WHAT DOES IHS REALLY MEAN? THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS St. Mel has a wealth of beautiful Catholic imagery and symbols that we usually overlook. Today is the feast day of the Holy Name of Jesus. The insignia “IHS and the Chi Rho are associated with this feast, but what does IHS and the Chi Rho mean? Why are IHS and the Chi Rho signs for the Name of Jesus? Do you recognize the IHS and Chi Rho images from the old St. Mel baptismal font? Read on! The name “Jesus”, in Greek, is written ιησους which is transliterated as “ihsous” and pronounced iēsous (there was no letter J in the Greek alphabet). This is the Holy Name as it was written in the Gospels (first written in Greek). However, in Hebrew, the name “Jesus” is written ישוע which is transliterated as “yeshu‘a” and pronounced yeshūa. Finally, in Latin, the Holy Name is written Iesus which gives us the English “Jesus”, since the “j” often replaces the “i” at the beginning of a word (as well as between vowels). The insignia “IHS” comes from the Latinized version of the Greek ιησους, [UPDATE: In Greek capitals this would be ΙΗΣΟΥΣ or IHSOUS in Latin letters] taking the first three letters in capitals IHS(ous). Much as the popular “chi-rho” symbol (see below, X – P) comes from the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ, χριστος (Christos) – XPistos. This is the true meaning of IHS, it is the first three letters of the Greek spelling of the Holy Name of Jesus. The insignia is nothing more (and nothing less) than the symbol of the Holy Name. IESUS HOMINUM SALVATOR – JESUS THE SAVIOR OF MEN It is popular legend that the IHS stands for the Latin phrase Iesus Hominum Salvator, “Jesus the Savior of (all) Men”. While this is a fine devotion, it is not historically accurate. The IHS symbol was so popular that it is not uncommon to find the Latin Iesus misspelled as IHeSus (with the “H” added, though in Greek this “h” is equivalent to the Latin “e”). In fact, the first known use of the IHS abbreviation comes in the 8th century: “DN IHS CHS REX REGNANTIUM”, the first three words being abbreviated from “DomiNus IHeSus CHristuS” – “The Lord Jesus Christ is the King of Kings”. Still, although historically inaccurate, there is certainly nothing wrong with seeing in this insignia a testimony to the truth that there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Most certainly, Jesus alone is the Savior and without his grace we can neither attain nor even desire everlasting life. IN HOC SIGNO VINCES – IN THIS SIGN YOU WILL CONQUER After three nails were added under the insignia (together with a cross see below), some noticed that the inscription now contained a “V” below the IHS – so that we see IHSV. In this form it was adopted by St. Ignatius as the symbol of the Jesuits. IHSV was interpreted to mean In Hoc Signo Vinces, “In this sign, you shall conquer”. It was taken as a reference to the victory which Constantine won against Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge on 28 October 312. Before the battle, the future Emperor saw a sign in the sky (probably the Greek chi-rho X-P, the symbol of “Christ”) and heard the words εν τουτω νικα, which is Greek for “In this [sign], you shall conquer”. The phrase was translated into Latin and it was noticed that the first letters of each word added up to IHSV – thus was born the legend that IHS stood for Constantine’s vision and the Christianization of Rome. Most certainly, in the Holy Name of Jesus we shall conquer every enemy – and the last enemy to be destroyed is death itself. newtheologicalmovement.blogspot/2012/01/what-does-ihs-stand-for-meaning-of-holy.html
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 20:22:32 +0000
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