De Nomine Jesu.
| I | n rebus tantis trina conjunctio mund | I |
| E | rigit humanum sensum, laudare venust | E |
| S | ola salus nobis, et mundi summa, potesta | S |
| V | enit peccati nodum dissolvere fruct | V |
| S | umma salus cunctas nituit per secula terra | S.[[9]] |
The letters I. H. S. so conspicuously appended to different portions of Catholic churches, are said to have been designed by St. Bernardine of Sienna, to denote the name and mission of the Saviour. They are to be found in a circle above the principal door of the Franciscan Church of the Holy Cross, (Santa Croce,) in Florence, and are said to have been put there by the saint on the termination of the plague of 1347, after which they were commonly introduced into churches. The letters have assigned to them the following signification:—
Jesus hominum Salvator—Jesus, the Saviour of men.
In hoc salus—In him is salvation.
A maker of playing-cards, which, like missels, were illuminated in those times, was one day remonstrated with by St. Bernardine, upon the sinfulness of his business. The card-maker pleaded the needs of his family. “Well, I will help you,” said the saint, and wrote the letters I. H. S., which he advised the card-maker to paint and gild. The new card “took,” and the saint himself travelled about the country as a poster of these little sacred handbills of the Church.
THE FLOWER OF JESSE.
1520.
There is a flower sprung of a tree,