What Padre Pio Teaches About the Name of Jesus
What does Padre Pio teach about the Name of Jesus — adored in Heaven, venerated on Earth and feared in Hell? In a letter to his spiritual daughter Raffaelina Cerase, Padre Pio gives a profound answer. And it begins with Christ’s perfect humility and obedience.
Christ Humbled Himself in Obedience
Padre Pio first asks Raffaelina to meditate on the humiliations of the Son of God and the glory to which they led. This emphasis on meditation was characteristic of his spiritual guidance; elsewhere, we see Padre Pio’s approach to devout meditation centred on entering deeply into the life and sufferings of Christ.
He writes:
“I want you to meditate every day on the humiliations of the Son of God and the glory to which they led. Of His own free will and to the fullest extent, this divine Word was pleased to abase Himself to our level, by hiding His divine nature beneath the veil of human flesh.”
Christ freely embraced our human condition, even exposing Himself to hunger, thirst and weakness. But the greatest humiliation came in His Passion and Death:
“He humbled Himself, says St. Paul, and became obedient unto death, even death on a Cross!”
Padre Pio makes an important point about this obedience. Jesus did not obey through fear of punishment or in hope of reward. He was the Son, equal to the Father. His obedience was freely and perfectly given.
His motivation was love.
And because of this obedience, Padre Pio explains, the Father “exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name, as the apostle says, which is above every name.”
At the Name of Jesus Every Knee Should Bow
Padre Pio then turns directly to the power of the Holy Name of Jesus:
“It is by virtue of that name alone that we may hope to be saved… The eternal Father decreed that all creatures should be subject to Him: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth!”
This is the great proclamation found in Philippians 2:5–11: Christ humbles Himself, becoming obedient even to death on the Cross, and God exalts Him and bestows upon Him the Name above every name.
Padre Pio then takes us, as it were, on a spiritual journey through the universal reach of that Name.
The Name of Jesus in Heaven
“Jesus is adored in heaven. At this divine name, moved by gratitude and love, the blessed in heaven never cease to repeat what St. John the Evangelist beheld in a vision: ‘Worthy are You, O Lord… for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed men for God.’”
Padre Pio points us towards the vision of St John in Revelation, where the blessed proclaim Christ worthy because He was slain and by His Blood ransomed men for God.
The Name of Jesus on Earth
Here on Earth, Padre Pio says, the Holy Name is venerated because of the graces God grants through Jesus:
“This most holy name is venerated on earth, for all the graces which we ask in Jesus’ name are fully granted by the eternal Father: ‘Whatever you ask in My name,’ the divine Master tells us, ‘I will do it!’”
The Name of Jesus, therefore, is not merely a name we speak. It directs us towards the Person in whom Christians place their hope of salvation.
The Name of Jesus Is Feared in Hell
Padre Pio goes further:
“Who would ever believe that this divine name is venerated even in hell? But so it is, for this name is terror to the demons who are broken and vanquished by it: ‘In My name they will cast out demons.’”
Padre Pio teaches that on Judgment Day even the damned and the devils will be obliged to acknowledge the immense glory and power of Jesus.
What Padre Pio’s Teaching Means for Us
Padre Pio brings everything back to the obedience of Jesus:
“Through Jesus’ obedience the heavenly Father willed that all creatures should confess and believe in this most holy name: Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
There is a practical lesson here.
When pride rises in us, or obedience feels difficult even in small things, we can follow Padre Pio’s advice and meditate on the humility of Jesus.
Our own small acts of humility and obedience can become a participation in the pattern Christ Himself showed us: He humbled Himself before the Father and was exalted above every name.
And the next time we turn to God in prayer and call upon the Name of Jesus, we can remember what lies behind that glorious Name: the humility, obedience and love of Christ.
Continue exploring Padre Pio’s spiritual teaching through our other reflections on prayer, the Passion of Christ and the Christian life.
Source: Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, Letters, Vol. II.
