St Bernadine of Siena

"[Deus] donavit illi nomen super omne nomen, ut in nomine Iesu omne genu flectat caelestium et terrestrium et infernorum." (Phi 2:9-10)

The feast of St Bernardine of Siena, the Franciscan who spent his whole life honouring the Holy Name, is an ideal time to make reparation for its blasphemous and careless use by countless souls. As a thought for today on the power of the Holy Name, here is St. Bernard of Clairvaux in Sermon 15 of his Commentary on the Song of Songs:

"The likeness between oil and the name of the Bridegroom is beyond doubt, the Holy Spirit's comparison of the two is no arbitrary gesture. Unless you can persuade me otherwise, I hold that the likeness is to be found in the threefold property of oil: it gives light, it nourishes, it anoints. It feeds the flame, it nourishes the body, it relieves pain: it is light, food, medicine. And is not this true too of the Bridegroom's name? When preached it gives light, when meditated it nourishes, when invoked it relieves and soothes."

Despite it being Saturday, one might like as an exercise to pray the Psalter of Jesus which is available at the following link:
http://www.preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/Filius/PsalterIesu.html

It was compiled by an English monk in the 16th century, was a favourite devotion of English Catholics during persecution and often recited during Lent in convents.