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Tuesday, January 9, 2018

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Communion cup encircled with a Garland of Fruit (1648), Jan Davidsz. de Heem


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 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 this 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.

Taken from the booklet
THE WONDERS OF THE HOLY NAME
by Fr. Paul O'Sullivan


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