Religious Names

[Sponsa-Christi]

11 minutes ago, Nunsuch said:

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

A personal story that's a little off-topic with this thread, but relates to this...when I was a little girl, I used to marvel at the fact that women would (in my cultural context) regularly change their last name to their husband's when they married, and that they would be happy about it. I used to think: "Wow, you'd have to REALLY love the guy to want to do that!" 

I recalled this childhood thought on the morning of my consecration, and I realized how happy I would have been to change my name to show that I was Jesus' spouse (if that were something CVs did). That is, I would have been happy to "lose" my own identity in a certain sense to be known simply as a bride of Christ, like "Mrs. Jesus" or something. That really confirmed for me how "right" my choice felt.

And then just that morning I realized that my consecration date, January 3, was also the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus!  

[Nunsuch]

34 minutes ago, Lilllabettt said:

A little pedantic. 

But true.

Thanks, though, for the insult. 

[Lilllabettt]

On 12/9/2021 at 8:24 PM, Nunsuch said:

But true.

Thanks, though, for the insult. 

You're welcome! Hope you get some holes in your buckets of cold water

 

[Feankie]

For the love of God......please quit the sniping!  It's getting old.  Actually it got old a long time ago!  We are each entitled to our own opinion/s.  Others may agree, but then again, they may not.  But it's gotten to the point where you can't tell if someone is being snarky or just trying to be "funny" in an oblique kind of way when they comment on a post they don't like or agree with.

Please respect the posts of others on this forum and not get your undies in a knot.  Life is too short for petty or snarky comments. 

[gloriana35]

 Thank you, Feankie. I remember, all too well, when one of the big feminist rants was about name changes 'taking one's identity away.' It read too much into what often was a non-issue. 

[dominicansoul]

My name in religion was Sr. Miriam, which is the oldest form of the name "Mary".  I will always treasure that for a while I took the name of Our Lady 

On my first day working alongside another Sister in the kindergarten class, she introduced me to the youngsters explaining that my name meant "Mary" and I had been named after the Mother of Jesus. 

After class was over, a little girl was tugging on my scapular of my habit.  I looked down and she looked at me in wonder and asked, "Are you REALLY the Mother of Jesus???"  

[gloriana35]

When I was a young woman (and into middle age), most married ladies used their husbands' surnames - it wasn't 'taking away identity,' but embracing an identity as a new family. I think part of the reason there was uproar later was that, if someone were (let us say) mentioned in a newspaper article, or listed in a programme, unless she had a professional name (as actresses and writers may), it would be as "Mrs John Smith," not "Mary Smith." 

I actually am sorry that those who once could have chosen a patron for a religious name are barred from doing so now. Yes - I know all the business about the 'call coming at baptism,' but I would like to see Sisters at least have the option. Yet those who blew this up into 'they wanted to take my identity away!' were prone to the histrionic... and I'm a bit weary from having heard 50 Marys, 40 Kathleens, 30 Patricias, and 20 whose names were Tracy, Lynne, or Ruby moan about this at one workshop...

[GraceUk]

I think sister Polycarp must be the worst name ever. 

[Sponsa-Christi]

30 minutes ago, GraceUk said:

I think sister Polycarp must be the worst name ever. 

Actually, though, Polycarp was a really cool saint! I don't think I would mind being Sr. Polycarp. 

[Lea]

3 hours ago, gloriana35 said:

... and I'm a bit weary from having heard 50 Marys, 40 Kathleens, 30 Patricias, and 20 whose names were Tracy, Lynne, or Ruby moan about this at one workshop...

Well, a friend of mine is a novice with a community where they stick with their baptismal names. She is very happy with her name, Maria, and was glad to keep it when she entered. But alongside her there are 5 (or so...) other sisters named Sister Maria which can be quite impractical or even annoying in everyday life as well. 
 

[Sponsa-Christi]

12 minutes ago, Lea said:

Well, a friend of mine is a novice with a community where they stick with their baptismal names. She is very happy with her name, Maria, and was glad to keep it when she entered. But alongside her there are 5 (or so...) other sisters named Sister Maria which can be quite impractical or even annoying in everyday life as well. 
 

"How do you solve a problem like 'Maria'..." LOL!  

[Nunsuch]

In the 19th century, when the rule was to take a religious name in many cases, AND not to have any duplicates, congregations with US provinces (headquartered in Europe) would assign letters to of the alphabet to the US sisters (or brothers) so that there wouldn't be duplicate names (even on different sides of the Atlantic). This was fine at first, but there are only so many names that begin, say, with A-E. [Letters for both the Sisters of the Holy Cross and the De la Salle Christian Brothers in the US.] Some results were far from desirable, at least by their recipients. 

[JHFamily]

Some use a combination of baptismal name with a newly chosen name. I think that's a nice touch.

[Lady Grey, Hot]

20 minutes ago, JHFamily said:

Some use a combination of baptismal name with a newly chosen name. I think that's a nice touch.

Looking at their website/Instagram, I think that's what the Mercedarians of the Blessed Sacrament do. One sister (I think born Katherine Marie and called Sr. Chiara) is listed in her email as Sr. K.M. Chiara. Or there are some sisters who apparently combine their baptismal name with a title - e.g. Sr. Tonia of the Heart of Jesus and Sr. Lourdes of the Holy Eucharist (colloquially known as Sr. Heart of Jesus and Sr. Eucharist respectively). I'd never seen these particular variations of choosing a name before.

[Lady Grey, Hot]

I've never come up with a definitive answer to this one (the stakes feel so high!), but I've run through any number of options in my head: Sr. Nicodemus, Sr. Magdalene More, Sr. Gethsemane, Sr. Miriam David (on general principle, I like Miriam if a variation on Mary is included), Sr. Electa, Sr. Basil, Sr. Stephen. A sister in a community near me recently took the name "Emmanuel" and I liked that. Sr. Five Wounds (mentioned somewhere previously) actually sounds pretty cool to me (maybe because I like the surname "Fivecoat"). I had a great aunt who, before she was Sr. Mary Daniel, had my first name, so I've sometimes thought if I became a sister that that would be a nice family tribute.

Also, kind of a funny story: I remember going to the nun graveyard at my aunt's alma mater. They were almost all Sr. Mary Something, so the "M." abbreviation was ubiquitous and the names on the stones were (if I recall correctly) in all capital letters. I distinctly remember seeing SISTER MALICE's stone and thinking she must have used her ruler quite liberally to earn a moniker like that