[Robert Drobot]

THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS "God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven, and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" ~~ Philippians 2:9-10 I C X C Every Catholic should love and have great devotion to the Most Holy Name of JESUS, for this is the Name of our Divine Savior. More than that, this Name is our very Salvation: "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" ~~ Acts 4:12 Yes, this is the teaching of Holy Mother Church. Contrary to popular ( anti-Catholic ) opinion, we do believe that our Divine Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. We cannot be saved apart from Christ by calling upon the name of Mary or any saint ( although we certainly love them as our family in Christ ). Our salvation is in the Name of Jesus Christ, Who died for our sins and rose from the dead to give us a share in His divine Life! Praised be His Holy Name! This is why the Church has long promoted devotion to the Most Holy Name of JESUS, and encourages her children to pray that Name often, invoking our God and Savior with His Name Above All Names. I C X C Monograms of the Holy Name Explained IHCΣOYOΣ PIEΣTOΣ *IHS* This monogram of the Holy Name, common among Roman Rite Catholics, comes from the first three letters in the Greek spelling of the name of Jesus. Those letters are iota ( "I" ), eta ( "H" ) and sigma ( here rendered as its Roman equivalent: "S"). Variations: Sometimes the iota is rendered as a "J" ( hence, "JHS" ), or one will see the monogram in all Greek letters, or with the final sigma in a "C" shape ( hence "IHC" ), an alternate way of rendering the letter sigma. They all mean the same thing. *IC X* This monogram is more common among Eastern Christians. It is composed of the first and last letters of Jesus' Name in Greek (iota and sigma) with the first and last letters of Christos, the Greek word for Christ (chi and sigma, respectively). The sigmas are both rendered in "C" form, resulting in "IC X". This monogram is commonly written on ikons of Christ near His halo to identify Him, and in the phrase "IC X NIKE", meaning "Jesus Christ Conquers". I C X C Holy Name Devotions The simplest form of devotion to the Most Holy Name of JESUS is the devout, loving recitation of that Name above all names. Each time you whisper His precious Name ... "Jesus" ... let it be a loving invocation to your Divine Savior and Lord. You can even make it part of a short prayer, as in saying: "Jesus, I love You!", "Praise You, Jesus", and or, Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me! ( a form of the Jesus Prayer ). Praise to the Holy Name of JESUS O Glorious Name of Jesus, gracious Name, Name of love and of power! Through You sins are forgiven, enemies are vanquished, the sick are freed from illness, the suffering are made strong and cheerful. You bring honor to believers, instruction to preachers, strength to those who toil, and sustenance to the weary. Our love for You is ardent and glowing, through You our prayers are heard. The souls of those who contemplate You are filled to overflowing; and all the blessed in heaven are filled with Your glory. Grant that we too may reign with them through this Your most Holy Name. Amen PRAYERS OF REPARATION FOR BLASPHEMY Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain. ~~ Exodus 20:7 Golden Arrow "May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most mysterious and unutterable Name of God be always praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified in heaven on earth and under the earth, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ in the most Holy Sacrament of the altar." - 1 This prayer is said to have been revealed by Christ Jesus to a Carmelite Nun of Tours in 1843 as a reparation for blasphemy. "This Golden Arrow will wound My Heart delightfully," He said, "and heal the wounds inflicted by blasphemy." Praise to the Holy Name of Jesus The Holy Name of our Savior is taken in vain so often. When we hear someone use the Name above all names as a common swear word, we can cross ourselves and reverence the precious Name being defamed. Another commendable practice involves the devout, fervent recitation of the following prayer: May the Holy Name of Jesus be infinitely blessed! May the Holy Name of Jesus be infinitely blessed! May the Holy Name of Jesus be infinitely blessed! May the Holy Name of Jesus be infinitely blessed! May the Holy Name of Jesus be infinitely blessed! Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus O Sacred Heart of Jesus, animated with a desire to repair the outrages unceasingly offered to Thee, we prostrate before Thy throne of mercy, and in the name of all mankind, pledge our love and fidelity to Thee. The more Thy mysteries are blasphemed, the more firmly we shall believe them, O Sacred Heart of Jesus! The more impiety endeavors to extinguish our hope of immortality, the more we shall trust in Thy Heart, sole Hope of mankind! The more hearts resist Thy Divine attractions, the more we shall love Thee, O infinitely amiable Heart of Jesus! The more unbelief attacks Thy Divinity, the more humbly and profoundly we shall adore It, O Divine Heart of Jesus! The more Thy holy laws are transgressed and ignored, the more we shall delight to observe them, O most holy Heart of Jesus! The more Thy Sacraments are despised and abandoned, the more frequently we shall receive them with love and reverence, O most generous Heart of Jesus! The more the imitation of Thy virtues is neglected and forgotten, the more we shall endeavor to practice them, O Heart, model of every virtue! The more the devil labors to destroy souls, the more we shall be inflamed with desire to save them, O Heart of Jesus, zealous Lover of souls! The more sin and impurity destroy the image of God in man, the more we shall try by purity of life to be a living temple of the Holy Spirit, O Heart of Jesus! The more Thy Holy Church is despised, the more we shall endeavor to be her faithful children, O Sweet Heart of Jesus! The more Thy True Vicar on earth is persecuted, the more will we honor him as the infallible head of Thy Holy Church, show our fidelity and pray for him, O kingly Heart of Jesus! O Sacred Heart, through Thy powerful grace, may we become Thy apostles in the midst of a corrupted world, and be Thy crown in the kingdom of Heaven. Amen. Nihil Obstat - John J. Clifford, S.J. Censor Liborum Imprimatur - + Samuel A. Stritch, December 17, 1943 Archbishop of Chicago. 1 - "The Golden Arrow", Pieta Prayer Book, (Hickory Corners, MI: MLOR Corporation, 1995) 61. © MLOR Corporation 1995. ("Pictures or prayers may be reproduced for personal use, not for commercial purposes") 2 - "Act of Reparation", Holy Hour of Reparation booklet, pages 12-13; copyright © 1945 Soul Assurance Plan(TM), Chicago, IL.

[Robert Drobot]

Commemorating The Feast of † Bishop Saint Boniface, Confessor and Martyr † The statue of Saint Boniface in Boniface Plaza, Fulda Germany Saint Boniface lived from around A.D. 680 to 754. He was born Winfred in the Kingdom of Wessex (now Devon), England. At age 7 he entered the monastery of Adescancastre on the site of present day Exeter. Seven years later he went to the Abbey of Nhutscelle. Here, under the direction of the holy Abbot Winbert, his fame for knowledge and preaching grew. He set aside, however, prospects of the highest dignities in his own country, because he felt the vocation to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxons in Germany. By the order of Pope Gregory II he dedicated himself to their conversion. He helped Charles Martel in the reform of the Church in France and convened councils to combat simony. In 719 the monk Winfred took this oath to Pope Gregory II in Rome, when he was made Bishop and given the name of Boniface: “In the name of the Lord Our God and Savior Jesus Christ. In the sixth year of the reign of Emperor Leo IV and of his son Constantine, I, Boniface, Bishop by the grace of God, promise to thee, Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and to thy Vicar, the blessed Pope Gregory and his successors, by the indivisible Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and by Thy Sacred Body here present, that I will conserve the purity of the holy Catholic Faith, and I will remain steadfast in the unity of this belief, in which indubitably lies the salvation of all Christians. I will never attack the unity of the Catholic Church, no matter who may seek to persuade me, but will maintain a complete fidelity to it, and a sincere commitment to thee and the interests of thy Church. “To thee and thy successors the Lord gave the power to bind and unbind. I promise that I will never have communion with bishops who go astray from the ancient practices established by the Holy Fathers, and that, if I can, I will prevent their actions. If I cannot, I will denounce them to the Pope my Lord. If in any way, God forbid, I should act in opposition to this oath, let me assume the guilt before the judgment of God, receiving the chastisements of Ananias and Saphira, who lied to thee. “I Boniface, humble Bishop, sign by my own hand the formula of this oath and place it over the body of Blessed Peter. As prescribed, I make this oath before God, who is Judge and Witness. I promise to fulfill it well.” Pope Gregory II wrote this letter to present Saint Boniface in his commission to evangelize Germany and reorganize the Church there: “If anyone, God forbid, either oppose the work of Bishop Boniface, or thwart his ministry or that of his successors in the apostolate, by the Divine Judge, let him be anathema and subject to eternal condemnation.” Saint Boniface suffered martyrdom in Frisia in A.D. 754. His body rests in the cathedral crypt in Fulda, where he is venerated by all Catholic Germany. He is the patron saint of Germany and the Netherlands. Comments of Prof. Plinio: For you to have an idea of the role of this saint in the foundation of the Middle Ages, perhaps it is worthwhile to insert the data of this selection into the larger panorama of the times. First, Saint Boniface was a monk in an epoch when the monastic life was the most dynamic force of the Church. This energy came from the great monasteries of monks who lived a recollected life. The characteristic note of the Benedictine monasteries, unlike today, was to live away from the cities, in places of solitude. Given their prestige, often entire villages or even cities would grow up around those isolated convents. Therefore, Saint Boniface was an active participant in the most important ecclesiastical movement of his time, which brought the Middle Ages to its apogee. Second, Saint Boniface was a missionary. One of the great works of the Middle Ages was the evangelization of the barbarian peoples. At his time, most of Europe beyond the Rhine and Danube Rivers was barbarian, as barbarian as the Indians who still live today in the South American forests. The work of conversion and civilization of those peoples was enormous and had great value. One can measure this value considering the magnificent fruits these peoples gave for Christendom after their conversion. This work, in great part, was the work of monks, and particularly the work of this one monk who was Saint Boniface. Third, the part of Europe constituted by France, Italy, England and some of Spain was Catholic and constituted a first Christendom. However, that Christendom was putrid. It had inherited the rottenness of the Roman Empire. One of the most pernicious vices of the time was simony, and St. Boniface exerted an important role in combating the plague of simony. What is simony? It is the selling of ecclesiastical positions and charges. Cardinals would sell dioceses to bishops; bishops would sell positions to priests, etc. Saint Boniface convoked regional councils to eradicate simony from France. Here also, he revealed his greatness and valor. He lived in a great epoch for the Church, because she accomplished momentous works. In most of these works, Saint Boniface was present and played a capital role. Now that you understand the grandeur of this man, let us analyze the beautiful oath he made to Pope Gregory II, when he was consecrated Bishop. That oath is beautiful because it is an act of Faith he made with regard to the Catholic Church and the Roman See. He promised to be always faithful to the Papacy. Then he promised to never have any common ground with bad bishops. Further, he promised to try to prevent those bishops from spreading their bad influence and, if he were unsuccessful, to denounce them to the Pope. That is, he vowed a total war against evil bishops. Then, after manifesting his fidelity, he called down a chastisement upon himself if he were not faithful: the chastisement of Ananias and Saphira. What kind of punishment was that? The Acts of the Apostles report that Ananias and Saphira were a married couple who had many goods. They presented themselves to Saint Peter to be received into the Catholic community, delivering a certain part of their goods, and affirmed: “This is all we have, and we give this to the Church.” Blessed Apostle Saint Peter told them: “You lie to the Holy Ghost, because I know that you secretly reserved a part of your goods for yourselves.” And the two were struck dead by God. Saint Boniface mentioned this episode because in his oath, he was saying to Blessed Apostle Saint Peter, “I have given everything to the Church.” So, his donation was similar to that which Ananias and Saphira pretended to have made. He faced that analogy, indicating that if, per chance, he was reserving anything for himself, he would be making a fraud like theirs. In face of such possibility, he asked for a similar chastisement. Then, we have Pope Gregory II’s letter regarding Saint Boniface. It is interesting to consider how the Pope used to act in those times. If someone were to do wrong, he would receive a strong reproach from the Pope: “Let eternal condemnation fall upon him.” Today, most people would object: “But this reflects ire and, therefore, a certain imperfection.” I don’t agree. What it reflects is ire against the sin, and against the sinner for his error. Those were times of coherence, severity and justice. Someone might say with relief, “Fortunately this does not happen today.” I am not so sure of that. According to the chastisements predicted by Our Lady in Fatima, at a certain moment the chalice of God’s wrath will be filled, and He will let His sword fall over the world. We should be prepared for this moment, and be prepared to adore the sanctity of God as He punishes. He will chastise because He is Holy and cannot tolerate the empire of evil in which we are living. His hatred for this evil will reveal His sanctity. We should admire severe formulas like those written by Pope Gregory II and that of St. Boniface asking a terrible chastisement to fall upon him should he fall astray in his mission. They demonstrate the abhorrence that true Popes and Saints have of evil, and by contrast, they show all the goodness that the Catholic Church possesses. These are the comments that occur to me apropos this selection from the life of Saint Boniface. Let us ask him to give us a dedication similar to his for Holy Mother Church and the Papacy, as well as a sincere admiration for his holy severity. Α ☧ Ω