TheFeast of the Holy Name of Jesus is a feast of theliturgical year celebrated byChristians on varying dates.[1]
In theEvangelical-Lutheran andAnglican branches of Christianity, given that theFeast of the Circumcision of Christ and the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus fall onNew Year's Day, it is often observed through aWatchnight Mass that starts in the late hours of New Year's Eve and continues into the early morning of New Year's Day.[2]
The feast of theHoly Name of Jesus has been celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church, at least at local levels, since the end of the fifteenth century.[3] The celebration has been held on different dates, usually in January, because 1 January, eight days afterChristmas, commemorates the naming of the childJesus; as recounted in theGospel read on that day, "at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb."[4] Medieval Catholicism, and many Christian churches to the present day, therefore celebrated both events as theFeast of the Circumcision of Christ, usually on 1 January. An Office and Mass were approved byPope Sixtus IV.[3]
Observance of the feast was officially granted to theFranciscans in 1530 and spread over a great part of the Church. The Franciscans,Carmelites, andAugustinians kept the feast on 14 January, theDominicans on 15 January. At Salisbury, York, and Durham in England, and at Aberdeen in Scotland it was celebrated on 7 August, at Liège (now in Belgium) on 31 January, at Compostela in Spain and Cambrai in France on 8 January.[3]
Around 1643 theCarthusians were granted permission to celebrate the feast on the second Sunday after the Epiphany. This was the date assigned to the celebration when, on 20 December 1721, it was inserted into the General Calendar of theRoman Rite byPope Innocent XIII.[5] In the reform ofPope Pius X, enacted by his motu proprioAbhinc duos annos of 23 October 1913, it was moved to the Sunday between 2 and 5 January inclusive, and in years when no such Sunday existed the celebration was observed on 2 January; this is still observed by Catholics following the 1962 calendar.
The reform of theGeneral Roman Calendar by themotu proprioMysterii Paschalis of 14 February 1969 removed the feast "since the imposition of the name of Jesus is already commemorated in the office of the Octave of Christmas."[6] However, a newly composedMass formulary of the Holy Name of Jesus was placed among the Votive Masses. The celebration was restored to the General Roman Calendar on 3 January with the promulgation of a revised edition of the Roman Missal in 2002. On this occasion an entirely new Mass formulary was composed for use on the memorial day, while the 1970 votive Mass formulary was kept unchanged. Catholics using the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII still observe the celebration on 2 January with the corresponding texts there prescribed.
In theCatholic Church ofRoman Rite, therefore, the festivity is as a general rule celebrated under the title of theMost Holy Name of Jesus as an optionalmemorial on 3 January. TheJesuits celebrate theHoly Name of Jesus on 3 January as the order's titular solemnity. Furthermore, among Catholics the month of January is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus.
In theLutheran Church, the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus is sometimes celebrated as a part of theFeast of the Circumcision of Christ on 1 January.[1]
In someAnglican churches including theEpiscopal Church (United States), the feast is observed on 1 January. In theBook of Common Prayer of theEpiscopal Church of the United States of America since 1979, theFeast of the Circumcision of Christ celebrated on 1 January is now listed as the "Feast of the Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ".[1] In theChurch of England, the calendar of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer stipulates a festival "The Name of Jesus" to be observed on 7 August (as had been the practice at Salisbury, Durham, and York,[7] but in the more recentCommon Worship resources the Feast of the Circumcision and Naming of Christ (1 January) takes its place as the primary festival of the name of Jesus.[1] TheAnglican Church of Canada's 'Book of Common Prayer' (1962) retains the date of 7 August, but as a commemoration, not a feast day.[8] ManyEastern Churches celebrate the feast on 1 January.[1]
TheUnited Methodist Church observes the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus on 1 January, with the liturgical colour of the day being white/gold.[9]
ThePresbyterian Church (USA) observes the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus on 1 January.
InWestern Rite Orthodoxy, the feast is celebrated on 7 August.[10][11]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Feast of the Holy Name".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
