The Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The Collect

Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

The Psalm

8

The Readings

Numbers 6:22-27    +    Galatians 4:4-7    +    Luke 2:15-21

But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
~Luke 2:19-21


I'm not sad to see 2020 go. I'm ready for a new year. And yet, of course, we don't know what this year holds. We all have hopes that it will be better than the last; and I pray it will be so. But regardless of what 2021 has in store, the church begins this calendar year the same as always, with this feast of the Holy Name.

Eight days after the Nativity of our Lord, the church marks January 1 as the day on which he is publicly named. That name, Jesus, means, "the LORD is salvation." And that is true today, as it was yesterday, and will be forever. In the good times and the bad, we find here our saving help. Be blessed in this Name, today and in the year to come.

The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
Amen.


Closing Prayer 

O Lord, whose years are without end and who dwells in the light of an unending day: as we begin this year in your Name, grant us wisdom to use our time wisely, that your love may be the beginning and ending of all our hopes, our work, our joy, and our desires. Amen.

The monogram IHS has been in use since at least the third century.
It represents the holy Name of Jesus, being the first three letters of  the name in Greek: IHΣΟΥΣ