The Novena to the Most Holy Name of Jesus plays a vital role in the spiritual heritage of sons and daughters of St. Hannibal Mary Di Francia. It aims to prepare and order us to celebrate the Feast of the Name of Jesus and the ‘Supplica’ – presentation of supplications to the Eternal Father in the Most Holy Name of Jesus. St. Hannibal Mary writes: ‘On January 22, the solemn novena in honor of the Most Holy Name is begun in all our houses, with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament… and with sermons, where we can.’
At first, this novena was practiced privately until 1907. It was made public the following year, 1908 and celebrated in the Church of the Holy Spirit. The Printing Press of the Daughters of Divine Zeal edited the novena prayers, composed of prayers, verses, and supplications for the people.

Initially, the novena was meant as prayers of reparation to the Most Holy Name of Jesus, with the view of supplication in Jesus’ Name. The 9 prayers of reparation consisted of the following elements woven together in faith and trust to the power of the Name of Jesus: invocation, adoration, a specific characteristic of the Name of Jesus, union with Eucharistic Adoration, i.e., prayer in the Name of Jesus, reasons for reparation and petitions invoking the divine mercy.

Through this Novena and the Supplica, St. Hannibal Mary weaves the devotion to the Name of Jesus and the Eucharist, which is crucial in our spiritual heritage. He writes: ‘praying in the Name of Jesus, we unite ourselves to the very prayers of our Lord when He prayed in the time of His mortal life with perfect prayers that His eternal Parent could in no way reject; and still, enclosed in the holy tabernacles, he reproduces all his divine prayers to the eternal Father; and to these we join when we pray in the Name of Jesus, with a firm confidence that nothing can deny us the eternal Father, having committed his word Jesus himself.’
Send O Lord, Holy Apostles into Your Church!

Poster: Ryan Bongcac
Provincial Rogate Center for Vocations

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