Religious Names

[ReasonableFaith]

7 hours ago, Nunsuch said:

Two of the first 5 Holy Cross sisters in the US were Sister Mary of the Five Wounds and Sister Mary of the Circumcision--known in community as "Sister Five Wounds" and "Sister Circumcision." UGH.

Again, not all communities take religious names. In some, this has not been done for over half a century--and, as Sister Leticia points out, some have never done so. Regardless, the name is hardly a major part of a vocation; like the particular habit (or no habit at all), it is an incidental. In discerning a vocation, prayer, spirituality, charism, etc., are far more important. Focusing on things like this is like someone getting married who is so obsessed with the frills of a wedding that they forget to focus on the lifelong commitment of the marriage.  

Five Wounds Mahoney!  She is still talked about and is buried in the quaint Holy Cross Community section of Assumption Cemetery (formerly St Edwards Cemetery) in Austin, Tx. 

[Nunsuch]

She wasn’t the first of this name. The first was from France, as were all 5 founders. 

[Lea]

In some dioceses (like the one I live in) we get to choose confirmation names. Mine is Flavia after St. Flavia Domitilla. 
 

Maria Rose ist a beautiful religious name, @StrivingForSanctity! Do you know if your family and friends would switch over to calling you that or would they stick with your baptismal name? What would you prefer?  

[KaytePost]

I always love this kind of thread! 

Should I ever have the joy of entering religious life, and taking a new name, I would love to have Rita in my name, after St. Rita of Cascia. She's one of my patrons as she is the patron of impossible causes and I am one.  She's also someone who has stalked me through my discernment and I hold her intercession very highly. I'd also love to have Rose as part of my name because of St. Rose Duchesne. However the name Rita Rose rings a little too...lady dancer of the night for me. 

I'll just stick with Sr. Rita of St Joseph. But who knows? 

[Sister Leticia]

On 10/10/2021 at 6:32 PM, KaytePost said:

I'd also love to have Rose as part of my name because of St. Rose Duchesne.

Do you mean Rose Philippine Duchesne? All her life, in her birth family and in her religious family (which is my religious family) she was - still is - known as Philippine. And actually, I think Philippine suits her better: Rose sounds like a sweet, rosy, delicate girl, whereas Philippine was a strong, stubborn, larger than life woman. 

But I'm delighted you feel such a liking for "our" Philippine! - where/how did you meet her? 

[Luigi]

46 minutes ago, Sister Leticia said:

Do you mean Rose Philippine Duchesne? All her life, in her birth family and in her religious family (which is my religious family) she was - still is - known as Philippine. And actually, I think Philippine suits her better: Rose sounds like a sweet, rosy, delicate girl, whereas Philippine was a strong, stubborn, larger than life woman. 

But I'm delighted you feel such a liking for "our" Philippine! - where/how did you meet her? 

I had the very great honor of knowing Sr. Mary O'Callaghan, rscj. She told me that the archives have about 250 documents relating to Mother Duchesne - letters to her, letters she wrote, and so forth. Of those 250 documents, only 2 include the name Rose Philippine, and both of those were deeds; it seems that the legal system required her to use her full legal name. Otherwise, ALL references are to Philippine. 

My parish is now named after her, and the assigned name is St. Rose Philippine Duchesne. It makes me crazy! Even worse is that most of the younger parishioners refer to the parish as RPD - that's all that fits on the sports jerseys. ARRGGGHHHH!!!!!

[Sister Leticia]

Oh dear...

Luigi, you live in or near St Louis? I'm sure you've seen Philippine's star on the Walk of Fame? I visited it when I was there in 2017. The star says St Philippine Duchesne RSCJ, though the plaque with the citation uses both Philippine and Rose Philippine. There was something quite moving about seeing her name and star - seeing a canonised saint - among writers, entertainers, athletes, war heroes etc. 

(Sorry, we've diverted a thread about what names people would want to be called...)

[KaytePost]

On 10/11/2021 at 6:12 PM, Sister Leticia said:

Do you mean Rose Philippine Duchesne? All her life, in her birth family and in her religious family (which is my religious family) she was - still is - known as Philippine. And actually, I think Philippine suits her better: Rose sounds like a sweet, rosy, delicate girl, whereas Philippine was a strong, stubborn, larger than life woman. 

But I'm delighted you feel such a liking for "our" Philippine! - where/how did you meet her? 

Yes! My apologies for not including Philippine in her name. =) I came to know her actually from a random post I saw about her on Facebook years ago, since then she's stalked me pretty hard. I started learning more about her and really connected with her story. Especially since she is the patron for perseverance amidst adversity, which I have faced a lot during my discernment process. 

[catholicamama]

My daughter's a postulant and she will give her superiors 3 choices just before she becomes a novice, but ultimately she doesn't have the final say, so i told her to pick 3 that she would be happy with.  We shall see!

[Totally Franciscan]

1 hour ago, catholicamama said:

My daughter's a postulant and she will give her superiors 3 choices just before she becomes a novice, but ultimately she doesn't have the final say, so i told her to pick 3 that she would be happy with.  We shall see!

My Franciscan community did the same, choosing three names to submit.  Our poor postulant mistress was constantly inundated with, "Sister, do we have a Sister _____ in our community?"

[dominicansoul]

On 10/8/2021 at 1:13 PM, Nunsuch said:

Two of the first 5 Holy Cross sisters in the US were Sister Mary of the Five Wounds and Sister Mary of the Circumcision--known in community as "Sister Five Wounds" and "Sister Circumcision." UGH.

Again, not all communities take religious names. In some, this has not been done for over half a century--and, as Sister Leticia points out, some have never done so. Regardless, the name is hardly a major part of a vocation; like the particular habit (or no habit at all), it is an incidental. In discerning a vocation, prayer, spirituality, charism, etc., are far more important. Focusing on things like this is like someone getting married who is so obsessed with the frills of a wedding that they forget to focus on the lifelong commitment of the marriage.  

Well, for some of those who still habit and do take religious names it means far more than an incidental part of their vocation.   

In my previous community, wearing the traditional habit is an enormous part of our identity!   We take on the habit because we die to ourselves and take on the identity of Brides of Christ, so we wear our Bridal gown for the rest of our lives.  The habit becomes a Sacramental to us, it is blessed.  When we put the pieces on, we pray special prayers for each piece.  It takes on the symbolism of not only our Wedding Garment, but our Armor.  It keeps us from vanity, as we no longer wear makeup, jewelry or modern fashions.  It helps in our vow of poverty in that light as well.    

Taking a religious name is more than just taking a name, you take that Saint as your patron and friend.  That Saint will travel with you throughout your religious journey, so it is a very big deal.   We were asked to choose the three saints we wanted to be named for.  Mother then prays over our choices and chooses one to be announced at the moment of investiture and receipt of our habit.  This is a timeless tradition and one that takes on a very beautiful part of our religious identity.   

[Nunsuch]

1 hour ago, dominicansoul said:

Well, for some of those who still habit and do take religious names it means far more than an incidental part of their vocation.   

In my previous community, wearing the traditional habit is an enormous part of our identity!   We take on the habit because we die to ourselves and take on the identity of Brides of Christ, so we wear our Bridal gown for the rest of our lives.  The habit becomes a Sacramental to us, it is blessed.  When we put the pieces on, we pray special prayers for each piece.  It takes on the symbolism of not only our Wedding Garment, but our Armor.  It keeps us from vanity, as we no longer wear makeup, jewelry or modern fashions.  It helps in our vow of poverty in that light as well.    

Taking a religious name is more than just taking a name, you take that Saint as your patron and friend.  That Saint will travel with you throughout your religious journey, so it is a very big deal.   We were asked to choose the three saints we wanted to be named for.  Mother then prays over our choices and chooses one to be announced at the moment of investiture and receipt of our habit.  This is a timeless tradition and one that takes on a very beautiful part of our religious identity.   

Well, it's actually not a "timeless tradition." The custom of taking a religious name was never uniformly observed and only became commonplace (though never universal) in the early modern era. 

There is an apparent implication here, which I hope you did not intend, that those who do not take religious names or wear habits are somehow not as dedicated or as committed to religious life as those who do. That is certainly not the case, and I refer to many religious I know who are still in their communities and have been there in many cases for decades. 

The custom you note--of three names and "Mother praying over them" is not universal and never was. I'm glad it was meaningful to you, even if you are no longer in religious life. But it is not for everyone, or even for the majority of those now in vows.

 

[dominicansoul]

1 hour ago, Nunsuch said:

Well, it's actually not a "timeless tradition." The custom of taking a religious name was never uniformly observed and only became commonplace (though never universal) in the early modern era. 

There is an apparent implication here, which I hope you did not intend, that those who do not take religious names or wear habits are somehow not as dedicated or as committed to religious life as those who do. That is certainly not the case, and I refer to many religious I know who are still in their communities and have been there in many cases for decades. 

The custom you note--of three names and "Mother praying over them" is not universal and never was. I'm glad it was meaningful to you, even if you are no longer in religious life. But it is not for everyone, or even for the majority of those now in vows.

 

Yes, for me and my community it was an important part of our identity. 
 

i guess I meant timeless tradition of changing names when one takes on a new life, such as how God changed Abrams name to Abraham, Sarai to sarah, Jacob to Israel, Jesus changed Simon to Peter, Saul to Paul,  the way a bride takes on the last name of her husband, Catholics take on a new Saint name at confirmation.  In my Lay Dominican chapter we also have the option to be addressed by our patron Saint names.  

[Nunsuch]

Not all women take their husband's names when they marry, either.... In some cultures no one does. 

[Lilllabettt]

8 minutes ago, Nunsuch said:

Not all women take their husband's names when they marry, either.... In some cultures no one does. 

A little pedantic.