Novena to the Holy Name, day I

I almost forgot that January is the month dedicated to the Holy name of Jesus. Had January 3rd not been a Sunday (And I hadn't been sick) It would've been the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, and I would've made my novea then. But I'll make it now,and say a votive office tomorrow or some other ferial day. This is from St.Alphonsus Liguori's book, "The Incarnation, Birth, and Infancy of Jesus Christ."

Day One

The Giving of the Glorious Name of Jesus.

Consider, devout soul, that the holy name of Jesus is not a name invented by man, but it comes from God, who wished it to be made known by the archangel Gabriel, as St. Luke testifies: His name was ca/led Jesus... by the angel.(Lk 2:21) St. Bernard also says that this name is not a simple figure of things, a shadow without reality, but it is a palpable truth. Jesus is a name that expresses perfectly the hypostatic union of the divine nature and of the human nature. The world could not have been saved by a pure God, because God is impassible, nor by a pure man, because man is limited and finite. This is the reason why the holy name Jesus, which signifies the same as Savior, as the angel declares, (Mt 1:21) has been given to the Son of God, made man through Mary, in order to show that both as God and man he accomplished the redemption of mankind by delivering them from the slavery of sin at the same time. In short, Jesus is a name that comprises infinity, eternity, immensity, wisdom, justice, mercy, and all the adorable perfections of God. What happiness for us to be reconciled with the eternal Father through the merits of this divine Mediator who has had the goodness to pay our debt at the cost of his precious blood.

Adorable Jesus if You have sacrificed Yourself to deliver Your people from the hands of their enemies in order to acquire an eternal name, it would be but fair that this name should surpass and eclipse every other name, even that of the seraphim, as St. Paul says: Being made so much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. (Heb 1:4) And if the eternal Father has wished that this name should be that of his Son, may You grant that, having experienced on earth its happy effects, we may arrive at the complete happiness in heaven to praise You and to bless You for all eternity.

Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be to the Father, etc., nine times, in honor of the giving of the glorious name of Jesus. We finish with the following versicle and prayer:

Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

From henceforth and for evermore!

Let us pray.

God, who did appoint Your only-begotten Son Savor of mankind, and did command that he should be called Jesus, mercifully grant that we may enjoy the vision of him in heaven, whose holy Name we venerate on earth. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.