Feast of The Holy Name Of Jesus

The Feast of the Holy Name is celebrated as an obligatory memorial on January 3 by professed members of the Holy Name Society.

The month of January is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. Since the 16th century Catholic piety has associated entire months to special devotions. Holy Mother Church reveals to us the greatness of His name. was on the occasion of the rite of Circumcision that a name was given to children among Jews. So the Church uses the same Gospel as that of the Feast of the Circumcision, and dwells on the second part, which tells us that "the Child was called Jesus", "as God had bid that He should be called". This name means Savior, for "there is no other name given to men whereby we must be saved".

Devotion to the Holy Name is deeply rooted in the Sacred Scriptures, especially in the Acts of the Apostles. Although it is not difficult to find devotion to the Holy Name in some ancient Christian liturgy, the official origin of this feast is traced to the sixteenth century, when it was celebrated by the Franciscan Order. It was promoted in a special manner by St. Bernard, St. Bernardine of Siena, St. John Capistran and by the Franciscan Order. This special feast was extended to the whole Church in 1727 during the Pontificate of Innocent XIII.

The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus is meant to impress on all Christians the dignity of the Holy Name. Before the reform of the Roman Calendar this feast was celebrated on January 2. In the liturgical revisions of Vatican II, the feast was deleted, though a votive Mass to the Holy Name of Jesus had been retained for devotional use by the Dominican and Franciscan Orders. With the release of the revised Roman Missal in March 2002, the feast was restored as an optional memorial for the whole Church and set on January 3.

The Feast of the Holy Name is celebrated as an obligatory memorial by professed members of the Holy Name Society. It is customary for parish Holy Name Societies to have formal induction ceremonies for candidates wishing to become fully professed members in the Confraternity on this special feast