What is the most powerful word in Heaven and on earth? Discover the remarkable graces of praying the Holy Name of Jesus!
The Holy Name of Jesus
The Holy Name of Jesus is, first of all, an all-powerful prayer. Our Lord Himself solemnly promises that whatever we ask the Father in His Name we shall receive. God never fails to keep His word.
When, therefore, we say, “Jesus,” let us ask God for all we need with absolute confidence of being heard. For this reason, the Church ends her prayer with the words “through Jesus Christ,” which gives the prayer a new and divine efficacy.
The Graces of Praying the Holy Name
But the Holy Name is something still greater. Each time we say, “Jesus,” we give God infinite joy and glory, for we offer Him all the infinite merits of the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ. St. Paul tells us that Jesus merited the Name Jesus by His Passion and Death.
Each time we say, “Jesus,” let us clearly wish to offer God all the Masses being said all over the world for all our intentions. We thus share in these thousands of Masses.
Each time we say, “Jesus,” we gain 300 days indulgence,* which we may apply to the souls in Purgatory, thus relieving and liberating very many of these holy souls from their awful pains. They thus become our best friends and pray for us with incredible fervor.
Each time we say, “Jesus,” it is an act of perfect love, for we offer to God the infinite love of Jesus.
The Holy Name of Jesus saves us from innumerable evils and delivers us especially from the power of the devil, who is constantly seeking to do us harm. The Name of Jesus gradually fills our souls with a peace and a joy we never had before. The Name of Jesus gives us such strength that our sufferings become light and easy to bear.
Cultivating This Holy Habit
St. Paul tells us that we must do all we do, whether in word or work, in the Name of Jesus. “All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ . . .” (Col. 3:17). In this way, every act becomes an act of love and of merit, and, moreover, we receive grace and help to do all our actions perfectly and well.
We must therefore do our best to form the habit of saying, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” very often every day. We can do so when dressing, when working—no matter what we are doing—when walking, in moments of sadness, at home and in the street, everywhere. Nothing is easier if only we do it methodically. We can say it countless times every day. Bear in mind that each time we say, “Jesus,” devoutly, 1) we give God great glory, 2) we receive great graces for ourselves, 3) and we help the souls in Purgatory.
Every Christian must turn to God and ask Him to have mercy on us. The easiest of all prayers, as we have seen, is the Name of Jesus. Everyone without exception can invoke this holy name hundreds of times a day, not only for his own intentions, but also to ask God to deliver the world from impending ruin.
The Power of Prayer
It is amazing what one person who prays can do to save his country and save society. We read in Holy Scripture how Moses saved by his prayer the people of Israel from destruction, and how one pious woman, Judith of Betulia, saved her city and her people when the rulers were in despair and about to surrender themselves to their enemies. Again, we know that the two cities of Sodom and Gomorrha, which God destroyed by fire for their sins and crimes, would have been pardoned had there been only ten good men to pray for them! Over and over again we read of kings, emperors, statesmen and famous military commanders who placed all their trust in prayer, thus working wonders.
If the prayers of one man can do much, what will not the prayers of many do?
The Name of Jesus is the shortest, the easiest and the most powerful of prayers. Everyone can say it, even in the midst of his daily work. God cannot refuse to hear it. Let us then invoke the Name of Jesus, asking Him to save us from the calamities that threaten us.
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This article is taken from a chapter in The Wonders of the Holy Name by Fr. Paul O’Sullivan, OP which is available from TAN Books.
