L. Senfl
    The editor of the Sacred Music Magazine recently made available to the public this splendid article by our own Charles Weaver. It includes an edition of polyphony for the GOOD FRIDAY “Reproaches.” Renaissance composers often set the various offices of Holy Week; e.g. readers will probably be familiar with the beautiful TENEBRAE setting by Father Tomás Luis de Victoria (d. 1611). From what I can tell, Ludwig Senfl (d. 1543) was originally a Catholic priest, but eventually was seduced by Luther and ended up abandoning the sacred priesthood.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

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He stood firm against nepotism, rebuking his predecessor Pope Pius IV to his face when he wanted to make a 13-year-old member of his family a cardinal and subsidize a nephew from the papal treasury.

— Re: Pope Saint Pius V (d. 1572)

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