What Do You Want Your Religious Name To Be?

[EmilyAnn]

[quote name='MaterMisericordiae' timestamp='1345240750' post='2469355']
You don't have your baptismal certificate anywhere? That's how I discovered mine because my mom couldn't remember the date. It was in my baby book as August 14th, 1983. I was 3 weeks old when I was baptized.

ETA: the date is wrong! I was baptized on Sunday, August 14th, 1983 not the Monday following. Still very neat, though, because it's St. Maximilian Kolbe's feast day and I used his prayer of Consecration for Our Lady when I did my Marian Consecration.
[/quote]

My mother probably has it somewhere, I've never had it because I've moved so much as a student I left things like that with my mother and only kept the really important documents with me. I could be wrong, but it may have been the Easter Vigil. I know I was baptised around Easter. I really should remember considering I was 12 at the time.

[AnneLine]

If you know the parish.... you can order a copy.

You'll need to have it and your confirmation and proof of first Eucharist and First Penance to enter religious life anyway. It should all be available through the parish at which you were baptised.

If it was Easter Vigil you probably remember receiving 1st Eucharist and probably Confirmation at the same time?

[EmilyAnn]

[quote name='AnneLine' timestamp='1345241121' post='2469360']
If you know the parish.... you can order a copy.

You'll need to have it and your confirmation and proof of first Eucharist and First Penance to enter religious life anyway. It should all be available through the parish at which you were baptised.

If it was Easter Vigil you probably remember receiving 1st Eucharist and probably Confirmation at the same time?
[/quote]

I don't even know the parish. It was organised by my godparents. I must have it somewhere because I needed it for my confirmation.

It was only baptism, it was a group but mostly babies. I didn't take First Communion until a year later, and I wasn't Confirmed until I was 17. I was an odd one.

[AveMariaPurissima]

I haven't even entered yet, but Our Mother has already decided on a religious name for me!!!






Anyone want to guess what it is?

[EmilyAnn]

[quote name='AveMariaPurissima' timestamp='1345496791' post='2470783']
I haven't even entered yet, but Our Mother has already decided on a religious name for me!!!






Anyone want to guess what it is?
[/quote]

Ooooh that's so exciting! I couldn't possibly guess though.

[OnlySunshine]

[quote name='AveMariaPurissima' timestamp='1345496791' post='2470783']
I haven't even entered yet, but Our Mother has already decided on a religious name for me!!!






Anyone want to guess what it is?
[/quote]

Sr. Ave Maria Purissima?

[Laudem Gloriae]

It's been a long time since I have posted - some due to unrelentless computer problems or no computer and then focusing on non-worldly activities like TV and internet. But mostly lots of prayer and seeing, making sure I am on the right path to the right community!

What is keeping me here is still my house that has to be sold! Though I have been showing it a lot the last few weeks and this week. The price is low but if I have to sell it for the mortgage payoff I will - $26,000! Plus some small debt that popped up! Grrrr! don't ask, unbelievable event!

Anyway, please can I beg all of you to pray to Our Lord, Our Lady and St. Joseph to free me of this house and debt soon! Like many, I started a blog asking for donations to help with the small debt and one that is focused on the Carmel of Kirk Edge and Carmel and it's saints. It is called "CARMEL, GARDEN OF GOD" at [url="http://carmelourladysdovecote.wordpress.com/"]http://carmelourlady....wordpress.com/[/url] . I've had a fell donations so far. If you all could spread the word I would greatly appreciate it.

I still believe I am but God is slow in getting me there! I had been discerning with the Carmel of Kirk Edge, UK and once I visited, I knew I was home! While there Mother told me about another American woman who was to visit a bit after me (our Aya Sophia!) and she got us together via email and we've been following each other's journey to Kirk Edge for a long while now! Aya Sophia has been clothed now (since this past May) but I have no ok from her or Mother to give out her name or post the beautiful picture of her in her novice habit and mantle they sent me. Aya is waiting for me in the novitiate she says!

So as this Carmel gives you your religious name BEFORE you enter, I know mine - I will be called after my favorite Carmelite saint and devotion! [size=4][b] I will be SR. MARY MARAVILLAS OF JESUS AND THE HOLY FACE! [/b][/size]

After St. Maravillas of Jesus (the 2nd St. Teresa of Avila who kept and fought for the 1582/1990 Constitutions and founded and refounded Carmels following the original rule/constitution of St. Teresa of Avila in Spain and India and others. She brought Carmel through Vatican II with the original rule/constitution of St. Teresa and didn't allow modern changes to take place, save the few that were mandated but they were so minor. She also had hospitals and places built for the poor while behind the monastery walls and cloister grilles.

St. Maravillas also founded many of her Carmels on old Carmelite sites that once had monasteries. One piece of property in Duruelo (I know spelled wrong!) was a site that had the first Carmelite monastery for friars that housed St. John of the Cross in the beginning and was then abandoned, she built a Carmel of nuns on this holy site. She did this with many holy Carmelite sites in Spain to reclaim the orders history and holy sites.

There is a great book on her life: "Let Him Do It" which is so wonderful (only read it like 3 times now!) if you can get it! Amazon will have it but often for outrageous prices!

Some info on St. Maravillas of Jesus for people new to her:

[b][size=4]St. Maravillas of Jesus – short video[/size][/b]

[center][url="http://carmelourladysdovecote.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/screenshot-12.png"][img]http://carmelourladysdovecote.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/screenshot-12.png?w=500&h=281[/img][/url][/center]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv4mi73FykQ

Short video on St. Maravillas of Jesus. Her feast day is December 11th. I am blessed to be given her name as my religious name and her as my patron saint in Carmel. My religious name on the day I enter Carmel in Kirk Edge will be [b]“Sr. Mary Maravillas of Jesus and the Holy Face”[/b] – though for brevity sake I will be called Sr. Maravillas in the community. My favorite saint and favorite devotion!

[b]***VIDEO CORRECTION![/b]: I noticed in the video when they say that St. Maravillas was influenced by the writings of St. Teresa of Avila, they showed the Carmelite saint, St. Teresa of the Andes! This MAY be an error or not. While there are no photographs of St. Teresa of Avila as she lived in the 1500s, there are paintings of her they could have used. Why they used St. Teresa of the Andes I don’t know. This is just a clarification in case there are any who think the photo IS St. Teresa of Avila!)***

The video also doesn’t mention that she founded and refounded (Carmels that were getting lax) with the true rule and constitutions of St. Teresa of Avila that she instituted when she founded HER Carmels. These were the 1581 rule/constitutions – we know them as 1990 – and she helped Carmel weather and come through the crazy misunderstandings of Vatican II with the true and authentic Teresian Carmel.

[b]From the “Meditations of Carmel” site:[/b]

María de las Maravillas was born in Madrid, Spain, on November 4, 1891, the fourth child of Luis and Cristina. At the time her father was the Spanish Ambassador to the Holy See, and she grew up in a devout Catholic family.

María made a vow of chastity at the age of five and devoted herself to charitable work. After coming into contact with the writings of St John of the Cross and St Teresa of Jesus, she felt called to become a Discalced Carmelite.

Her father, whom she had faithfully assisted when he became ill, died in 1913, and her mother was reluctant to accept her daughter’s decision to enter the Carmelite monastery. However, on October 12, 1919, María did enter the Discalced Carmelites in Madrid and made her simple vows on May 7, 1921.

Before her final profession on May 30, 1924, Sr María had already received a special call from God to found the Carmel of Cerro de los Ángeles, and the foundation was inaugurated in 1926 with three other Carmelites. This was the first of many Teresian Carmelite Monasteries that she would establish, according to the Rule and Constitutions of the Discalced Carmelites. María was not being called to found a new order or to “branch off” from the Discalced Carmelites – she herself was very careful in pointing this out; she only sought to live deeply and to transmit the spirit and ideals of her holy parents in Carmel, St Teresa and St John.

Her role as prioress would be permanent in the various monasteries she founded throughout her life, notwithstanding the natural aversion and sense of inadequacy she felt in accepting positions of responsibility. María’s spirit of obedience and love for the Church and for her Carmelite sisters, however, gave her the strength and diligence to carry out this duty with love.

The Spanish Civil War erupted in July of 1936 and the sisters at Cerro de los Angeles were arrested and lived for fourteen months in a small apartment under house arrest. Even amid enormous deprivation, Mother Maravillas instilled courage and happiness, always being an admirable example to her daughters.

But she also remained a mystery even to the nuns closest to her, since only her spiritual directors knew the “dark night of the soul” that she lived throughout her life, which kept her in profound spiritual aridity and trials, and made total faith and abandonment to the will of God her guide.

In the following years, foundations were established in other parts of Spain. From what I could tell on a time line on the internet, she found 11 new communities and was involved with restoring others damaged by the Civil War.

She distinguished herself by her faithfulness in fulfilling the Rule and Constitutions of the Discalced Carmelites and supported many charitable projects for the poor in Spain. She had a great enthusiasm for the charism of Carmel. By word and example she led a fervent contemplative life in service to the Mystical Body of Christ.



[center][url="http://carmelourladysdovecote.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/santa-maravillas-de-jesc3bas-21.jpg"][img]http://carmelourladysdovecote.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/santa-maravillas-de-jesc3bas-21.jpg?w=500[/img][/url][/center]

In order to unite the monasteries she had established and others associated with them, Mother Maravillas obtained approval in 1972 from the Holy See to found the Association of St Teresa. There are a total of 10 monasteries in the US and Canada that belong to this Association, one of those being our nuns here at St. Joseph. The intro about the Assoc. reads, “The St. Teresa Association is a group of monasteries of Discalced Carmelite Nuns formed in 1975 to strengthen one another in living our contemplative vocation in the Church. Membership is based on spiritual affinity rather than geographical boundaries, and we share a common desire to bear witness in these times to the charism and spirit of the Order of Discalced Carmelite Nuns founded by St. Teresa of Avila in 1562.”

On December 8, 1974, Mother Maravillas was anointed and received Holy Communion. On December 11, surrounded by her community, she died in peace at the age of 84. As she died she kept repeating “What happiness to die a Carmelite!” A perfume of spice arose from her body.

She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 10, 1998 at St. Peter’s in Rome and canonized on May 4, 2003 in Madrid. Her feast day is Dec 11th, the anniversary of her entrance into eternity.

[b]From the letters of St. Maravillas of Jesus, Virgin (Letters to her spiritual directors: 305, 254, 101, 458b)[/b]

[i]Yesterday, Sunday, on climbing the stairs to go to the upper choir for the sung Mass, I was quite recollected, yet without any particular thought, when I heard clearly within me, “My delight is to be with the children of men.” These words which made a strong impression on me, I understood were not for me this time, but rather in the nature of a request the Lord was making me to offer the whole of myself to give Him these souls He so much desires. It is hard to explain, but I saw clearly, that a soul which sanctifies itself becomes fruitful in attracting souls to God. This so deeply moved me that I offered with my whole heart to the Lord all my sufferings of body and soul for this purpose, despite my poverty. It then seemed to me that this offering was right, but what was strictly important was to surrender myself, wholly and completely to the divine will, so that He could do what He desired in me and likewise I would accept the pain along with the pleasure. I seemed to understand that what pleased Him was not the greatest sacrifice but rather the exact and loving fulfillment in the least detail of that will. In this I understood many things I find hard to explain, and how He wished me to be very sensitive in this fulfillment, which would carry me a long way in self-sacrifice and love.[/i]

[i]I offered myself in such a way that nothing would excuse me, not even hell, (if there you can love the Lord), but then I am so cowardly. The Lord will remedy that, since I can do no more than commit myself to Him in all my misery. I began experiencing this as a desire to commit myself for souls and to be faithful for this purpose: thinking about what He had done for them, it seemed He was saying to me I could not do much, but He could, with my help. On feeling this immense desire of the Lord for the salvation of souls, it seemed so amazing that nothing remained but to be committed to God so that He could carry out all His work in the soul and thus make it, despite its poverty, capable of giving Him what He desires. Each time it became clearer to my soul so that nothing of my own remained important, except that the Lord alone be glorified. What a treasure the Lord has given me in allowing me to live in Carmel! Here, everything is arranged with such simplicity, yet in such a way that, living it to the full, you can do everything. How can we live in the House of the Virgin, pleasing the Lord with her, yet not imitating her, as the Holy Mother desired? I felt that this is the Carmelite’s way, imitating Mary, how we must grow less, to be truly poor, self-sacrificing, humble, nothing. I felt quite deeply how Jesus gives us in His own life continual examples of sacrifice, of humiliation, of making ourselves small, yet we do not understand. I felt His mercy and zeal for souls in this way, that here is the strength that can take hold of our life through His mercy. By His grace, may I, who am so absolutely poor in everything, be well able to imitate Him in this with more ease than other creatures. I seemed also to understand that these lights were not given only for myself, but also for guiding my sisters. The sole thing I do, many times in the day, is to say to the Lord that I wish to live only to love Him and to please Him, that I desire all that He wishes in the way that He wills.[/i]

[b][i]Prayer To St Maravillas' Intercession[/i][/b]

[i]Lord God,[/i]
[i]Who drew St. Maria Maravillas of Jesus[/i]
[i]into the secrets of the Heart of Your Son,[/i]
[i]grant through her intercession and example,[/i]
[i]that we may work together for the salvation of souls,[/i]
[i]experiencing the delights of Your love.[/i]
[i]Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son, Who lives and reigns[/i]
[i]with You and the Holy Ghost one God for ever and ever.[/i]

Edited August 20, 2012 by Laudem Gloriae

[Mary's Child]

I would like mine to be Sr. Imelda Michael or Sr. Michael Imelda of Our Lady of Sorrows. Other names I have considered are Sr. Imelda Rose, Sr. Maria Teresa, and Sr. Imelda Therese.
If you cant tell Blessed Imelda Lambertini is one of my favorite holy people of all time and my confirmation "saint".

[OnlySunshine]

[quote name='Laudem Gloriae' timestamp='1345499235' post='2470820']
It's been a long time since I have posted - some due to unrelentless computer problems or no computer and then focusing on non-worldly activities like TV and internet. But mostly lots of prayer and seeing, making sure I am on the right path to the right community!

What is keeping me here is still my house that has to be sold! Though I have been showing it a lot the last few weeks and this week. The price is low but if I have to sell it for the mortgage payoff I will - $26,000! Plus some small debt that popped up! Grrrr! don't ask, unbelievable event!

Anyway, please can I beg all of you to pray to Our Lord, Our Lady and St. Joseph to free me of this house and debt soon! Like many, I started a blog asking for donations to help with the small debt and one that is focused on the Carmel of Kirk Edge and Carmel and it's saints. It is called "CARMEL, GARDEN OF GOD" at [url="http://carmelourladysdovecote.wordpress.com/"]http://carmelourlady....wordpress.com/[/url] . I've had a fell donations so far. If you all could spread the word I would greatly appreciate it.

I still believe I am but God is slow in getting me there! I had been discerning with the Carmel of Kirk Edge, UK and once I visited, I knew I was home! While there Mother told me about another American woman who was to visit a bit after me (our Aya Sophia!) and she got us together via email and we've been following each other's journey to Kirk Edge for a long while now! Aya Sophia has been clothed now (since this past May) but I have no ok from her or Mother to give out her name or post the beautiful picture of her in her novice habit and mantle they sent me. Aya is waiting for me in the novitiate she says!

So as this Carmel gives you your religious name BEFORE you enter, I know mine - I will be called after my favorite Carmelite saint and devotion! [size=4][b] I will be SR. MARY MARAVILLAS OF JESUS AND THE HOLY FACE! [/b][/size]
[/quote]

LG, it's wonderful to hear from you after such a long absence. I'm sorry to hear that you are having such a difficult time selling your house. I posted the link to your blog on my blog asking for donations for you. I wish I could contribute to get you there sooner but I don't have a job. Hopefully, you will make it there soon! St. Joseph, ora pro nobis!

[OnlySunshine]

I'm falling in love with St. Augustine of Hippo. In fact, I adopted him as my patron for this year and I have a blog based on his quote "Our Hearts are restless..." If I were to get the name Sr. Mary Augustine, I wouldn't object.

[AveMariaPurissima]

[quote name='MaterMisericordiae' timestamp='1345497811' post='2470799']
Sr. Ave Maria Purissima?
[/quote]
LOL! That would definitely have been amusing! But no...I'm going to be Sr. Teresa! (actually, I'm not 100% clear on whether I'm going to be called that or Teresita, but that's the general idea!)

[Mary's Child]

Yeah I love the name Teresa its actually my baptismal name and Teresita is my favorite form of the name since I could never even come close to any of the great saints who share my name.

[EmilyAnn]

[quote name='AveMariaPurissima' timestamp='1345507452' post='2470925']
LOL! That would definitely have been amusing! But no...I'm going to be Sr. Teresa! (actually, I'm not 100% clear on whether I'm going to be called that or Teresita, but that's the general idea!)
[/quote]

YAY! You've got so many amesome saints as patrons there.

[she_who_is_not]

I have a name that I love and is so special to me that I don't want to post it. It is the name if I am ever clothed.

[HopefulBride]

[quote name='she_who_is_not' timestamp='1345509110' post='2470960']
I have a name that I love and is so special to me that I don't want to post it. It is the name if I am ever clothed.
[/quote]

I know how you feel SWIN. I have two names that I would like to select from and if God-willing I am clothed, then I pray that it is the name Mother allows me to pick.