The Invocation of the Name of Jesus: As Practiced in the Western Church

by Rama P. Coomaraswamy

Each of thirteen short chapters is devoted to a prominent figure of the christian church: St. Thomas Aquinas, Blessed Thomas Kempis, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Bernard. In this anthology of writings from the fathers of the Roman Church, Coomaraswamy shows that the invocation of the Holy Name extends throughout the history of Catholicism.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1887752269
• ISBN13: 9781887752268
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Fons Vitae
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Most Instructive

I never knew the impact the name of Jesus has. Dr. Coomaraswamy explains well the difference and the interface between a person's will and his knowlenge.

Excellent synthesis.

Dr. Coomaraswamy provides a "florilegium" of the Western tradition concerning the invocation of the Holy Name in prayer that is at once exhilarating and informative. He intersperses the words of the saints with his own commentary, weaving together voices from disparate eras to show the varied yet coherent and unified tapestry that is the Western tradition of prayer through meditation on the name of the Lord. Many suppose "the Jesus Prayer" as it is popularly known to be a thing solely to be found in Russian Orthodox, or at best general Eastern Orthodox, spirituality, and many modern books on the Jesus Prayer advance the cultivation of this misconception. Yet, as the prayer itself is testified by the ancient early fathers to be of apostolic origin, it is was the possession of the entire Church, east and west, before the schism, and it remains the possession of the Catholic Church today. From St. Augustine to St. Peter Canisius, from St. Cyril to St. Thomas Aquinas, the ancient saints of East and West, and the more recent saints of the West set forth the long-cherished doctrine of mystical prayer still practiced in the bosom of the Catholic Church.