Holy Name

His Grace Michael J. Curley, Archbishop of Baltimore, welcomed to Washington 100,000 or more delegates to the 650th anniversary celebration of the Holy Name Society. F"our days of demonstration were to conclude with a monster parade to the Washington Monument before which, at a specially erected altar, the vigorous young Archbishop was to celebrate a pontifical mass. History. Pope Gregory X and the second Council of Lyons, in 1274, enjoined that the "faithful" should "demonstrate more reverence for the Name above all names, the only Name in which we can claim salvation--the name of Jesus Christ." This special mission was entrusted to the Dominicans (newly founded at that time) by an apostolic letter to Blessed John Vercelli. Organized in Portugal, the Holy Name Society spread through Europe and eventually came to its fullest fruition in the U. S. Originally, it was, in part, regarded as reparation for the "blasphemous Albigensian heresies." Purpose. The Society lays peculiar emphasis on purity of speech. But this ideal is extended to include purity of thought and life. "It gives its members," said a Bishop, "just that amount of moral suasion to keep them loyal to the regular reception of the sacraments." Function. It serves to organize laymen for the general welfare of the Church.