Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-09-18


. With that vigilance and care for
the moral wellbeing of the Christian
flock that caused the world to name
him Chief Pastor of Christianity"
Pore Gregory Y on September, 20,
1874. penned the document to John
of Eercelli the master general of the
Dominican Frars. out of which later
developed the Holy Name Society. 1t
was a call for teachers of devotion
to the Holy Name, and read as fol-
lows:
Gregory bishop. servant of the
servants of God. to our beloved son.
Master of the Order of Preachers,
health and apostolic benediction:
Recently in the Council of Lyons,
we have Judged it meet to order the
frequenting of the churches with hu-
mility and devotion. and that there
should be delivered pious instruc-
ton. calculated to please God and to
teach men and to nourish their souls.
We have enjoined on the faithful
who would there assemble to revere
in particular manner that name
which is above all names-the only
name under heaven by Which those
who believe in it can be saved-the
name of Jesus Christ. who has pur-
chased His people from their sins.
And as it is written that every knee
have recommended to each one to
fulfill this preCept. and that, when
they celebrate the sacred mysteries
they would give some honor to that
glorious name by bending the knee
of their hearts and by proving their
devotion by the inclination of their
heads. For this purpose we pray and
earnestly eXhort your charity. and we
enjoin on you by our apostolic au-
hpY nd
brothers of your order announce the
Word of God you will endeavor to
lead the people by the most effica-
ciouS disCourSes to perform what we
, have said. in order that you may re-
s. ceive the reward in the day of eter-
r nal remuneration.
Given at Lyons on the 18th Kali
ends of October. the third year of
our pontificate."
Challenge Goes Out.
Two months later-on November 4,
1874, to be eXact-John of Vercelli
addressed to the superiors of the or
der everywhere a strong encyclical,
informing them of the Pope's wishes
and exhorting them to carry their
fight for reverence to the Holy Name
of the Father and the Savior to the
distant corners of their lands. And
in a fortnight these white-robed sons
of the great Dominic de Guzman were
hurting the challenge of the century
from the pulpits of the world.
So began the movement that was
destined many years later to become
one of the most far-reaching and
worthy societies civilization has ever
known. But it was not to be born +,
without heavy sacrifice in the ranks
of those early martyrs; the very life |
blood of those pioneers is the pre-
cious oil that keeps the beacon of the |
Holy Name Society burning so |
brightly today. |
Almost Immediately after John of
Vercelli's message had reached the |
churches of the world special shrineS |
began to rise everywhere, to which |
thousands of persons marched In |
great professions, carrying devotion |
al banners through the streets of the !
cities and the roads of the country |
side, giving public honor to the name |
of Jesus Christ an outward act of |
faith to the doctrine of our Savior's |
divinity. Today millions march in
the same cause.
Peter Of Verona.
To glance back into the history
Of that early fight to win reverence
for the holy name is to discover a
drama of antiquity. Its chapters are
an eternal honor roll of those mar
tyrs of old-Peter of Verona, for
instance. He repuls ed the highway
men who attacked him because he |
dared stand before them and chal-
Ienge their denials of the divinity of
Christ.
With daEgers they struck him
down by the roadside and then offered
TO spare him from the awful death
they threatened him with if only he
would join their blasphemous sect.
But. though speech had left him with
his terrible loss of blood, he quickly
dipped his finger in the crimson life
of his veins and. a second before he
dropped over dead, valiantly wrote on
the stones by the road:
"Credo!" |
One might read similar instances
of touching devotion by the hour in
the history of the Holy Name move
ment, of which John of Vercelli has
Justly been called by many persons
the father. But If the master gen.
eral of the Dominican Friars was
the father of the early movement, so
was Didacus of Victoria the founder
of the society itself. for it was he
who. in the sixteenth century wrote
its constitution and rules.
Plus Nv Raises Dignity.
: Likewise it was the mastery
preaching or the HOLY Name cause Dy
Didacus of Victoria that won for the
movement it's greatest triumph, in
1854, when Pope Plus ", on April 10,
solemnly raised the society to the
dignity of a confraternity and at
itached to it extraordinary spiritual
privileges and indulgences. At, this
time he observed that the Holy Name
Society in various places was desig-
mated differently. In some, it was
known as the "Confraternity of the
Holy Name of God and of Jesus"
"Confraternity of the Holy Name Of
Jesus" and "Confraternity Against
Oaths."
Following the example of Pope
PINS w, the popes Of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, notably
Pope Innocent XII, made the society
an object of special solicitude, en-
couraging it's promotion and grant
ing indulgences and regulating its
organization. Pope Plus v, in spe-
cial pontifical docucent issued in
1871 absolutely restricted the canoni-
cal erection of the Holy Name
Society to the Dominican Order.
Special letters patent, designated a
diploma, which, in the language of
modern society would be termed a
charter, ever since then must be OBJ
tanned from the master general Of
the Dominican Friars.
But the clerical leaders of the--old
world were not the only ones to
foster the good cause of the Holy
Name Society in those early days Of
its beginning. In the sixteenth Gen.