The Wonders of the Holy Name
Introduction
This booklet, The Wonders of the Holy Name, reveals the simplest secret of holiness and happiness ever. For it shows us how we can pray "without ceasing," pray "always," and pray "all the time," as Holy Scripture exhorts us. And since prayer is the key to the Heart of God, this little booklet can easily be the key to obtaining incredible graces and favors from Him both for ourselves and for others. The issue ultimately is the salvation of souls and peace in the world.
To The Reader
Dear Friend,
Read this booklet slowly and with attention, not once, but many times, and you will thank God all the rest of your life.
It will give you much happines,, and it will enable you to obtain from God wonderful graces and blessings.
It teaches the wonders of the Holy Name of Jesus, which few Christians understand.
The frequent repetition of this divine name will save you from much suffering and great dangers.
The world is now threatened with the direst calamities. Each one of us can do much to save himself from the impending evils, and we can do much to help the world, the Church and our Holy Father the Pope, simply by repeating frequently, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus." (See page 3).
--Fr. Paul O'Sullivan, O.P. (E.D.M.)
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Chapter 1: "The Wonders of the Holy Name"
We have been hearing and have been repeating from childhood the Holy Name of Jesus, but alas, many, very many, have no adequate idea of the great wonders of this Holy Name!
What do you know, Dear Reader, about the Name of Jesus? You know that it is a holy name and that you must bow your head reverently when you say it. That is very little. It is a sif you looked at a closed book and merely glanced at the title on the cover. You know nothing of all the beautiful thoughts in the book itself.
Even so, when you pronounce the Name of Jesus you know very little of the treasures hidden in it.
This Divine Name is in truth a mine of riches; it is the fount of the hightest holiness and the secret of the greatest happiness that a man can hope to enjoy on this earth. Read and see.
It is so powerful, so certain, that it never fails to produce in our souls the most wonderful results. It consoles the saddest heart and makes the weakest sinner strong. It obtains for us all kinds of favors and graces, spiritual and temporal.
Two things we must do. First of all, we must understand clearly the meaning and value of the Name Jesus.
Secondly, we must get into the habit of saying it devoutly, frequently, hundreds and hundreds of times every day. Far from being a burden, it will be an immense joy and consolation.
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Chapter 2: 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 timewe 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.
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Chapter 3: 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 teh danger taht the Pope, Gregory X, who then reigned, called a council of Bishops in Lyons to determine on the best means of saving society from teh ruin that menaced it. Among the many means proposed, the Pope and Bishops chose waht 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 Mosessaved 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 adn 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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Chapter 4: THE PLAGUE IN LISBON: THE CITY SAVED BY THE HOLY NAME
A devastating plagues broke out in Lisbon in 1432. All who could do so fled in terror from the city and thus carried the plague to every corner of the entire country of Portugal.
Thousands of men, women and children of all classes were swept away by the cruel sickness. So virulent was the epidemic that men died everywhere, at table, in the streets, in their houses, in the shops, in the marketplaces, in the churches. To use the words of historians, it flashed like lightning from man to man, or from a coat, a hat or any garment that had been used by the plague-stricken. Priests, doctors and nurses were carried off in such numbers that the bodies of many lay unburied in the streets, so that the dogs licked up the blood and ate the flesh of the dead, becoming, as a result, themselves infected with the dread disease and spreading it still more widely among the unfortunate people.
Among those who assisted the dying with unflagging zeal was a venerable bishop, Monsignor Andre Dias, who lived in the convent or Monastery of St. Dominic. This holy man, seeing that the epidemic, far from diminishing , grew every day in intensity, and despairing of human help, urged that unhappy people to call on the Holy Name of Jesus. He was seen wherever the disease was fire cast, urging, imploring the sick and the dying, as well as those who had not as yet been stricken down, to repeat, ”Jesus, Jesus.””Write it on cards,” he said, “and keep those cards on your persons; place them at night under your pillows; place them on your doors; but above all, constantly invoke with your lips and in your hearts this most powerful Name.”
He went about as an angel of peace filling the sick and the dying with courage and confidence. The poor sufferers felt within them a new life, and calling on Jesus, they wore the cards on their breasts or carried them in their pockets.
Then summoning them to the great Church of St. Dominic, he once more spoke to them of the power of the Name of Jesus and blessed water in the same Holy Name, ordering all the people to sprinkle themselves with it and sprinkle it on the faces of the sick and the dying. Wonder of their agonies, the plague ceased and the city was delivered in a few days from the most awful scourge that had ever visited.
The news spread to the whole country and all began, with one accord, to call on the Name of Jesus. In an incredibly short time all Portugal was freed from the dread sickness.
The grateful people, mindful of the marvels they had witnessed, continued their love and confidence in the Name of our Saviour, so that in all their troubles, in all dangers, when evils of any kind threatened them, they invoked the Name of Jesus. Confraternities were formed in the churches, processions of the Holy Name were made monthly, altars were raised in honor of this blessed name, so that the greatest curse that had ever fallen on the country was transformed into he greatest blessing.
For long centuries this great confidence in the Name of Jesus continued in Portugal and thence spread to Spain, to France, and to the whole world.
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Chapter 5: Genseric The Goth
In the reign of Genseric, the Arian King of The Goths, one of the King's favorite courtiers, the Count of Armogasto, was converted from Arianism and joined the Catholic Church.
The King, on hearing of the fact, fell into a violent fury and, calling the young nobleman to his presence, tried by every means in his power to induce him to recant and return to the Arian sect. Neither threats nor promises availed. The Count refused all overtures and held fast to his new-found faith. Genseric then gave vent to his fury and ordered the young man to be bound with strong cords as tightly as the brawny executioners could draw them. The torment was intense, but the victim showed no sign of pain. He repeated two or three times, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus," and lo, the cords snapped like spider webs and fell at his feet!
Enraged beyond measure, the tyrant now commmanded that the sinews of oxen, hard and tough as wire, should be brought. The Count was again bound, and the King bade the executioners use their utmost strength. Once more their victim invoked the Name of Jesus, and the new thongs, like the old, snapped like threads. Genseric, foaming with rage, ordered the martyr to be bound by the feet and hung from the branches of a tree, head downwards.
Smiling at this new mode of torture, Count Armogasto folded his arms on his bosom and, repeating the HOly Name, fell into a tranquil sleep, as though he were lying on a soft and comfortable couch.
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Chapter 6: D. Melchior Smiles At His Tormentors
We have another incident of a similar kind narrated of the Chinese Martyr, the Venerable Dominican Bishop, D. Melchior.
In one of the many persecutions which raged in China and which gave so many Saints to the Church, this holy bishop was seized and, after having undergone the most brutal torments, was condemned to a cruel death.
He was dragged to the marketplace in teh midst of a howling mob, who came to gloat over his sufferings.
They stripped him of his garments, and five executioners, armed with rough-edged swords, proceeded to chop off his fingers one by one, joint by joint, then his arms, then his legs, causing him excruciating agony. Finally, they hacked the flesh from his poor body and broke his bones.
During this prolonged martyrdom, no sign of his pain was visible on the Bishop's countenance. He was smiling and saying aloud, slowly,"Jesus, Jesus, Jesus," which to the amazement of his executioners, gave him this wonderful strength.
Neither cry nor groan excaped from his lips until finally, after hours of torture, he quietly breathed his last, with the same lovely smile lingering on his face.
What wonderful consolation would we too not feel, when confined to bed with sickness or racked by pain, if we repeated devoutly the Name of Jesus.
Many people find it hard to sleep.
They will find help and consolation by invoking in these sleepless moments the Holy Name, and very probably they will fall into a tranquil slumber.
St. Alexander and the Pagan Philosophers
During the reign of the Emperor Constantine, the Christian Religion was constantly and rapidly making progress.
In Constantinople itself the pagan philosophers felt much aggrieved at seeing many of their adepts deserteing the old religion and joining the new. They pleaded with the Emperor himself. demanding that in justice they should get a hearing and be allowed to hold a public conference with teh bishop of the Christians. St. Alexander who at the time ruled the See of Constantinople, was a holy man, but not a keen logician. He did not for that reason fear to meet the representative of the pagan philosophers, who was astute dialectician and an eloquent orator. On the appointed day, before a vast assembly of learned men, the philosopher began a carefully prepared attack on the Christian teaching. The holy bishop listened for some time and then pronounced the Name of Jesus, which at once confounded the philosopher, who not only completely lost the thread of his discourse, but was utterly uable, even with the aid of his colleagues, to return to the attack.
St. Christiana, a young Christian girl, was a slave in Kurdistan, a region almost entirely pagan. It was the custom in that country when a child was gravely ill that the mother should take it in her arms to the houses of her friends and ask them if they knew of an remedy that might benefit or cure the little one. On one of these occasions, a mother brought her sick child to the house where Christiana lived.
On being asked if she knew of a remedy for that sickness, she looked at the child and said: "Jesus, Jesus."
In an instant the dying child smiled and leapte with joy. It was completely cured.
This extraordinary fact soon became known and reached the ears of the Queen, who herself was an invalid. She gave orders that Christiana should be brought to her presence.
On arriving at the palace, Christiana was asked by the royal patient if she could with the same remedy cure her own disorder, which had baffled the skill of the physicians. Once more Christiana pronounced with great confidence: "Jesus, Jesus," and again this divine Name was glorified. The Queen instantly recovered her health.
A third wonder was yet to be worked. Some days after the cure of the Queen, the King found himself suddenly face to face with certain death. Escape seemed impossible. Mindful of the divine power of the Holy Name, which he had witnessed in the cure of his wife, his majesty called out, "Jesus, Jesus," whereupon he was snatched from the dreadful peril. Calling in his own turn for the little slave, he learned from her the truths of Christianity, which he and great multitude of his people embraced.
Christiana became a Saint, and her feast is Kept on December 15th.
St. Gregory of Tours relates that when he was a boy his father fell gravely ill and lay dying. Gregory prayed fervently for his recover. When Gregory was asleep at night, his Angel Guardian appeared to him and told him to write the Name of Jesus on a card and place this under the sick man's pillow.
In the morning Gregory acquainted his mother with teh Angel's message, which she advised him to obey. He did so, and placed the card under his father's head, when, to the delight of the whole family, the patient grew reapidly better.
We could fill pages and pages with the miracles and wonders worked by the Holy Name at all times and in all places, not only by the Saints, but by all who invoke this Divine Name with reverence adn faith.
Marchese says: "I refrain from relating here the miracles worked and graces granted by Our Lord to those who have been devoted to His Holy Name, because St. John Chrysostom reminds me that Jesus is always named when miracles are worked by holy men; hence, to attempt to enumerate them would be to try to give a list of the countless miracles which God has performed through the ages, either to increase the glory of His Saints or the plant and strengthen the Faith in the hearts of men."
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Chapter 7: The Saints and the Holy Name
All the Saints had an immense love for and trust in the Name of Jesus. They saw in this name, as in a clear vision, all the love of Our Lord, all His Power, all the beautiful things He said and did when on earth.
They did all their wonderful works in the Name of Jesus. They worked miracles, cast out devils, cured the sick and gave comfort to everyone, using and recommending to all the habit of invoking the Holy Name. St. Peter and the Apostles converted the world with this all-powerful Name.
The Prince of the Apostles began his glorious career preaching the love of Jesus to the Jews in the streets, in the Temple, in their synagogues. His first striking miracle occurred on the first Pentecost Sunday when he was going into the Temple with St. John. A lame man, well known to the Jews, who frequented the Temple, stretched out his hand expecting to receive an alms. St. Peter said to him: "Silver and gold I have none; but what I have, I give thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise, and walk." (Acts 3:6).
And instantly the lame man bounded to his feet and leaped for joy.
The Jews were astonished, but the great Apostle said to them: Why your wonder and surprise, as if we made this man sound by our own power? No, it is by the power of Jesus that this man walks.
Innumerable times since the days of the Apostle has the Name of Jesus been glorified.
We will quote a few of these countless examples, which show us how the Saints derived all their strength and consolation from the Name of Jesus.
St. Paul was in a very special way the preacher and doctor of the Holy Name. At first he was a fierce persecutor of the Church, moved by a false zeal and hatred for Christ. Our Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus and converted him, making him the great Apostle of the Gentiles and giving him his glorious mission, which was to preach and make known His Holy Name to princes and kings, to Jews and Gentiles, to all nations and peoples.
St. Paul, filled with a burning love for Our Lord, began his great mission—uprooting paganism, casting down the false idols, confounding the philosophers of Greece and Rome, fearing no enemies and conquering all difficulties--all in the Name of Jesus.
St. Thomas Aquinas says of him: ”St. Paul bore the Name of Jesus on his forehead because he gloried in proclaiming it to all men; he bore it on his lips because he loved to invoke it; on his hands, for he loved to write it in his epistles; in his heart, for his heart burned with love of it. He tells us himself: ‘I live, yet not I, but Christ, liveth in me.’”
St. Paul tells us in his own beautiful way two great truths about the Name of Jesus.
First of all, he tells us of the infinite power of this Name. “In the Name of Jesus every knee shall bend in Heaven, on Earth and in Hell.”
Every time we say, “Jesus,” we give infinite joy to God, to all Heaven, to God’s Blessed Mother and to the Angels and Saints.
Secondly, he tells us how to use it. “Whatever you do in word or in work, do all in the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.” He adds: Whether you eat or whether you drink, or whatever else you do, do all in the Name of Jesus.
This advice all the Saints followed, so thath their every atct was done for love of Jesus, and therefore their every act and thought won them graces and merits. It was by this Name that they became Saints. If we follow this same advice of the Apostle, we too shall reach a very high degree of sanctity.
How are we to do everything in the Name of Jesus? By acquiring the habit, as we have said, of repeating the Name of Jesus frequently in the course of the day. This presents no difficulty—it only demands good will.
St. Augustine, the great Doctor of the Church, found his delight in repeating the Holy Name. He himself tells us that he found much pleasure in books which made frequent mention of this all-consoling Name.
St. Bernard felt a wonderful joy and consolation in repeating the Name of Jesus. He felt it, as he says, like honey in his mouth and a delicious peace in his heart. We too shall feel immense consolation and shall feel peace steal into our souls if we imitate St. Bernard and repeat frequently this Holy Name.
St. Dominic spent his days preaching and discussing with heretics. He always went on foot from place to place, as well in the oppressive heats of the summer as in the cold and rain of winter. The Albigensian heretics, whom he tried to convert, were more like demons let loose from Hell than mortal men. Their doctrine was infamouse and their crimes enormous. Yet, as another St. Paul, he converted 100,000 of these wicked men, so that many of them became eminent for sanctity. Wearied at night with his labors, he asked only for one reward, which was to pass the night before the Blessed Sacrament, pouring out his soul in love for Jesus. When his poor body could resist no longer, he leaned his head against the altar and rested a little, after which he began once more his intimate converse with Jesus. In the morning, he celebrated Mass with the ardor of a seraph so that at times his body was raised in the air in an ecstasy of love. The Name of Jesus filled his soul with joy and delight.
Blessed Jordan of Saxony, who succeeded St. Dominic as Master General of the Order, was a preacher of great renown. His words went he spoke to them of Jesus.
Learned professors of the university cities came with delight to hear him, and so man of them became dominican friars that others feared to come, lest they too should be induced to join his order. So many were drawn by Blessed Jordan’s irresistible eloquence that, when his visit to a city was announced, the prior of the convent bought at once a great quantity of white cloth to make habits for those who were sure to seek entrance to the Order. Blessed Jordan himself received one thousand postulants to the habit, among whom were the most eminent professosrs of the European universities.
St. Francis of Assisi,that burning Seraph of love, found his deligth in repeating the loved Name of Jesus. St. Bonaventure says that his face lit up with joy and his voice showed by its tender accents how much he loved to invoke this all-Holy Name.
No wonder, then, that he received on his hands and feet and side the marks of the five wounds of Our Lord, a reward of his burning love.
St. Ignatius of Loyola was second to none in his love for the Holy Name. He gave to his great order not his own name, but rather he called it the “Society of Jesus.” This divine Name has been, as it were, a shield and defense of the Order against its enemies and a guarantee of the holiness and sanctity of its members. Glorious, indeed is the great Society of Jesus.
St. Francis de Sales has no hesitation in saying that those who have the custom of repeating the Holy Name frequently may feel certain of dying a holy and happy death,
And indeed there can be no doubt of this because every time we say, “Jesus,” we apply the saving Blood of Jesus to our souls, while at the same time we implore God to do as He has promised, granting us everything we ask in His Name. All who desier a holy death can secure it by repeating the Name of Jesus. Not only will this practice obtain for us a holy death, but it will lessen notably our time in Purgatory and may very possibly deliver us altogether from that dreadful fire.
Many Saints spent their last days repeating constantly, “Jesus, Jesus.”
All the Doctors of the Church agree in telling us that the devil reserves his fiercest temptations for our last moments, and then he fills the mind of the dying person with doubts, fears and dreadful temptations – in the hope, at last, of carrying the unfortunate soul to Hell. Happy those who in life have made sure of acquiring the habit of calling on the Name of Jesus.
Facts like these we have just mentioned are to be found in the lives of all the great servants of God who became saints and reached the highest degrees of sanctity by this simple and easy means.
St. Vincent Ferrer, one of the most famous preachers that the world has ever heard, converted the most abandoned criminals and transformed them into the most fervent Christians. He converted 80,000 Jews and 70,000 Moors, a prodigy we read of in the life of no other Saint. Three miracles are demanded by the Church for the canonization of a Saint; whereas in the bull of canonization of St. Vincent, 873 are mentioned. This great Saint burned with love for the Name of Jesus and with this Divine Name worked exraordinary wonders.
We, therefore, sinful as we are, can with this Omnipotent Name, obtain every favor and every grace. The weakest mortals can become strong, the most afflicted find in it consolation and joy.
Who then can be so foolish or negligent as not to acquire the habit of repeating, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” constantly. It robs us of no time, presents no difficulty and is an infallible remedy for every evil.
Blessed Goncalo of Amarante reached a very eminent degree of sanctity by the frequent repetition of the Holy Name.
Blessed Giles of Santarem felt so much love and delight in saying the Holy Name that he was raised in the air in ecstasy. Those who repeat frequently the Name of Jesus feel a great peace in their soul, “that peace which the world cannot give,” which God alone gives, a peace “that surpasses all understanding.”
St. Leonard of Port Maurice cherished a tender devotion to the Name of Jesus and in his continual missions taught the people who thronged to listen to him the wonders of the Holy Name. This he did with such love that tears flowed from his eyes and from the eyes of all who heard him.
He begged them to put a card with this Divine Name on their doors. This was attended with the happiest results, for many were thus saved form sickness and disasters of various kinds.
One, unfortunately, was prevented from doing so, since a Jew, who was part-owner of the house in which he lived, sternly refused to have the Name of Jesus placed on the door. His fellow-lodger then decided that he would write it on his windows, which he accordingly did. Some days after, a fierce fire broke out inn the building, which destroyed all the apartments belonging to the Jew; whereas, the rooms belonging to his Christian neighbor in no wise suffered from the conflagration.
This fact was made public and increased a hundredfold faith and trust in the Holy Name of our Saviour. In fact, the whole city of Ferrajo was a witness of this extraordinary protection.
St. Edmund had special devotion to the Name of Jesus, which Our Lord Himself taught him.
One day when he was in the country and separated from his companions, a beautiful child stood by him and asked, “Edmund, do you not know me?” Edmund answered that he did not. Then replied the child, “Look at me and you will see who I am.” Edmund looked as he was a bidden and saw written on the Child’s forehead, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” “Know now who I am,” said the Child. “Every night make the Sign of the Cross and say these words: ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.’ If you do so, this prayer will deliver you and all who say it from sudden and unprovided-for deaths.”
Edmund faithfully did as Our Lord told him. The devil once tried to prevent him and held his hands so that he could not make the holy sign. Edmund invoked the Name of Jesus, and the devil fled in terror, leaving him unmolested in the future. Edmund faithfully did as Our Lord told him. The devil once tried to prevent him and held his hands so that he could not make the holy sign. Edmund invoked the Name of Jesus, and the devil fled in terror, leaving him unmolested in the future.
Many people practice this easy devotion and to save themselves from unhappy deaths. Others, with their forefinger, imprint with holy water on their foreheads the four letters, “I.N.R.I.,” to signify Jesus Nazarenus, Rex Judaeorum, the words written by Pilate for the Cross of Our Lord.
St. Alphonsus earnestly recommends both devotions.
St. Jane Frances de Chantal, that most lovable friend of St. Francis de Sales, had many beautiful devotions taught her by this holy Doctor, who for many years acted as her spiritual adviser. She so loved the Name of Jesus that she actually wrote it with a hot iron on her breast. This needs a special inspiration from God. But we may follow example of another dear Saint, viz., Blessed Catherine of Racconigi, a daughter of St. Dominic, who repeated frequently and lovingly the Name of Jesus, so that after her death, theName of Jesus was found engraved in letters of gold on her heart. We all can do as she did, and thus the Name of Jesus will be emblazoned on ours souls for all Eternity in the sight of the Saints and Angels in Heaven.
St. Gemma Galgani. Almost in our own day this dear girl Saint also had the privilege of frequent and intimate converse with her Angel Guardian. Sometimes the Angel and Gemma entered into a holy contest as to which of them could say more lovingly the Name of Jesus.
Her interviews with the dear Angel were of a simple and familiear nature. She chatted with him, gazed on his face, asked him many questions, to which he replied with ineffable love and affection.
He took messages from her to Our Lord, to the Blessed Virgin and the Saints and brought her back their answers.
Moreover, this glorious angel took the tenderest care of his protegee. He taght her to pray and meditate, especially on the Passion and sufferings of Our Lord. He gave her admirable counsels and lovingly reproved her when she committed any little faults. Under his guidance, Gemma speedily reached a high degree of perfection.
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