Memorial of Saints (January 3)

Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints

• Most Holy Name of Jesus
• Genevieve, virgin
• Antherus, pope and martyr
• Peter Balsam, martyr
• Bertilla of Mereuil, widow

The name of Jesus comes from the Aramaic Yeshu and the Hebrew Jehoshua, which means "Yahweh is salvation." This name was given to Christ by the angel Gabriel at the time of his annunciation to Mary that she would be the Mother of God (Luke 1:31). This name, Jesus, is a common name among Arabic people and is given in baptism to children in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries. However, in modern times, this is not encouraged as before.

The Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus is observed as an Optional Memorial on January 3 by Catholics following the present General Roman Calendar. The Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, also celebrate the Holy Name of Jesus on January 3, as the Order's titular feast. Observance of the feast was officially granted to the Franciscans in 1530 A.D. and spread over a great part of the Church.

St. Bernardine of Siena (1380-1444 A.D.), a Franciscan who preached missions all over Italy, attracted great crowds as he preached devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus - denouncing the evils of his times. Bernardine of Siena's method of preaching was to hold a board on which were the three letters of the Savior's name in its Greek form - IHS - surrounded by rays of yellow and flaming red. St. Bernardine persuaded the people to copy these plaques and place them over their dwellings and public buildings.

Devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus and observance of its feast at local levels has been practiced since the 15th century A.D. The Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians kept the feast on 14 January and the Dominicans on 15 January. Many Eastern Churches celebrate the feast on January 1 which was also the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ. Around 1643 A.D. the Carthusians were able to obtain the celebration of the feast on the Second Sunday after Epiphany.

A Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus was written by St. Bernardine of Siena and St. John of Capistrano in the 15th century A.D. St. Bernardine of Siena and St. John of Capistrano were at the forefront of the Catholic Reformation at the grass roots. Learn more on The Reformation and the Counter-Reformation.

Litany of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, Learn more at Wikipedia.org

Learn more on the Most Holy Name of Jesus at Wikipedia.org

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [January 3]

• St. Malachias, Prophet
• St. Gordius, Martyr

Memorial of Saints (January 2)

Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints

• Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, bishops and doctors of the Church
• Macarius of Alexandria
• Munchin, bishop
• Vincentian
• Adalhard or Adelard, abbot
• Caspar del Bufalo

Sts. Basil and Gregory are two of the four original Eastern Doctors of the Church. The title was bestowed on Gregory in 1568 A.D. because of his teaching on the Trinity. His feast day is celebrated in the East on January 25 and again on January 30 (with Sts. Basil and John Chrysostom).

Related blog posts:

• St. Basil the Great
• St. Gregory Nazianzen

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [January 2]

• Silvester, Pope of Rome

Memorial of Saints (January 1)

Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints

• Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
• Concordius, martyr
• Felix of Bourger
• Almachius or Telemachus, martyr
• Euphrosyne, virgin
• Eugendus or Oyend, abbot
• William of Saint Benignus, abbot
• Fulgentius, bishop
• Clarus, abbot
• Peter of Atroa, abbot
• Odilo, abbot
• Franchea, virgin
• Guiseppe Maria Tomasi

In 1981 A.D., St. John Paul II invited bishops from around the world to meet in Rome to commemorate the 1,550 anniversary of the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. It was defined at the Council of Ephesus that Mary was truly the Mother of God. The Greek word used in this definition was Theotokos (God-Bearer).

What was the reason for this definition? Nestorius, the Patriarch of Constantinople considered the role of Mary and concluded that Mary was not the Mother of God. According to him, Mary was merely "Christ-bearer" and not "God-bearer", since she had given birth to only a human being, Jesus. (Author's note: This is in relation to another heresy called Arianism, which was settled in the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.) St. Cyril of Jerusalem strongly protested that statement of Nestorius, and the stage was set for the confrontation at the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D.

At Ephesus, in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the bishops of the Council listened to the debates between St. Cyril of Jerusalem and Nestorius, the patriarch of Constantinople. A throng of Christians were in front of that Church with flaming torches. Soon, in the twilight of day in June, the bishops emerged from the Council to announce their decision that Mary is truly Theotokos, the Mother of God.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem preached a homily to the bishops of the Council of Ephesus to express his joy at their decision:

I see here a joyful company of Christians, met together in ready response to the call of Mary...Holy and incomprehensible Trinity, we salute You at whose summons we have come together in this Church of Mary, Mother of God...Mother of God, we salute you, precious vessel, worthy of the world's reverence...the symbol of orthodoxy, an indestructible temple, the place that held Him whom no place could contain...We salute you, for in your womb He, who is beyond all limitation, was confined...Because of you, the angels and archangels make merry..What more is there to say? Because of you the light of the only-begotten Son has shone upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

St. William of Saint Benignus (962-1031 A.D.) was born in the family's castle of his father, Count Robert. When William was 7 years old, he was given to the monks of the Benedictine abbey of Locadio. Then, in 987 A.D., he joined St. Majolus at Cluny. Upon his ordination in 990 A.D., he was named abbot of St. Benignus at Dijon. He built that abbey into a great center of spirituality, education and culture. It became the mother monastery of some forty monasteries in Burgundy, Lorraine, Normandy, and northern Italy. St. William traveled widely, spreading the reform of Cluny to other monasteries. He died at Fecamp Monastery in Normandy.

St. Odilo (962-1049 A.D.) was named abbot of Cluny in 994 A.D. During his abbacy, he increased substantially the number of abbeys dependent on Cluny. He was devoted to the Incarnation and the Blessed Virgin, inaugurated All Souls' Day with an annual commemoration of the departed faithful, and was known to have experienced spiritual ecstasies. He died at a priory at Souvigny while on a visitation of his monasteries. Learn more of St. Odilo and the Abbots of Cluny.

Learn more on Saints in the Roman Calendar for the Month of [January]

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [January 1]

• Feast of Circumcision of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
• The Feast of St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea