Early Years of the Society
S
ad indeed was the condition of the Church in France and Spain at the dawn of the thirteenth century.
The ravages of heresy had well neigh taken from her all traces of strength and beauty. In the evening
of unbelief the corner stone had been attacked and the edifice seemed to stagger. The divinity of
Christ was denied; His supernatural character ridiculed. So prevalent was this heresy, and so complete
its work, that if men did not actually deny in formal words that Christ is God, they did it just as
effectively by speaking His Name thoughtlessly and irreverently; by using it as an epithet with which
to express every feeling, whether of sinful passion, undue excitement, or unholy anger. Truly might it
be said that Christ was not known among them.
Times such as these are sure to come in the history of the Church, for it is human. But it is guided
by God and, as an evidence of its divine guidance, wherever such a crisis appears, God raises up some
man, especially fitted for the time, who by reason of his own ability, aided by heavenly strength,
recalls the sinner from his error to the way of justice and truth. The man chosen by God at this
crisis was the saintly Dominic; his weapon, the preaching of Christ and of Him crucified.
He taught men to think; he placed before their minds the mysteries of the incarnation, the redemption
and the resurrection, in so clear and unmistakable a manner that ignorance of religion, on which heresy
is built, was soon destroyed. Man grew to know Jesus Christ, and knowledge begot love. But the habits
of years are not suddenly overcome, and though the heresy was destroyed, the effects, the blasphemies,
the cursing, the swearing, the irreverent and unholy use of the Name of God, lived after.
Dominic attacked and conquered the greater evil; his sons were to combat the lesser. The Second Council
of Lyons, knowing the universal lessening of love and respect for the Name of Jesus caused by the
Albigensian heresy, deemed it necessary to urge special devotion and zeal towards the Holy Name. The
voice of the Council is expressed in a subsequent letter (A.D. 1274) of Gregory X, who presided over
its deliberations.
The following is the letter:
“Gregory, Bishop, Servant of the Servants of
God, to our very dear son, the Master General of the Order of Preachers, salutation and apostolic
benediction. Recently, during the Council held in Lyons, we deemed it a useful commendation to exhort
the faithful to enter the house of God with humility and devotion, and to conduct themselves while
there in a becoming manner, so as to merit the divine favor and at the same time give edification. We
have also judged it proper to persuade the faithful to demonstrate more reverence for that Name above
all names; the only name in which we claim salvation – the Name of Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us
from the bondage of sin. Consequently, in view of obeying the apostolic precept: “In the name of Jesus,
let every knee be bent”, we wish that at the pronouncing of that name, chiefly at the Holy Sacrifice,
every one would bow his head in token that interiorly he bends the knee of his heart.
Where of, every dear son, we be our apostolic authority, exhort, and enjoin upon you and the brothers
of your Order, to use solid reason in preaching to the people, that they may be let to comply with our
desires. Thus you will win the crown of justice in the day of recompense.
Given at Lyons, 1274 in the third year of our Pontificate.”
The Dominical General, Blessed John of Vercelli, immediately issued instructions to the whole Order,
urging its members, and principally the preachers, to carry out the will of the Holy Father with
scrupulous diligence, and untiring zeal. The devotion spread rapidly within and without the Order of
Saint Dominic. There is a tradition that the holy Patriarch added the Name of Jesus to the Hail Mary.
Blessed Henry Suso cut into his flesh the letters of the name “Jesus”. Saint Vincent Ferrer lost no
opportunity of preaching on the strength and beauty of the Holy Name. St. Catherine of Siena began all
her letters “In the Name of Jesus crucified.” Altars in honor of the Holy Name were erected at all
Dominical Churches.
The Society on the 14th Century
I
n the year 1432 a plague was laying waste all Lisbon. Bishop Diaz, a saintly Dominican prelate who had
resigned his see was living with his brethren at Lisbon, urged the people to put their trust in the power
of the Name of the Savior and to enroll themselves in a society which should labor to make the Name of
Jesus loved and honored by all. He blessed water in the honor of the Sacred Name, and its distribution
among the people was followed by miraculous effects.
In a remarkably short time the city was freed from the scourge. On January 1st, the Society of the Holy
Name was assembled to give thanks to God for their deliverance. Statues were drawn up. The Feast of the
Circumcision was made the principal feast of the Society, for this was the day which Jesus received his
Name. The second Sunday every month was made the Sunday of the Society. The Infant Jesus was to be the
Patron of the Society.
The Society on the 15th Century
A
century later another Dominican, Fr. Diego, founded the Society of the Name of God and of Oaths, which Pope
Pius IV, on April 5th, 1564, affiliated to Bishop Diaz’ Confraternity of the Name of Jesus. The Pontiff
blessed the now united Societies with many privileges and indulgences. Pope Pius IV, in his bull of
confirmation, urged all patriarchs, archbishops, bishops and ordinaries of places, to do all in their power
to promote the Society of the Name of Jesus.
In the 15th century, St. Bernard of Siena established the practice of representing the Holy Name of Jesus
surrounded by rays, and formed into a monogram of its three first letters, HIS. (The ancient spelling
often was “Ihesus”) the custom spread rapidly through Italy, and was zealously propagated by the great St.
John of Capistrano of the Order of Friars Minor. The Holy See gave formal approbation to this manner of
honoring the Name of Our Savior, and in the early part of the 16th century, Pope Clement VI granted to
the whole Franciscan Order the privilege of keeping a special Feast in honor of the Most Holy Name of
Jesus. Rome extended the same favor to various churches, and at length, it was inserted in the universal
Calendar. It was in the year 1721, at the request of Charles VI Emperor of Germany that Pope Innocent XII
decreed that this Feast should be kept throughout the whole Church.
Such in brief is the origin of the Holy Name Society, which has since encircled the globe, developing a
sturdy religious spirit, a deep love of God and an abiding reverence of the Name of Jesus.
Holy Name Society in the Philippines, OLVC Chapter
H
ere in the Philippines, the Holy Name Society had thrived for years and since our country has been a Catholic
nation since its foundation, it has spread to different areas of the region. Yet it was only on November of
2003, when the Traditional Catholic men of Our Lady of Victories Church were gathered together to form this
Society. It is through the efforts of Fr. Vicente Griego, who was then the parish priest of the church, and
a handful of men that the Society came to existance in the OLVC Community. These men first started as members
of a retreat group in Baguio City in October of the same year. Since then, they have organized various
activites and missions to help spread the blessings of God. Of late, these distinguished gentlemen, organized
themselves to participate in altar service every Second Sunday of the month in honor of their Communion Sunday.
Furthermore, the Society also encourages each applicant to attend the Ignatian Retreat before joining this
society.
|
