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Guru Granth Sahib
Composition, Arrangement & Layout
ਜਪੁ | Jup
ਸੋ ਦਰੁ | So Dar
ਸੋਹਿਲਾ | Sohilaa
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਿਰੀਰਾਗੁ | Raag Siree-Raag
Gurbani (14-53)
Ashtpadiyan (53-71)
Gurbani (71-74)
Pahre (74-78)
Chhant (78-81)
Vanjara (81-82)
Vaar Siri Raag (83-91)
Bhagat Bani (91-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਝ | Raag Maajh
Gurbani (94-109)
Ashtpadi (109)
Ashtpadiyan (110-129)
Ashtpadi (129-130)
Ashtpadiyan (130-133)
Bara Maha (133-136)
Din Raen (136-137)
Vaar Maajh Ki (137-150)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗਉੜੀ | Raag Gauree
Gurbani (151-185)
Quartets/Couplets (185-220)
Ashtpadiyan (220-234)
Karhalei (234-235)
Ashtpadiyan (235-242)
Chhant (242-249)
Baavan Akhari (250-262)
Sukhmani (262-296)
Thittee (296-300)
Gauree kii Vaar (300-323)
Gurbani (323-330)
Ashtpadiyan (330-340)
Baavan Akhari (340-343)
Thintteen (343-344)
Vaar Kabir (344-345)
Bhagat Bani (345-346)
ਰਾਗੁ ਆਸਾ | Raag Aasaa
Gurbani (347-348)
Chaupaday (348-364)
Panchpadde (364-365)
Kaafee (365-409)
Aasaavaree (409-411)
Ashtpadiyan (411-432)
Patee (432-435)
Chhant (435-462)
Vaar Aasaa (462-475)
Bhagat Bani (475-488)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੂਜਰੀ | Raag Goojaree
Gurbani (489-503)
Ashtpadiyan (503-508)
Vaar Gujari (508-517)
Vaar Gujari (517-526)
ਰਾਗੁ ਦੇਵਗੰਧਾਰੀ | Raag Dayv-Gandhaaree
Gurbani (527-536)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਹਾਗੜਾ | Raag Bihaagraa
Gurbani (537-556)
Chhant (538-548)
Vaar Bihaagraa (548-556)
ਰਾਗੁ ਵਡਹੰਸ | Raag Wadhans
Gurbani (557-564)
Ashtpadiyan (564-565)
Chhant (565-575)
Ghoriaan (575-578)
Alaahaniiaa (578-582)
Vaar Wadhans (582-594)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੋਰਠਿ | Raag Sorath
Gurbani (595-634)
Asatpadhiya (634-642)
Vaar Sorath (642-659)
ਰਾਗੁ ਧਨਾਸਰੀ | Raag Dhanasaree
Gurbani (660-685)
Astpadhiya (685-687)
Chhant (687-691)
Bhagat Bani (691-695)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਤਸਰੀ | Raag Jaitsree
Gurbani (696-703)
Chhant (703-705)
Vaar Jaitsaree (705-710)
Bhagat Bani (710)
ਰਾਗੁ ਟੋਡੀ | Raag Todee
ਰਾਗੁ ਬੈਰਾੜੀ | Raag Bairaaree
ਰਾਗੁ ਤਿਲੰਗ | Raag Tilang
Gurbani (721-727)
Bhagat Bani (727)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੂਹੀ | Raag Suhi
Gurbani (728-750)
Ashtpadiyan (750-761)
Kaafee (761-762)
Suchajee (762)
Gunvantee (763)
Chhant (763-785)
Vaar Soohee (785-792)
Bhagat Bani (792-794)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਲਾਵਲੁ | Raag Bilaaval
Gurbani (795-831)
Ashtpadiyan (831-838)
Thitteen (838-840)
Vaar Sat (841-843)
Chhant (843-848)
Vaar Bilaaval (849-855)
Bhagat Bani (855-858)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੋਂਡ | Raag Gond
Gurbani (859-869)
Ashtpadiyan (869)
Bhagat Bani (870-875)
ਰਾਗੁ ਰਾਮਕਲੀ | Raag Ramkalee
Ashtpadiyan (902-916)
Gurbani (876-902)
Anand (917-922)
Sadd (923-924)
Chhant (924-929)
Dakhnee (929-938)
Sidh Gosat (938-946)
Vaar Ramkalee (947-968)
ਰਾਗੁ ਨਟ ਨਾਰਾਇਨ | Raag Nat Narayan
Gurbani (975-980)
Ashtpadiyan (980-983)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਲੀ ਗਉੜਾ | Raag Maalee Gauraa
Gurbani (984-988)
Bhagat Bani (988)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਰੂ | Raag Maaroo
Gurbani (889-1008)
Ashtpadiyan (1008-1014)
Kaafee (1014-1016)
Ashtpadiyan (1016-1019)
Anjulian (1019-1020)
Solhe (1020-1033)
Dakhni (1033-1043)
ਰਾਗੁ ਤੁਖਾਰੀ | Raag Tukhaari
Bara Maha (1107-1110)
Chhant (1110-1117)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕੇਦਾਰਾ | Raag Kedara
Gurbani (1118-1123)
Bhagat Bani (1123-1124)
ਰਾਗੁ ਭੈਰਉ | Raag Bhairo
Gurbani (1125-1152)
Partaal (1153)
Ashtpadiyan (1153-1167)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਸੰਤੁ | Raag Basant
Gurbani (1168-1187)
Ashtpadiyan (1187-1193)
Vaar Basant (1193-1196)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਾਰਗ | Raag Saarag
Gurbani (1197-1200)
Partaal (1200-1231)
Ashtpadiyan (1232-1236)
Chhant (1236-1237)
Vaar Saarang (1237-1253)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਲਾਰ | Raag Malaar
Gurbani (1254-1293)
Partaal (1265-1273)
Ashtpadiyan (1273-1278)
Chhant (1278)
Vaar Malaar (1278-91)
Bhagat Bani (1292-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਾਨੜਾ | Raag Kaanraa
Gurbani (1294-96)
Partaal (1296-1318)
Ashtpadiyan (1308-1312)
Chhant (1312)
Vaar Kaanraa
Bhagat Bani (1318)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਲਿਆਨ | Raag Kalyaan
Gurbani (1319-23)
Ashtpadiyan (1323-26)
ਰਾਗੁ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਤੀ | Raag Prabhaatee
Gurbani (1327-1341)
Ashtpadiyan (1342-51)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਜਾਵੰਤੀ | Raag Jaijaiwanti
Gurbani (1352-53)
Salok | Gatha | Phunahe | Chaubole | Swayiye
Sehskritee Mahala 1
Sehskritee Mahala 5
Gaathaa Mahala 5
Phunhay Mahala 5
Chaubolae Mahala 5
Shaloks Bhagat Kabir
Shaloks Sheikh Farid
Swaiyyae Mahala 5
Swaiyyae in Praise of Gurus
Shaloks in Addition To Vaars
Shalok Ninth Mehl
Mundavanee Mehl 5
ਰਾਗ ਮਾਲਾ, Raag Maalaa
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Interfaith Dialogues
Catholic-Sikh Dialogue: What Unites Us
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<blockquote data-quote="Archived_member15" data-source="post: 163936" data-attributes="member: 17438"><p>My dear brother Prakash peacesignkaur</p><p> </p><p>Thank you for your reply! </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'">"...The Name of God is a living ambrosia ... if one tasted it just once, one would not be able to be separated from it . . . it is for the eyes a serene light, for </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">the ears the very sound of life..." </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><em><span style="font-size: 12px">- Saint Paulinus of Nola (354-431) </span><span style="font-size: 12px">(Carmina </span></em><span style="font-size: 12px"><em>iv).</em> </span></span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">"...The invocation of the <strong>Name </strong>is the possession of salvation, the receiving of kisses, the communion of the bed, the union of the Word with the soul in which every man is saved. For with such light no one can be blind, with such power no one can be weak, with such salvation none can perish..."</span></p><p> </p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><em>- Richard of Saint Victor (died 1173), prominent Scottish Catholic mystic </em></span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><em>".</em>..Believing in the Name of God, we are God's sons..."</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><em>- Meister Eckhart <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'"><span style="font-size: 15px">(1260-1328), Catholic mystic and dominican priest</span></span></em> </span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We certainly have a concept of contemplating <em>the Name of God</em> to attain to unification with God. The Catholic mystics aimed to achieve a state whereby they could say, </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">"...The Catholic who invokes the Divine Name will arrive at a point where he can say, '<em>I (ego) do not exist, only the Name exists, for He and His Name are one'..." </em></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><em>- Dr Rama P. Coomaraswamy </em>(1929 - 2006)</span><em><span style="font-size: 12px">, Catholic priest</span> </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The name of God is greatly important in Catholicism. In fact the Catechism of the Catholic Church devotes an entire section to it. We call the Name of God the "<em>Tetragrammaton" (Divine Name)</em> and it is the name that our Holy Prophet Moses came to understand as being God's most essential nature when he had his spiritual awakening on Mount Sinai with the Burning Bush. Moses realized that God was: </p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 15px">YHWH</span></strong></p><p> </p><p><em>YAWEH - that is, "I AM WHO AM". </em></p><p> </p><p>In the Old Testament the Name of God was so holy that it was not even written down when God was being referred to but was replaced with the term <em>Adonai - "the Lord". </em></p><p> </p><p><em>Whenever you see God referred to as, "the Lord" in the Bible - it is a way of referring to YHWH without pronouncing it, out of reverence for God's Name. </em></p><p> </p><p>Here is the Name (Naam) of God in a Catholic Church in Austria: </p><p> </p><p><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/YHWH.JPG" target="_blank">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/YHWH.JPG</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In Catholicism we also invoke <em>the Name of Jesus (which means, "God Saves") </em>this receives our particular veneration because Jesus' name in Hebrew is Y'shua (Yeshua) and it contains the Divine Name <em>YHWH at the start and is thus a form of saying it. </em></p><p> </p><p>The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us: </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>II. GOD REVEALS HIS NAME</strong> </p><p> </p><p><strong><a href="http://javascript<b></b>:openWindow('cr/203.htm');" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0066cc">203</span></a></strong> God revealed himself to his people Israel by making his name known to them. A name expresses a person's essence and identity and the meaning of this person's life. God has a name; he is not an anonymous force. To disclose one's name is to make oneself known to others; in a way it is to hand oneself over by becoming accessible, capable of being known more intimately and addressed personally. </p><p><strong><a href="http://javascript<b></b>:openWindow('cr/204.htm');" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0066cc">204</span></a></strong> God revealed himself progressively and under different names to his people, but the revelation that proved to be the fundamental one for both the Old and the New Covenants was the revelation of the divine name to Moses in the theophany of the burning bush, on the threshold of the Exodus and of the covenant on Sinai. </p><p> </p><p><strong>The living God</strong> </p><p> </p><p><strong><a href="http://javascript<b></b>:openWindow('cr/205.htm');" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0066cc">205</span></a></strong> God calls Moses from the midst of a bush that burns without being consumed: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."<SUP>9</SUP> God is the God of the fathers, the One who had called and guided the patriarchs in their wanderings. He is the faithful and compassionate God who remembers them and his promises; he comes to free their descendants from slavery. He is the God who, from beyond space and time, can do this and wills to do it, the God who will put his almighty power to work for this plan. </p><p> </p><p><strong>"I Am who I Am"</strong> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p><DL><DD>Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you', and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you'. . . this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations."<SUP>10</SUP></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p></DD></DL></p><p><strong><a href="http://javascript<b></b>:openWindow('cr/206.htm');" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0066cc">206</span></a></strong> In revealing his mysterious name, YHWH ("I AM HE WHO IS", "I AM WHO AM" or "I AM WHO I AM"), God says who he is and by what name he is to be called. This divine name is mysterious just as God is mystery. It is at once a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name, and hence it better expresses God as what he is - infinitely above everything that we can understand or say: he is the "hidden God", his name is ineffable, and he is the God who makes himself close to men.<SUP>11</SUP> </p><p> </p><p><strong>207</strong> By revealing his name God at the same time reveals his faithfulness which is from everlasting to everlasting, valid for the past ("I am the God of your father"), as for the future ("I will be with you").<SUP>12</SUP> God, who reveals his name as "I AM", reveals himself as the God who is always there, present to his people in order to save them. </p><p> </p><p><strong><a href="http://javascript<b></b>:openWindow('cr/214.htm');" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0066cc">214</span></a></strong> God, "HE WHO IS", revealed himself to Israel as the one "abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness".<SUP>27</SUP> These two terms express summarily the riches of the divine name. In all his works God displays, not only his kindness, goodness, grace and steadfast love, but also his trustworthiness, constancy, faithfulness and truth. "I give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness."<SUP>28</SUP> He is the Truth, for "God is light and in him there is no darkness"; "God is love", as the apostle John teaches.<SUP>29</SUP> </p><p> </p><p><strong>God is Truth</strong> </p><p> </p><p><strong><a href="http://javascript<b></b>:openWindow('cr/215.htm');" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0066cc">215</span></a></strong> "The sum of your word is truth; and every one of your righteous ordinances endures forever."<SUP>30</SUP> "And now, O LORD God, you are God, and your words are true";<SUP>31</SUP> this is why God's promises always come true.<SUP>32</SUP> God is Truth itself, whose words cannot deceive. This is why one can abandon oneself in full trust to the truth and faithfulness of his word in all things...<strong><a href="http://javascript<b></b>:openWindow('cr/216.htm');" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0066cc">216</span></a></strong> God's truth is his wisdom, which commands the whole created order and governs the world.<SUP>33</SUP> God, who alone made heaven and earth, can alone impart true knowledge of every created thing in relation to himself.<SUP>34</SUP> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><em>As Fr Rama explains: </em></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">"...In the Old Testament we are told that if the Divine <strong>Name </strong>is invoked upon a country or person, it belongs henceforth to <strong>God</strong>; it becomes strictly His and enters into intimate relations with Him <em>(Gen. </em>xlviii, 16; <em>Dt. xxviii, 10; Am. ix, </em>12). Thus it is that in the office of</span></p><p style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 12px">Compline we say every night <em>"Tu autem in nobis es, Domine, et Nomen sanctum tuum invocatum est super nos ..." ("You </em>indeed are in us </span><span style="font-size: 12px">O Lord, and your Holy <strong>Name </strong>is invoked over us ..."). In Genesis (iv, 26) we read: "</span><em><span style="font-size: 12px">and to Seth, in turn, a son was born and he named him </span></em><em><span style="font-size: 12px">Enoch. It was then that men began to invoke the Lord by <strong>Name</strong>" </span></em><span style="font-size: 12px">(Jewish Publication Soc. Trans.), </span><em><span style="font-size: 12px">"and Enoch walked with <strong>God</strong>!" "Moses </span></em><em><span style="font-size: 12px">and Aaron invoked the <strong>Name </strong>of the Lord" (Psalms). </span></em><span style="font-size: 12px">Aggeus the prophet spoke <em>"in the <strong>Name </strong>of the Lord" </em>and Job </span><em><span style="font-size: 12px">"blessed His Holy </span></em><em><strong><span style="font-size: 12px">Name</span></strong><span style="font-size: 12px">." </span></em><span style="font-size: 12px">Abraham "<em>called upon the <strong>Name</strong>" </em>as did Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Jeremias. Micheas and Zacharius </span><em><span style="font-size: 12px">"walked up and down in His </span></em><em><strong><span style="font-size: 12px">Name</span></strong><span style="font-size: 12px">." </span></em></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">As James the Apostle said, "<em>all the prophets have spoken in the <strong>Name </strong>of the Lord" (Epis. v, </em>10). And is not all this most </span><span style="font-size: 12px">reasonable, for as David the Psalmist sings, </span><span style="font-size: 12px"><em>"Bonum est celebrare Domine, et psallere Nomini tuo Altissime—for it is good to celebrate, O </em></span><span style="font-size: 12px"><em>Lord, and to sing your <strong>Name</strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 9px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 9px"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'">,<span style="font-size: 12px"> O most high....</span></span></span></span></span></span></em></span><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 9px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 9px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 9px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 9px"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">St. Ingatius of Antioch who succeeded St. Peter to this see went to his martyrdom invoking the Divine </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><strong><span style="font-size: 12px">Name </span></strong><span style="font-size: 12px">and the letters JESUS </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">were found inscribed in letters of gold upon his heart when he died. This so impressed St. Ignatius of Loyola that he changed his </span><strong><span style="font-size: 12px">name </span></strong></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">from Inigo to Ignatius (Father Laturia's </span><em><span style="font-size: 12px">Biography). </span></em><span style="font-size: 12px">Similar statements are made about St. Camillus de Lellis and the Blessed Suso. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Hermes the Shepherd </span><em><span style="font-size: 12px">(circa </span></em><span style="font-size: 12px">150 A.D.) says: "to receive the <strong>Name...</strong></span><span style="font-size: 12px">is to escape death and give way to life". </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">He goes further and says "the <strong>Name...</strong></span><span style="font-size: 12px">is great </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">and immense, and this is what supports the entire world" (Pasteur, Book III). Origen </span><em><span style="font-size: 12px">(circa </span></em><span style="font-size: 12px">215) says "the <strong>Name </strong></span><span style="font-size: 12px">of Jesus calms troubled </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">souls...its use infuses a kind of wonderful sweetness; it assures purity of morals; it inspires kindness, </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">generosity, mildness . . ." </span><em><span style="font-size: 12px">(Contra Celsum, </span></em><span style="font-size: 12px">Book I). Saint Ambrose <em>(circa 370) </em></span><span style="font-size: 12px">greatly loved the <strong>Name </strong></span><span style="font-size: 12px">and felt that while it was contained</span></span><p style="text-align: left"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">in Israel like a perfume in a closed vessel, the New Covenant was a vessel opened from which it poured forth </span></span><em><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">ex abundantia superfluit </span></span></em><em><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">quidquid </span></span></em><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">efunditur—poured forth from its abundance almost like a flood <em>(de Spiritu Sancto, </em></span><span style="font-size: 12px">I, <em>8). </em></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">St. John Chrysostom <em>(circa 370) </em></span><span style="font-size: 12px">instructs us to "thus abide constantly with the <strong>Name </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 9px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 9px"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">of our </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 9px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 9px"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Lord Jesus Christ, so that the heart swallows the Lord and the Lord the heart, and the two become one."...<span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 9px"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">As we come to mediaeval times, we find an even greater perfusion of devotion to the </span></span></span></span></span></span><strong>Name</strong>. Thus it was that the <strong>Name </strong>of Jesus was in the mouth of Saint Francis "like honey and the honey-comb" (Thomas of Celano, biography); and St. Francis himself wrote "no man is worthy to speak Thy <strong>Name</strong>" (praises composed when the Lord assured him of His Kingdom). Saint Bernard wrote whole sermons on the <strong>Name </strong>and said "Jesus is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, a song of delight in the heart" (Comm., <em>Song of Songs). </em>Saint Bonaventure cries out "O soul, whether you write, read, teach, or do anything else, may nothing have any taste for you, may nothing please you besides the <strong>Name </strong>of Jesus <em>(Opuscula). </em>Richard Rolle says "O good Jesus, Thou hast bound my heart in the thought of Thy <strong>Name</strong>, and now I cannot but sing it: therefore have mercy upon me, making perfect that which Thou hast ordained" <em>(Fire of Love). </em>Angelus Silesius says "the sweet <strong>Name </strong>of Jesus is honey on the tongue: to the ear a nuptial chant, in the heart a leap of joy" <em>(Wandering Pilgrim)</em>..."</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p></span><p style="text-align: left"></p><p></span><p style="text-align: left"></p><p></span><p style="text-align: left"></p><p></span><p style="text-align: left"></p><p></span><p style="text-align: left"></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Archived_member15, post: 163936, member: 17438"] My dear brother Prakash peacesignkaur Thank you for your reply! [SIZE=3][FONT=Verdana]"...The Name of God is a living ambrosia ... if one tasted it just once, one would not be able to be separated from it . . . it is for the eyes a serene light, for [/FONT][/SIZE][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]the ears the very sound of life..." [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][I][SIZE=3]- Saint Paulinus of Nola (354-431) [/SIZE][SIZE=3](Carmina [/SIZE][/I][SIZE=3][I]iv).[/I] [/SIZE][/FONT] [SIZE=3]"...The invocation of the [B]Name [/B]is the possession of salvation, the receiving of kisses, the communion of the bed, the union of the Word with the soul in which every man is saved. For with such light no one can be blind, with such power no one can be weak, with such salvation none can perish..."[/SIZE] [SIZE=3][I]- Richard of Saint Victor (died 1173), prominent Scottish Catholic mystic [/I][/SIZE] [I][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/I] [I][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/I] [SIZE=3][I]".[/I]..Believing in the Name of God, we are God's sons..."[/SIZE] [SIZE=3][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][I]- Meister Eckhart [FONT=Book Antiqua][SIZE=4](1260-1328), Catholic mystic and dominican priest[/SIZE][/FONT][/I] [/SIZE] We certainly have a concept of contemplating [I]the Name of God[/I] to attain to unification with God. The Catholic mystics aimed to achieve a state whereby they could say, [SIZE=3]"...The Catholic who invokes the Divine Name will arrive at a point where he can say, '[I]I (ego) do not exist, only the Name exists, for He and His Name are one'..." [/I][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][I]- Dr Rama P. Coomaraswamy [/I](1929 - 2006)[/SIZE][I][SIZE=3], Catholic priest[/SIZE] [/I] The name of God is greatly important in Catholicism. In fact the Catechism of the Catholic Church devotes an entire section to it. We call the Name of God the "[I]Tetragrammaton" (Divine Name)[/I] and it is the name that our Holy Prophet Moses came to understand as being God's most essential nature when he had his spiritual awakening on Mount Sinai with the Burning Bush. Moses realized that God was: [B][SIZE=4]YHWH[/SIZE][/B] [I]YAWEH - that is, "I AM WHO AM". [/I] In the Old Testament the Name of God was so holy that it was not even written down when God was being referred to but was replaced with the term [I]Adonai - "the Lord". [/I] [I]Whenever you see God referred to as, "the Lord" in the Bible - it is a way of referring to YHWH without pronouncing it, out of reverence for God's Name. [/I] Here is the Name (Naam) of God in a Catholic Church in Austria: [URL]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/YHWH.JPG[/URL] In Catholicism we also invoke [I]the Name of Jesus (which means, "God Saves") [/I]this receives our particular veneration because Jesus' name in Hebrew is Y'shua (Yeshua) and it contains the Divine Name [I]YHWH at the start and is thus a form of saying it. [/I] The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us: [B]II. GOD REVEALS HIS NAME[/B] [B][URL="http://javascript<b></b>:openWindow('cr/203.htm');"][COLOR=#0066cc]203[/COLOR][/URL][/B] God revealed himself to his people Israel by making his name known to them. A name expresses a person's essence and identity and the meaning of this person's life. God has a name; he is not an anonymous force. To disclose one's name is to make oneself known to others; in a way it is to hand oneself over by becoming accessible, capable of being known more intimately and addressed personally. [B][URL="http://javascript<b></b>:openWindow('cr/204.htm');"][COLOR=#0066cc]204[/COLOR][/URL][/B] God revealed himself progressively and under different names to his people, but the revelation that proved to be the fundamental one for both the Old and the New Covenants was the revelation of the divine name to Moses in the theophany of the burning bush, on the threshold of the Exodus and of the covenant on Sinai. [B]The living God[/B] [B][URL="http://javascript<b></b>:openWindow('cr/205.htm');"][COLOR=#0066cc]205[/COLOR][/URL][/B] God calls Moses from the midst of a bush that burns without being consumed: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."<SUP>9</SUP> God is the God of the fathers, the One who had called and guided the patriarchs in their wanderings. He is the faithful and compassionate God who remembers them and his promises; he comes to free their descendants from slavery. He is the God who, from beyond space and time, can do this and wills to do it, the God who will put his almighty power to work for this plan. [B]"I Am who I Am"[/B] <DL><DD>Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you', and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you'. . . this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations."<SUP>10</SUP> </DD></DL> [B][URL="http://javascript<b></b>:openWindow('cr/206.htm');"][COLOR=#0066cc]206[/COLOR][/URL][/B] In revealing his mysterious name, YHWH ("I AM HE WHO IS", "I AM WHO AM" or "I AM WHO I AM"), God says who he is and by what name he is to be called. This divine name is mysterious just as God is mystery. It is at once a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name, and hence it better expresses God as what he is - infinitely above everything that we can understand or say: he is the "hidden God", his name is ineffable, and he is the God who makes himself close to men.<SUP>11</SUP> [B]207[/B] By revealing his name God at the same time reveals his faithfulness which is from everlasting to everlasting, valid for the past ("I am the God of your father"), as for the future ("I will be with you").<SUP>12</SUP> God, who reveals his name as "I AM", reveals himself as the God who is always there, present to his people in order to save them. [B][URL="http://javascript<b></b>:openWindow('cr/214.htm');"][COLOR=#0066cc]214[/COLOR][/URL][/B] God, "HE WHO IS", revealed himself to Israel as the one "abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness".<SUP>27</SUP> These two terms express summarily the riches of the divine name. In all his works God displays, not only his kindness, goodness, grace and steadfast love, but also his trustworthiness, constancy, faithfulness and truth. "I give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness."<SUP>28</SUP> He is the Truth, for "God is light and in him there is no darkness"; "God is love", as the apostle John teaches.<SUP>29</SUP> [B]God is Truth[/B] [B][URL="http://javascript<b></b>:openWindow('cr/215.htm');"][COLOR=#0066cc]215[/COLOR][/URL][/B] "The sum of your word is truth; and every one of your righteous ordinances endures forever."<SUP>30</SUP> "And now, O LORD God, you are God, and your words are true";<SUP>31</SUP> this is why God's promises always come true.<SUP>32</SUP> God is Truth itself, whose words cannot deceive. This is why one can abandon oneself in full trust to the truth and faithfulness of his word in all things...[B][URL="http://javascript<b></b>:openWindow('cr/216.htm');"][COLOR=#0066cc]216[/COLOR][/URL][/B] God's truth is his wisdom, which commands the whole created order and governs the world.<SUP>33</SUP> God, who alone made heaven and earth, can alone impart true knowledge of every created thing in relation to himself.<SUP>34</SUP> [I]As Fr Rama explains: [/I] [SIZE=3]"...In the Old Testament we are told that if the Divine [B]Name [/B]is invoked upon a country or person, it belongs henceforth to [B]God[/B]; it becomes strictly His and enters into intimate relations with Him [I](Gen. [/I]xlviii, 16; [I]Dt. xxviii, 10; Am. ix, [/I]12). Thus it is that in the office of[/SIZE] [LEFT][SIZE=3]Compline we say every night [I]"Tu autem in nobis es, Domine, et Nomen sanctum tuum invocatum est super nos ..." ("You [/I]indeed are in us [/SIZE][SIZE=3]O Lord, and your Holy [B]Name [/B]is invoked over us ..."). In Genesis (iv, 26) we read: "[/SIZE][I][SIZE=3]and to Seth, in turn, a son was born and he named him [/SIZE][/I][I][SIZE=3]Enoch. It was then that men began to invoke the Lord by [B]Name[/B]" [/SIZE][/I][SIZE=3](Jewish Publication Soc. Trans.), [/SIZE][I][SIZE=3]"and Enoch walked with [B]God[/B]!" "Moses [/SIZE][/I][I][SIZE=3]and Aaron invoked the [B]Name [/B]of the Lord" (Psalms). [/SIZE][/I][SIZE=3]Aggeus the prophet spoke [I]"in the [B]Name [/B]of the Lord" [/I]and Job [/SIZE][I][SIZE=3]"blessed His Holy [/SIZE][/I][I][B][SIZE=3]Name[/SIZE][/B][SIZE=3]." [/SIZE][/I][SIZE=3]Abraham "[I]called upon the [B]Name[/B]" [/I]as did Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Jeremias. Micheas and Zacharius [/SIZE][I][SIZE=3]"walked up and down in His [/SIZE][/I][I][B][SIZE=3]Name[/SIZE][/B][SIZE=3]." [/SIZE][/I][/LEFT] [SIZE=3]As James the Apostle said, "[I]all the prophets have spoken in the [B]Name [/B]of the Lord" (Epis. v, [/I]10). And is not all this most [/SIZE][SIZE=3]reasonable, for as David the Psalmist sings, [/SIZE][SIZE=3][I]"Bonum est celebrare Domine, et psallere Nomini tuo Altissime—for it is good to celebrate, O [/I][/SIZE][SIZE=3][I]Lord, and to sing your [B]Name[/B][FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][FONT=Verdana],[SIZE=3] O most high....[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/I][/SIZE][SIZE=3][FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]St. Ingatius of Antioch who succeeded St. Peter to this see went to his martyrdom invoking the Divine [/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][B][SIZE=3]Name [/SIZE][/B][SIZE=3]and the letters JESUS [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]were found inscribed in letters of gold upon his heart when he died. This so impressed St. Ignatius of Loyola that he changed his [/SIZE][B][SIZE=3]name [/SIZE][/B][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]from Inigo to Ignatius (Father Laturia's [/SIZE][I][SIZE=3]Biography). [/SIZE][/I][SIZE=3]Similar statements are made about St. Camillus de Lellis and the Blessed Suso. [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Hermes the Shepherd [/SIZE][I][SIZE=3](circa [/SIZE][/I][SIZE=3]150 A.D.) says: "to receive the [B]Name...[/B][/SIZE][SIZE=3]is to escape death and give way to life". [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]He goes further and says "the [B]Name...[/B][/SIZE][SIZE=3]is great [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]and immense, and this is what supports the entire world" (Pasteur, Book III). Origen [/SIZE][I][SIZE=3](circa [/SIZE][/I][SIZE=3]215) says "the [B]Name [/B][/SIZE][SIZE=3]of Jesus calms troubled [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]souls...its use infuses a kind of wonderful sweetness; it assures purity of morals; it inspires kindness, [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]generosity, mildness . . ." [/SIZE][I][SIZE=3](Contra Celsum, [/SIZE][/I][SIZE=3]Book I). Saint Ambrose [I](circa 370) [/I][/SIZE][SIZE=3]greatly loved the [B]Name [/B][/SIZE][SIZE=3]and felt that while it was contained[/SIZE][/FONT][LEFT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]in Israel like a perfume in a closed vessel, the New Covenant was a vessel opened from which it poured forth [/SIZE][/FONT][I][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]ex abundantia superfluit [/SIZE][/FONT][/I][I][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]quidquid [/SIZE][/FONT][/I][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]efunditur—poured forth from its abundance almost like a flood [I](de Spiritu Sancto, [/I][/SIZE][SIZE=3]I, [I]8). [/I][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]St. John Chrysostom [I](circa 370) [/I][/SIZE][SIZE=3]instructs us to "thus abide constantly with the [B]Name [/B][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]of our [/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Lord Jesus Christ, so that the heart swallows the Lord and the Lord the heart, and the two become one."...[FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][SIZE=3][FONT=Verdana][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]As we come to mediaeval times, we find an even greater perfusion of devotion to the [/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT][/SIZE][/SIZE][/FONT][B]Name[/B]. Thus it was that the [B]Name [/B]of Jesus was in the mouth of Saint Francis "like honey and the honey-comb" (Thomas of Celano, biography); and St. Francis himself wrote "no man is worthy to speak Thy [B]Name[/B]" (praises composed when the Lord assured him of His Kingdom). Saint Bernard wrote whole sermons on the [B]Name [/B]and said "Jesus is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, a song of delight in the heart" (Comm., [I]Song of Songs). [/I]Saint Bonaventure cries out "O soul, whether you write, read, teach, or do anything else, may nothing have any taste for you, may nothing please you besides the [B]Name [/B]of Jesus [I](Opuscula). [/I]Richard Rolle says "O good Jesus, Thou hast bound my heart in the thought of Thy [B]Name[/B], and now I cannot but sing it: therefore have mercy upon me, making perfect that which Thou hast ordained" [I](Fire of Love). [/I]Angelus Silesius says "the sweet [B]Name [/B]of Jesus is honey on the tongue: to the ear a nuptial chant, in the heart a leap of joy" [I](Wandering Pilgrim)[/I]..."[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/LEFT][/SIZE][LEFT][/left][/FONT][LEFT][/left][/SIZE][LEFT][/left][/FONT][LEFT][/left][/SIZE][LEFT][/LEFT] [/QUOTE]
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