The name of Jesus is the shortest, yet most powerful prayer the tongue of man can utter. Our Lord Himself admonishes us that whatever we ask the Father in His name, we shall receive. The following excerpt was taken from The Wonders of the Holy Name and discusses the meaning of the name of Jesus and the power it possesses to save us.
What Does the Name of Jesus Mean?
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. 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.
What Must We Do?
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.
We shall now quote a few examples to show the power of the Holy Name.
The World in Danger Saved by the Holy Name
In the year 1274 great evils threatened the world. The Church was assailed by fierce enemies from within and without. So great was the danger that the Pope, Gregory X, who then reigned, called a council of Bishops in Lyons to determine on the best means of saving society from the ruin that menaced it. Among the many means proposed, the Pope and Bishops chose what they considered the easiest and most efficacious of all, viz., the frequent repetition of the Holy Name of Jesus.
The Holy Father then begged the Bishops of the world and their priests to call on the Name of Jesus and to urge their peoples to place all their confidence in this all-powerful Name, repeating it constantly with boundless trust. The Pope entrusted the Dominicans especially with the glorious task of preaching the wonders of the Holy Name in every country, a work they accomplished with unbounded zeal.
Their Franciscan brothers ably seconded them. St. Bernardine of Siena and St. Leonard of Port-Maurice were ardent apostles of the Name of Jesus. Their efforts were crowned with success so that the enemies of the Church were overthrown, the dangers that threatened society disappeared and peace once more reigned supreme.
This is a most important lesson for us because, in these our own days, dreadful sufferings are crushing many countries, and still greater evils threaten all the others.
No government or governments seem strong and wise enough to stem this awful torrent of evils. There is but one remedy, and that is prayer.
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.
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 (E.D.M) which is available from TAN Books.
