Religious Names

[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. 

[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.