This Feast is kept on the First Sunday in the year; but if this Sunday falls on Jan. 1, or 6, or 7, the feast is kept on Jan. 2. Its origin is traced to the sixteenth century, when it was celebrated by the Franciscan Order. In 1721 Pope Innocent XIII made the keeping of this solemnity universal. The name Jesus, i.e., the Savior of the world, was brought by the Angel Gabriel from God: "For He shall save His people from their sins."
IHS (iota, eta, sigma) are the first three letters of the Holy Name in Greek. "St. Ignatius of Loyola adopted the monogram in his seal as general of the Society of Jesus (1541), and thus it became the emblem of his institute" (Catholic Encyclopedia). Pictured above is the main altar piece of the Jesuit Church in Rome dedicated to the Holy Name - Chiesa del Gesu di Roma.
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