Holy Name Society St. Dominic Church/National Shrine of Bl John Vercelli

02/11/2023

My favorite image, Jesus receives His Mother after Her Dormition (Church of the Dormition, Jerusalem).

02/11/2023

Church of the Holy Dormition, Jerusalem.

02/11/2023

Offering Mass in the Holy Sepulcher. What a great blessing.

02/11/2023

01/04/2023

Today, throughout the Church is the Memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus. This liturgical feast day dates back centuries and was removed from the calendar for a few decades and then reinstated by Pope St. JP II in 2002. This day has a special place in the heart of the Dominican Order, for it was almost 750 years ago that Pope Gregory X entrusted the promotion and preaching of the Holy Name of Jesus to the friars.

Shortly after the U.S. Civil War, the Dominican Province of St. Joseph was instrumental in spreading Holy Name Societies all over the country with first one established in 1868 at our own Church of St. Vincent Ferrer in New York City. From that humble beginning, the growth of and promotion of the Holy Name Societies would number in the thousands and eventually go on to become a powerful part of the devotional history of the Catholic Church in America.

Next year, 2024, will mark the 750th Anniversary, when at the Second Council of Lyons, Pope Gregory X entrusted to Blessed John of Vercelli, Sixth Master of the Dominican Order, that we are to spread devotion to the name of Jesus by our preaching and by forming groups to combat blasphemy and profanity. These groups and our preaching efforts over the the centuries brought honor and glory to the name of Jesus and has built up virtue throughout the world
—Fr. John Maria Devaney, O.P.

Happy Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus!

Photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. | "This sculpture of the Holy Name radiant in glory is in the church of Il Gesu in Rome."

01/03/2023

Litany to the Most Holy Name of Jesus: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/litany-to-the-most-holy-name-of-jesus-268

01/02/2023

Month of the Holy Name of Jesus

The month of January is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. After the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit, the angel Gabriel appeared to St. Joseph and told him that the Child’s name should be called Jesus, meaning “God Saves.” According to Jewish law, on the 8th day after his birth a male child was to be circumcised, receive his name, and become a full member of God’s covenant people. According to the old Roman liturgical calendar, the Feast of the Circumcision of Jesus was celebrated on January 1st, eight days after Christmas, the same day that He was given His sacred name. Currently we celebrate the Solemnity of the Mother of God on January 1st and honor the Holy Name of Jesus on January 3rd. For Catholics, Jesus’ sacred name is the object of a special devotion symbolized by the monogram “IHS,” (sometimes called a Christogram), which is the first three letters of the Greek spelling of His name.

Discover more about this devotion: https://bit.ly/3pgXpod

12/31/2022

“May the Angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs greet you at your arrival and lead you into the holy city, Jerusalem. May the choir of Angels greet you and like Lazarus, who once was poor, may you have eternal rest” (In Paradism). May he rest in the peace of Christ.

12/29/2022

Our Lord Jesus, embrace Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in Your loving arms. Amen.

Today, Pope Francis said, "I would like to ask all of you for a special prayer, for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who in silence is sustaining the Church. To remember him--he is very ill--asking the Lord to comfort him and sustain him in this witness of love for the Church, until the end."

06/03/2022

02/24/2022

Jesus set the example for us on the Cross, forgiving those who tortured him and crowned him with thorns, and those who carried out the unjust sentence against him.