We celebrate the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus on Thursday 3rd January.

In 1274 Pope Gregory X urged to Dominican Fathers to spread a special devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. Nevertheless it was two Franciscan Friars, St Bernardine of Siena and St John of Capistrano, who were ultimately responsible for popularising an abbreviated form of the Name of Jesus using the Greek translation of “Jesus Holy Name”. This abbreviation is I.H.S. The Letters I.H.S. became known as the Sacred Monogram” and these letters were then incorporated into the emblem of the Jesuit Fathers. Even today, we bow our heads when the name of Jesus is articulated. St Bernard of Clainaux, in 1149 said “To speak the name of Jesus gives light, to think of it is food for the soul; to call on it calms and soothes the heart”.