St. Anthony of Padua – Sermon for Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus

As Scripture says, Vocatum est nomen eius lesu. O Name of sweetness, O Name of delight, O Name of blessed hope and of strength for the sinner. This Name is jubilation in the heart, melody in the ear, and honey upon the lips. The spouse in the Canticle of Canticles exultingly exclaims, "Thy Name is as oil poured out." Now oil has five qualities or functions. It floats upon all other liquids—thus indicating that the Name of Jesus is above all names; it is an emollient that softens what is hard; it sweetens what is bitter; it illuminates the darkness, and it satiates the body. This Name of Jesus by far surpasses all the names of men and angels and hence it is that "in nomine Jesu omne genus flectit genu.-in the Name of Jesus every knee bends." Hence it is that preachers use it to soften the hardened of heart. If you invoke it, it will sweeten the bitterest of temptations; if you think it, and it will illuminate your heart; if you read it, and your mind will be filled with contentment.

But it should be noted that this Name of Jesus is not just called an oil, but in addition, an oil poured forth. From where and on what?  From the heart of the Father in heaven, on earth and in hell. In heaven providing joy to the angels as we know from the Apocalypse where they are described as crying out with a loud voice saying: "salvation to our Lord who sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb" (Apoc. [Rev.] 7:10), which is Jesus, for Jesus means Savior. On earth for the consolation of sinners in accordance with the statement of Isaiah: thy Name and Thy remembrance are the desire of my soul. My soul hath desired thee in the night" (26:8-9). And in the nether world for the liberation of those held captive, for which reason they cast themselves down on their knees and cry out, "come Thou redeemer etc., as is found in the Office for the Dead.

Let us consider the words of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216), even though they are brief: "The Name of Jesus comprises two syllables, five letters, three vowels, and two consonants. The Name has two syllables because Jesus has two natures, which is to say human and divine. Divine from the Father from which He is born without any mother; human from His mother from whom he is born without a father. Indeed, there are two syllables in this one Name because He has two natures and is one person. And it should also be noted that the two consonants make it possible for the Name to be sounded. The three vowels in the Name point to the divinity of Christ which while it is One in itself, is manifested in three persons, for there are three who give testimony to Him in heaven, The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one (Athanasian Creed). The two consonants signify the twofold elements of Christ's humanity, namely his body and soul. These are not pronounced in isolation but in conjunction with the other letters for these two elements are conjoined in the unity of His person. For just as the rational soul and flesh are united in man, so also God and man are united in one Christ  (Athanasian Creed).

Prayer and Affections:

O Sweet Jesus: what is there sweeter than Thee? Sweet is Thy memory, sweeter than that of honey or any other object. Thy very name is a Name of sweetness, a Name of Salvation. For what does the name of Jesus signify, if not Savior? Therefore good Jesus, for Thy own sake, be to us a Jesus; so that Thou Who gavest us the beginning of sweetness; i.e., faith, mightest give us also hope and charity, so that living in it we might die in Thee and come to Thee.

This name which is so holy and glorious "quod invocatum est super nos - which is invoked over us" is none other than that of which Peter spoke when he said "there is no other name under heav­en in which we can be saved."

St. Anthony was considered as a doctor of the Church in the Franciscan Order from the time of his Canonization by Pope Gregory IX in 1232. In 1946 Pope Pius XII declared him to be a doctor of the Church Universal with the title of Doctor Evangelicus—the twenty-ninth saint to be so designated.