Question about devotional titles

[Tis_Bearself]

I cannot seem to find anything clear on the web about rules for selection of a devotional title for after a religious name. Example: In the name “St. John of the Cross” or “St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face”, the devotional title would be “of the Cross” or “of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face”.

Do the titles have to be about God/ Jesus, Mary, a saint (e.g. “of St. Joseph”), or a Holy Mystery (e.g. “of the Trinity” or “of the Annunciation”)? Are there any other categories or types of devotional titles?

Would “of the Rosary” be acceptable?

I know I have seen “of the Holy Angels” used. Would it be possible to use “of the Holy Souls” or is that not acceptable because the Holy Souls are not in Heaven yet, though they will be one day?

Just asking out of curiosity as I am not a member of any order much less choosing any name.

 

[Cloisters]

It’s known as a predicate. Some are given along with the name by the superior after prayer. Others are optional.

“Of the Holy Souls” would be acceptable. One of the founders of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary was Sr. Mary Veronica of the Crucifix, which surprised me. I’d never seen a predicate like that.

One Poor Clare Colettine novice was recently given the predicate “of the Word of God” so even scripture can be used.

I’m still waiting for someone to either take or be given “Mary Abigail of the King of Kings.”

HTH

Blessings,
Mrs Cloisters OP
Lay Dominican
http://cloisters.tripod.com/
http://cloisters.tripod.com/charity/
http://cloisters.tripod.com/holyangels/id9.html/

 

[BartholomewB]

It’s a Carmelite thing. My wife and I were on friendly terms with some of the priests in a Carmelite parish where we were living a few years ago, and they all used surnames of this kind instead of their original surnames, though they left their given names unchanged. There are other orders – the Franciscans, I think – that do it the other way around, choosing a saint’s name as a given name but retaining their own surnames.

This was not in the United States, I should point out. The practice seems to vary not only from one order to another, but also from one country to another.

 

[nunsuch]

It’s not just a Carmelite thing. In the US sisters in many (but not all) congregations took such devotional titles. In some communities, sisters were assigned their religious names (sometimes being allowed to submit 3 possibilities, from which one was chosen), but could choose their own titles. One of the most bizarre I found in my archival research was an Erie, Pa, Benedictine, who took the title “of the Bloody Sweat.” Yup…

Today, most US communities–especially active ones–don’t take religious names, much less titles. A few still do, but titles are mainly taken only in a few contemplative monasteries.

 

[BartholomewB]

In some communities, sisters were assigned their religious names (sometimes being allowed to submit 3 possibilities, from which one was chosen), but could choose their own titles.

Does that mean a sister would change both her original given name and her surname? That’s something I’ve never seen. One or the other, but not both.

I should add that until now I wasn’t familiar with the terms “religious name” and “devotional title”. Back in the nineties I was on friendly terms, as I said, with three or four Carmelite priests (strictly friars) who all had names of that kind, but it never occurred to me to ask them to explain how the system worked. I just accepted it as a given.

 

[nunsuch]

Traditionally, most women religious would not use their last names at all. For legal purposes, they of course retained their surnames. Today, all but a very few sisters–including many in relatively traditional communities–do use their last names, at least in some situations. For example, see the list of community leaders and organizational officers on the CMSWR website.

Please note that most of my expertise relates to the US and Canada and, to a slightly lesser extent, the UK and Australia. I don’t presume to speak about the rest of the world.