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| Holy Name of Jesus | |
|---|---|
| Name | Holy Name of Jesus |
| Feast | Feast of the Holy Name |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, Lutheranism, Methodism |
| Attributes | Name of Jesus |
| Major shrine | Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Sanctuary of Loyola, Santo Domingo Church (Manila) |
Holy Name of Jesus The Holy Name of Jesus is a devotional and theological focus venerating the personal name conferred on Jesus of Nazareth and its salvific, Christological, and soteriological implications within Christianity. Its reverence has shaped liturgical calendars, confraternities, hymnody, and iconography across Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, influencing institutions from medieval monasticism to early modern missionary orders.
Etymologically the name "Jesus" derives from the Hebrew language Yeshua/Yehoshua and its transmission through Koine Greek into Latin and vernaculars, carrying connections to Joshua (biblical figure), Moses, and the Hebrew Bible prophecies cited in Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke. Scriptural basis for the name appears in passages such as the annunciation narratives in Gospel of Luke and the angelic naming in Gospel of Matthew, linking the name to titles like Messiah, Christ, and Son of God used in New Testament Christology. Patristic exegesis by figures such as Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Athanasius of Alexandria, John Chrysostom, and Augustine of Hippo elaborated on the salvific power inherent in the name, drawing on Septuagint-era translation practices and Second Temple Jewish onomastics.
Devotion to the Holy Name inspired feasts institutionalized by authorities including Pope Innocent VII, Pope Gregory XV, Pope Innocent IX, and later liturgical reforms under Pope Pius V and Pope Pius XII. The Feast of the Holy Name appears in local calendars promoted by confraternities such as the Confraternity of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and orders like the Society of Jesus. Popular devotion manifested in litanies, processions in cities like Rome, Madrid, Seville, Lisbon, and Mexico City, and in colonial syncretic observances in Manila and Cuzco. Reformation-era responses occurred among leaders including Martin Luther, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer, and William Tyndale, while Counter-Reformation promoters like Ignatius of Loyola and Robert Bellarmine reinforced feasts and confraternities.
Theologically the Holy Name functions within debates about Incarnation, Hypostatic Union, and soteriology engaged by councils such as the Council of Nicaea, Council of Chalcedon, and later at theological loci cited by Council of Trent. Scholastic treatments by Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, and Bonaventure treated the name's relation to divine simplicity and personhood in Christ. Orthodox theologians including Maximus the Confessor, Gregory Palamas, and Photios I of Constantinople approached the name in relation to theology of names and liturgical invocation, while modern theologians such as Karl Barth, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Jürgen Moltmann analyzed its Christological and ecclesial significance in contemporary systematic theology.
Liturgical formulations surrounding the Holy Name include litanies, antiphons, hymns, and permitted invocations present in editions of the Roman Missal, Breviary, Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Book of Common Prayer, and Lutheran Service Book. Prayers such as the Litany of the Holy Name, the Jesus Prayer used in Eastern Orthodox Church contexts, and Jesuit-promoted formulas appear alongside inculturation forms used by Dominican friars, Franciscan friars, and Augustinian communities. The devotional use extended into sacramentalia developed by Congregation for Divine Worship authorities and was shaped by liturgical movements associated with Vatican II, Oxford Movement, and Pietism in Protestant milieus.
Artistic depictions emphasized the name in inscriptions, monograms like the IHS and INRI, banners, and reliquaries produced in workshops in Florence, Rome, Antwerp, Seville, and Warsaw. Renaissance and Baroque artists—Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Rubens, El Greco, Peter Paul Rubens, Diego Velázquez—and sculptors such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini integrated textual emphasis on the name into altarpieces, fresco cycles, and tabernacle ornamentation. Iconographers in Constantinople, Novgorod, and Mount Athos incorporated inscriptions and tituli referencing the name alongside icons of Theotokos, Saint John the Baptist, and Saint Peter. Heraldic uses by confraternities and municipal banners in Seville and Lisbon often bore monograms associated with the name, paralleled by printed broadsides and engravings circulated by printers in Venice and Antwerp.
Devotional promotion of the Holy Name catalyzed the founding and activities of groups such as the Order of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (the Bosnian Franciscans suffered association controversies), the Society of Jesus, the Dominican Order, and lay confraternities documented in archives of Avignon, Toledo, Lisbon, and Mexico City. Missionary expansions by Francis Xavier, Junípero Serra, Bartolomé de las Casas, and Domingo de Salazar propagated the devotion in India, Japan, Philippines, and the Americas. Reformation-era polemics involved figures like Ulrich Zwingli, Menno Simons, and John Knox, while Catholic revivalists including St. Vincent de Paul, Jean Eudes, and Pope Pius IX fostered renewed confraternal life. Scholarly study of the phenomenon appears in the historiography of Eamon Duffy, Owen Chadwick, Jaroslav Pelikan, and archival work in institutions such as the Vatican Archives, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and British Library.
Category:Christian devotion