First, it is written (Acts 4, v. 12): “No other name is [given] under heaven, given to men, in which it behooves [us] to be saved.” In this, namely, is contained that very [salvation], as was said above; and from it this name [derives]. Secondly. For curing bodily sicknesses it avails most greatly (Acts 3, v. 6): “In the name of JESUS CHRIST, arise and walk”; and ch. 4, v. 10: “In the name of JESUS CHRIST of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised up — in this [name] this [man] stands whole before you.” [See] Origen, in a place to be cited a little later. Thirdly. For driving demons out of bodies (Mark last, v. 17): “In my name they shall cast out demons.” And examples are [in] Acts 16, v. 18. For St. Paul says to the spirit, “I command thee in the name of JESUS CHRIST to go out from her” — so that even from among the perfidious Jews certain ones imitated [this], but with an outcome sometimes happy (Luke ch. 9, v. 49), sometimes unhappy (Acts ch. 19, v. 13). So [also] in Georgius Presbyter (tome 2 of Surius); St. Theodoret, several times; in Marcellinus, ch. 20; St. Swithbert, in Audoenus [Ouen], Bishop of Rouen (book 2, ch. 11); St. Eligius, in St. Athanasius, in the Life of St. Antony; in Theodoret, in the History of the Holy Fathers, ch. 22, fol. 394; St. Limnaeus, in Apoldia’s Theodoric (book 2, ch. 9); St. Dominic; and, in Caesarius (book 12, ch. 39), others. But that [is] indeed — if certain — how marvelous, which the Venetian Franciscus [Giorgio] writes in the Harmony of the World (canto 2, tone 2): “Nor,” he says, “will I be silent [about] what I have learned by experiment: [that] none of the Demons who vex human bodies can resist, but — will they, nill they — they bend their knees, when the name JESUS, duly pronounced, is set before them to be venerated; so that he may be found faithful who said, ‘In the name of JESUS every knee shall bow, of heavenly, earthly, and infernal [beings].’” And (ch. 16) he relates that he heard from the Jews themselves [that] they can effect nothing with the other names of God invoked, because all their force has been transferred to the one name JESUS; and that therefore the demons themselves invoke them [the Jews], so that, instead of Exorcists, they become necromancers and Magicians. And Guillelmus Menneus praises this Venetian, and agrees with him (book 1 of the Golden Fleece, ch. 14). And, in the book On the Possessed, our Thyraeus (ch. 42, n. 22): “The witches,” he says, “and those who have devoted themselves to the devil, we know are commanded — and seriously enjoined — that, if ever they hold nocturnal assemblies, they abstain utterly from the name JESUS (although they have abjured JESUS). We know [that] suddenly both the devil and the crowd present vanished away,
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if ever, to some one of the associates, even beyond intention, the name JESUS had slipped out.” Galatinus (book 8, ch. 5) relates, from the Jerusalem Talmud, how a Jew, who had swallowed I know not what deadly thing, was freed by another Jew through the name of JESUS. Justin, Against Trypho: “By the name of the very Son of God and firstborn of every creature, every Demon adjured is conquered, and reduced into subjection. The power of his name the Demons tremble at and dread.” And many more of that kind — of which sort are also those in Origen (book 1 Against Celsus): “Not,” he says, “by incantations do the Christians seem to be strong (as Celsus said), but by the name of JESUS, with the commemoration of his deeds. For by these words the demons are often driven from these men — especially as often as those who utter them pronounce them with a sound affection and integral faith. So great, certainly, [is] the force present in the name JESUS against demons, that sometimes, even named by evil [men], it is efficacious; which teaching, JESUS said, ‘Many shall say to me in that day, in thy name we cast out demons.’” These [are] most beautiful: “The name JESUS heals the frenzied, drives out demons, brings present-help remedy to diseases.” More similar things the same Origen brings (books 4, 5, 6, and 7). Arnobius (book 1 Against the Gentiles): “The name JESUS, heard, puts to flight noxious spirits, imposes silence on the soothsayers, renders the haruspices unconsulted [baffled], makes the actions of arrogant Magi to be frustrated.” Of this truly excellent doctor [Origen], an excellent disciple [is] Lactantius (book 4, ch. 27): “Just as CHRIST, when he lived among men, put to flight all demons by [his] word, and restored to their pristine senses the minds of men [that had been] deranged and maddened by evil assaults, so now his followers exclude those same unclean spirits from men, both by the name of their Master and by the sign of [his] passion.” Theodoret (in the epistle to Philemon, about the name of St. Paul himself): “It suffices,” he says, “the mention of the name, to effect that even the adversary should very greatly revere [him].” How much more, then, the mention of the name of JESUS himself? For indeed much greater and more heaped-up things are in CHRIST the Lord — whatever [things], when the name of St. Paul is heard, occur to the mind — [as] the same author subjoins, saying: “For he who hears Paul, hears the preacher of the whole world of the earth, the worshipper of land and sea, and the vessel of election, and other things, to narrate which even ten thousand tongues would be needed.”
4. For miracles of every kind — as the Lord himself shows (Mark last, v. 17): “They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall be well.” Origen (book 3 Against Celsus): “We can show an unspeakable number, both of Greeks and of Barbarians, believing in our JESUS. In these indeed — [taken up] as for a sign received through the faith of [his] power — they wonderfully heal the sick, invoking only, over them, the name of the God of all and of JESUS, and reciting some history about his affairs. For we see many themselves thus freed from grave evils — from alienation of mind, insanity, and other innumerable [ills], to which neither men nor demons had ever brought help [i.e., which they could not cure].”
5. For casting those same demons out of souls — and their temptations and frauds — [and] likewise for warding off various dangers. [There is] a witness in St. Jerome, D. Hilarion; in others, St. Edmund; in St. Ephrem (tome 3, fol. 255), St. Abramius, who, when — by Satan, transformed into an Angel of light — he was gravely assailed with a most strong and most perilous battle, answered him with a calm voice: “Thy darkness [be] with thee unto perdition,”
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…[thou] full of guile and deceit. For I am a sinful man; yet I have the love of my God, and hope in him and help. In nothing do I [fear] thee, and thy snares I do not dread, nor do thy many phantasms and specters strike terror into me. For as a most fortified and safest wall I have the name of my Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST, whom I have loved and love; in which name I rebuke thee, most unclean dog, and most wretched.” Caesarius (book 12, ch. 38) [tells] of him who, when he was descending into that horrible cave which is called St. Patrick’s Purgatory, relates that the accustomed prelates of that place were wont to warn and say: “You will see this night mockeries of demons, and horrible punishments; but they will not be able to hurt you, if you always have the name JESUS in your mouth. But if you consent to the demons — whether flattering or terrifying — and neglect to invoke JESUS, you will perish.” St. Gregory Nazianzen (epistle to Nemesius): “He who gave the name to CHRIST — [says that] that august name is scarcely, for the most part, pronounced, when straightway the demon, not without a gnashing, tears himself far away, crying out at the force and power of the immortal God.” Climacus (step 20): “With the name of JESUS smite [thy] enemies; for neither in heaven nor on earth are there more powerful arms.” St. Antony, in a certain battle with a Demon, said to it (in St. Athanasius): “Truly JESUS has at last utterly overthrown thy powers; and, stripped of thy Angelic honor, thou art rolled in the filth.” And the holy man himself subjoins: “Scarcely had I completed the words, and that lofty one [was] cast down at the name of the SAVIOUR.” St. Chrysostom (homily On the Praise of God): “This name of JESUS is a terror both to the infernal regions, and to diseases, and to vices.” And (homily 8 on ch. 4 to the Romans): “If you know how to chant incantations even against the Devil, straightway he will be wounded. For there are for us — there are, I say, for us — spiritual incantations: the very name of our Lord JESUS CHRIST, and the power of his cross. This kind of incantation not only drives the dragon from [his] caves, and so casts him into the fire, but also heals wounds.” This name is terrible to the Demons too, and salutary to perturbations and diseases. With this, therefore, let us adorn ourselves; with this, as with a wall, let us fortify ourselves. Examples (though some [are] already indicated) are supplied — of old, indeed, by Metaphrastes on St. Auxentius, the history of St. Euphrasia (in March), the history of Theodore the archimandrite in Gregory the Presbyter (in April), [and] other histories of other saints in Surius (tome 4, pp. 154 and 513; tome 5, pp. 827 and 892; tome 6, p. 671; tome 7, p. 567); [and] more recently Thomas à Kempis (part 3, sermon to Novices, after sermon 2, example 4, about himself — though for modesty’s sake, as if of another he speaks, as Badius notes in his life, and the new illustrator of the Mirror of Examples, distinction 10, example 8, p. 701); our Delrio (book 2 of the Magical Disquisitions, question 16; book 3, part 1, q. 7, section 1; part 2, q. 45; book 6, ch. 2, section 3, q. 3); the annual [Letters] of the Society (year [15]82, in the College of Angelopolis [Puebla]; year 1585, in Macerata and Talavera; year 1586, in Antwerp, and the same year in Graz and Toulouse; year 1587, in Coimbra, in Trier, in Pont-à-Mousson, Cividale, Panama, and Tournon).
Sixth. For the erudition, purity, and consolation of souls. Origen (book 1 Against Celsus, cited): “The name JESUS instills a certain marvelous meekness, and honesty of manners, humanity, goodness, [and] placidity, into all — who, not for the sake of the cares of life, or human or other necessities, feignedly, but from the heart, embrace…
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…[embrace] the preaching of God, of CHRIST, and of the judgment to come.” And they bear witness, who, without this name, report [that] no book — stuffed with however great erudition, wisdom, and eloquence — has pleased them; on which [point], as [it is treated by] St. Augustine (book 7 of the Confessions, ch. 20 and 21), I do not press. So notable, and by a certain divine instinct inspired, is St. Bernard (sermon 15 on the Canticle), that he could not not praise it [the name] (book 2 of the Institutes, ch. 16, § — Calvin [i.e. the passage Calvin cites]). With the words, therefore, of this saint — by which he explained the comparison of this name with oil, “which shines, feeds, and anoints” — I will conclude this passage. “Whence,” he says, “do you think, in the whole world, [comes] so great and so sudden a light of faith, unless from the preaching of JESUS? Is it not in the light of this name that God has called us into his admirable light? — with which having been illumined, and in that light seeing light, Paul deservedly says to us, You were once darkness, but now light in the Lord. This name, finally, the same Apostle was commanded to bear before Kings and nations and the sons of Israel; and he bore the name as a light, and illumined the fatherland, and cried out everywhere: Night preceded, but the day has drawn near; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, that we may walk honestly as in the day; and he showed to all the lamp upon the candlestick, announcing in every place JESUS, and him crucified. How did this light shine forth and strike the eyes of all beholders, when, from the mouth of Peter, going out like lightning, it strengthened the bodily soles of the feet of one [man], and [his] ankles, and illumined many [who were] spiritually blind! Did he not scatter fire, when he said, In the name of JESUS CHRIST of Nazareth, arise and walk? Nor is the name JESUS only light, but it is also food. Are you not strengthened, as often as you remember it? What so fattens the mind of him who thinks [on it]? What so repairs the wearied senses, strengthens the powers, quickens good and honest manners, fosters chaste affections? Dry is every food of the soul, if it is not infused with this oil; insipid, if it is not seasoned with this salt. If you write, it does not savor to me, unless I read there JESUS. If you dispute or discourse, it does not savor to me, unless there sound JESUS. JESUS [is] honey in the mouth, a melody in the ear, a jubilee in the heart — but it is also medicine. Is any of us saddened? Let JESUS come into [his] heart, and thence leap into the mouth; and behold, at the rising of that name’s light, every cloud flees away, serenity returns. Does someone slip into crime, and moreover run, despairing, to the noose of death? If he invoke the name of life, will he not straightway breathe again unto life? Before whose face, [that] saving [name being present], did the hardness of heart (as is wont), the torpor of sloth, the rancor of mind, the languor of accidie, ever stand fast? Whose fount of tears, perhaps dried up, did not — at the invocation of JESUS — straightway burst out more abundant, [and] flow more sweet?
Whose, when the name of [that] power was invoked in palpitating and trembling dangers, did it not straightway grant confidence, [and] drive out fear? To whom, I ask, wavering and fluctuating amid doubts, did not certitude straightway flash out at the invocation of the bright name? To whom, distrustful in adversity and already now failing, if the name of [his] helper sounded, was fortitude lacking? Surely diseases and languors of the mind are these [things], and that [name] is the medicine. Finally, one may even prove [it]: ‘Invoke me,’ he says, ‘in the day of tribulation; I will rescue thee, and thou shalt honor me.’ Nothing so restrains the onset of wrath, allays the swelling of pride, heals the wound of envy, checks the flux of luxury, extinguishes the flame of lust, tempers the thirst of avarice, and puts to flight the itch of all that is unseemly. For when I name JESUS, I set before myself a man meek and humble of heart, benign, sober, chaste, merciful, and, in short, conspicuous in all honesty and holiness — and the same [is] the omnipotent God himself,
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…[the same is] the omnipotent God himself, who heals me by his own [example] and strengthens me by [his] help. All these [things] sound together to me, when JESUS has sounded. I take, therefore, for myself examples from the man, and help from the powerful [God] — those [I use] as aromatic ingredients, this as that whereby I may temper them; and I make a confection, the like of which no physician could make. This electuary you have, O my soul, hidden in the little vessel of this word, which is JESUS — salutary, certainly, and to no pestilence of thine ever found ineffective. Let it always be in thy bosom, always in thy hand, so that all thy senses and acts may be directed toward JESUS. Finally, you are also invited [to this]: ‘Set me,’ he says, ‘as a seal upon thy heart, a seal upon thy arm.’ But this [belongs] elsewhere. Now, indeed, you have whence you may heal both arm and heart. You have, I say, in the name of JESUS, whence you may correct your acts (whether depraved), or fulfill your less perfect [ones]; likewise, whence you may either keep your senses, lest they be corrupted, or, if they be corrupted, heal [them].” These [things] that great lover and worshipper of JESUS [said]. Let that unknown someone now go, praised by the Poet in book 9 of his Metamorphoses, who [wrote]:
“…while he was of age intact [in his prime], he made great the nations of the earth by his very name.”
For our JESUS is always most intact of age; [he] always terrifies the infernal nations by his name. Let Alexander the Great go too, who — as Plutarch relates — promised the sick [man], in his own name, that Pyrrho would bring him help. These are trifles. Only the name of JESUS is truly alexíkakon [an averter of evil]. In this one [name] is contained the true medicine of the diseases of body and soul. Our Lorinus (on Acts 19, pp. 779 and 781) someone may read, not unprofitably.