for You are the one I praise” -Jeremiah 17:14.
For Part 1 first, click here–> Jesus Part 1: The Wonders of The Holy Name
For Part 2, click here–> Jesus Part 2: The Wonders of The Holy Name–What Does the Name of Jesus Mean?
For Part 3, click here–> Jesus Part 3: The Wonders of The Holy Name–The World in Danger Saved by the Holy Name
Jesus Part 4: The Wonders of His Holy Name–The Plague in Lisbon – The City Saved By the Holy Name
A devastating plague broke out in Lisbon in 1432. All who could do so fled in terror from the city and thus carried the plague it every corner of the entire country of Portugal.
Thousands of men, women and children of all classes were swept away by the cruel sickness. So violent was the epidemic that men died everywhere, at tables, in the streets, in their houses, in the shops, in the marketplaces, in the churches. To use the words of historians, it flashed like lightning from man to man, or from a coat, a hat or any garment that had been used by the plague-stricken. Priests, doctors and nurses were carried off in such numbers that the bodies of many lay unburied in the streets; so much so that the dogs licked up the blood and ate the flesh of the dead, becoming as a result infected themselves with the dreaded disease, spreading it still more widely among the unfortunate people.
Among those who assisted the dying with unflagging zeal was a venerable bishop, Monsignor Andre Dias, who lived in the Convent or Monastery of St. Dominic. This holy man, seeing that the epidemic, far from diminishing, grew every day in intensity, and despairing of human help, urged the unhappy people to call on the Holy Name of Jesus. He was seen wherever the disease was fiercest, urging, imploring the sick and the dying, as well as those who hadn’t yet been stricken down, to repeat, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” “Write it on cards,” he said, “and keep those cards on your persons; place them under your pillows at night; place them on your doors; but above all, constantly invoke with your lips and in your hearts this most powerful Name.”
He went about as an angel of peace filling the sick and the dying with courage and confidence. The poor sufferers felt within them a new life, and calling on Jesus, they wore the cards on their breasts or carried them in their pockets.
Then summoning them to the great Church of St. Dominic, he once more spoke to them of the power of the Name of Jesus and blessed water in the same Holy Name, ordering all the people to sprinkle themselves with it and to sprinkle it on the faces of the sick and the dying. And wonder of wonders! The sick got well, the dying arose from their agonies, the plague ceased and the city was delivered in a few days from the most awful scourge that had ever visited it.
The news spread throughout the whole country and everyone began, with one accord, to call on the Name of Jesus. In an incredibly short time, all of Portugal was completely freed from the dreaded sickness.
The grateful people, mindful of the marvels they had witnessed, continued their love and confidence in the Name of our Savior, so much so that in all their troubles, in all dangers, when evils of any kind threatened them, they immediately invoked the Name of Jesus. Confraternities were formed in the churches, processions of the Holy Name were made monthly, altars were raised in honor of this blessed name, so that the greatest curse that had ever fallen on the country was transformed into the greatest blessing.
For many centuries this great confidence in the Name of Jesus continued in Portugal and thence spread to Spain, to France, and to the whole world.
Say it passionately now, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!“
[Continue reading Part Five here–> Jesus Part 5: The Wonders of The Holy Name–Genseric the Goth]
Dear Friend, Read these words slowly and with intention, not once, but many times, and you will thank God all the rest of your life.
It will give you much happiness, and it will enable you to obtain from God wonderful graces and blessings.
It teaches the wonders of the Holy Name of Jesus, which few Christians understand.
The frequent repetition of this divine name will save you from much suffering and great dangers.
The world is now threatened with the direst calamities. Each one of us can do much to save himself from the impending evils, and we can do much to help the world, the Church and the Pope, simply by repeating frequently, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”
–Adapted from “The Wonders of the Holy Name” by Fr. Paul O’Sullivan, O.P. (E.D.M.)
