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
For Part 4, click here–> Jesus Part 4: The Wonders of His Holy Name–The Plague in Lisbon – The City Saved By the Holy Name
For Part 5, click here–> Jesus Part 5: The Wonders of The Holy Name–Genseric the Goth
Jesus Part 6: The Wonders of The Holy Name–D. Melchior Smiles at His Tormentors
We have another incident of a similar kind. This one pertains to the Chinese Martyr, the Venerable Dominican Bishop, D. Melchior.
In one of the many persecutions which raged through China, and which later gave so many Saints to the Church, this holy bishop was seized and tortured. After having undergone the most brutal of torments, he was condemned to a cruel death.
D. Melchior was dragged to a public marketplace where a howling mob had gathered to gloat over his suffering.
First, they stripped him of his garments. Then, five executioners, armed with rough-edged swords, proceeded to chop his fingers off one by one, joint by joint. Then his arms. Then his legs. Finally, they hacked the flesh from his poor body and broke his bones.
During this prolonged martyrdom however, no sign of pain was visible on the Bishop’s countenance. In fact, it is reported that he was smiling all the while saying aloud, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” which, to the amazement of his executioners, gave him supernatural strength.
Neither cry nor groan escaped from his lips until finally, after hours of torture, he quietly breathed his last with the same peaceful smile lingering on his face.
What wonderful consolation we would also feel, if confined to a bed with sickness or racked by pain, by repeating devoutly the powerful Name of Jesus.
Many people find it hard to sleep. They, too, will find help and consolation by invoking the Holy Name of Jesus. It is very likely that they will fall into the tranquil slumber they’re after.
St. Alexander and the Pagan Philosophers
During the reign of the Emperor Constantine, the Christian religion was rapidly making progress.
In Constantinople, the pagan philosophers felt much aggrieved at seeing many of their experts deserting the old religion and joining the new. They pleaded with the Emperor himself, demanding that in justice they should get a hearing and be allowed to hold a public conference with the bishop of the Christians. St. Alexander, who at the time ruled the See of Constantinople, was a holy man, but not a keen logician.
For that reason, He was not intimidated to meet the representative of the pagan philosophers, who was an astute dialectician and an eloquent orator. On the appointed day, before a vast assembly of learned men, the philosopher began a carefully prepared attack on the Christian teaching. The holy bishop listened for some time and then gently pronounced the Name of Jesus. At once, this confounded the philosopher. He not only lost the thread of his discourse, but was utterly unable to return to the attack– even with the aid of his colleagues.
St. Christiana, a young Christian girl, was a slave in Kurdistan–a region almost entirely pagan. It was the custom in the country that when a child was gravely ill the mother would take it to the houses of friends and ask if they had a remedy that might cure the little one. On one of these occasions, a mother brought her sick child to the house where Christiana lived.
On being asked if she knew of a remedy, she looked at the child and said: “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”
In an instant the dying child smiled and leapt with joy. It was completely cured.
This extraordinary miracle soon became known, reaching the ears of the Queen who herself was an invalid. She gave orders that Christiana should be brought to her presence.
On arriving at the palace, Christiana was asked by the Queen if she could cure her own disorder with the same remedy that had baffled the physicians. Once more Christiana pronounced with great confidence, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” and, once again, the divine Name was glorified. The royal patient was instantly and fully recovered.
A third wonder was yet to be worked. Some days after the cure of the Queen, the King found himself face to face with certain death. Escape seemed impossible. Mindful of the divine power of the Holy Name, which he himself had witnessed with his wife, his majesty called out, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” He, too, was immediately snatched from the dreadful peril. Calling in the little slave, he learned from her all the great truths of Christianity which he and a great multitude of his people wholly embraced.
Christiana eventually became a Saint. Her feast is kept by the Church annually on December 15th.
St. Gregory of Tours relates that when he was a boy his father fell gravely ill and lay dying. Gregory prayed fervently for his recovery. When Gregory was asleep at night, his Guardian Angel appeared to him and told him to write the Name of Jesus on a card and to place it under the sick man’s pillow.
In the morning Gregory told his mother about the Angel’s message, which she advised him to obey. He did so. He placed the card under his father’s pillow, when, to the delight of the whole family, the patient grew rapidly better.
We could fill pages and pages with the miracles and wonders worked by the Holy Name of Jesus at all times and in all places. Not only by the Saints either, but by all who invoke this Divine Name with reverence and faith.
Marchese says: “I refrain from relating here the miracles worked and graces granted by Our Lord to those who have been devoted to His Holy Name. St. John Chrysostom reminds me that Jesus is always named when miracles are worked by holy men. Hence, to attempt to enumerate them all would be to try and give a list of innumerable miracles God has performed throughout the ages…either to increase the glory of His Saints or to strengthen the Faith in the hearts of men.”
Cards of the Holy Name
Cards with the Holy Name inscribed on them have also been used and recommended by the great lovers of the Holy Name, such as Monsignor Andre Dias, St. Leonard of Port Maurice, and St. Gregory of Tours (mentioned above). And, of course, our readers would also do well to use these cards. Why not? Carry them with you during the day, put them under your pillow at night, and place them on the doors of your rooms. Every bit of Jesus is precious.
Say it now with passion, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!“
[Continue reading Part Seven here–> Jesus Part 7: The Wonders of His Holy Name–The Saints and the Holy Name]
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.)
