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To continue our discussion regarding the Name of Jesus, know that it is the help of the infirm, whence Saint Bernard says:
"Are not all consoled as often as they recollect the Name of Jesus, which Name impinges upon the mind, and when repeatedly invoked, heals the wounded senses, strengthens the virtues, stirs up good and honest manners, and keeps the affections pure. If you are afflicted with a sluggish mind or an indolent faith, Jesus heals you by exciting fervor, and the Name of Jesus will be always in our heart, and always on your fingertips, because all your emotions and all your actions will be directed towards Jesus"
...Through this Name your tepid heart will be mended and you will have an arm that is, both strong and dexterous. I assure you that through the invocation of the Name of Jesus, your actions, should they be depraved, will be corrected,
and if they are less than perfect, they will be improved;
also your senses, which should be your servants, are not only protected from damage and destruction, but should they be injured (by sin) are repaired and healed.
Rightly then, my brothers, as Saint Bernard says, is this Name to be invoked by us, because it is a quick protection against lassitude and against the languor that follows grief;
it removes aridity,
the fear of isolation,
disgust with spiritual reading,
agitation of the soul or feelings of tepidity or scrupulosity in our affections.
No matter how prolonged the prayers seem; no matter how deep the lassitude of soul, what sweetness this Name brings! When neither eternal damnation can free us from or disperse our apathy of soul, if we but retire to a quiet place and invoke the Name of Jesus with love in the depths of our heart, we will quickly be suffused with joy, and an eagerness so great will return, that tongue cannot express it, nor words in sermons portray it, for it transcends the acuteness of human understanding and is, as it were, flooded with a certain kind of radiating light...Now I hold that this is because Jesus, when one invokes his Name with a deep and humble love, recalling it secretly and silently (in one's heart) causes the apathy and sadness to disappear and to be replaced by joy.
- Saint Bernardine of Siena
May 2011, Magnificat May 20th
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