The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus has been celebrated in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar observance, at least at local levels, since the end of the fifteenth century.The veneration of the Holy Name was extended to the whole Roman Catholic Church on 20 December 1721, during the pontificate of Pope Innocent XIII.
The celebration has been held on different dates, usually in January, because 1 January, eight days after Christmas, commemorates the circumcision of the child Jesus; as recounted in the Gospel 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" (Luke 2:21).
Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians kept the feast on 14 January; Dominicans on 15 January; in some localities the date was 8 January, in others 31 January, in some localities in Great Britain on 7 August. The date of the second Sunday after Epiphany was chosen by the Carthusians, then by Spain in general. This was the date assigned to the celebration when, in 1721, it was inserted into the General Calendar of the Latin Church.
In the reform of Pope Pius X, it was moved to the Sunday between January 2 and 5 inclusive; in years when no such Sunday existed the celebration was observed on 2 January. This is still kept by Traditionalist Catholics.
The reform of the liturgical calendar by the motu proprio Mysterii 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."
However, the Mass texts of the Holy Name of Jesus were preserved, being placed with the Votive Masses. (See Variationes in Calendarium Romanum Inductae in Calendarium Romanum [Vatican Polyglot Press, 1969], page 115.)
The celebration was restored to the General Roman Calendar with the 2002 Roman Missal, assigned as an optional memorial to the first free day after 1 January, namely 3 January.
In some Anglican churches including the Episcopal Church in the United States of America and the Anglican Church of Canada, the feast is observed on 1 January.
In the Church of England, the calendar of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer stipulates a festival The Name of Jesus to be observed on 7 August, but in the more recent Common Worship resources The Naming and Circumcision of Christ (1 January) takes its place as the primary festival of the name of Jesus.
In the Lutheran Church, the Festival of the Holy Name of Jesus is celebrated on January 1.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce
(Source: Wiki)