Religious Names and Orders

  • Thread starter Thread starter CarmeliteGirl25
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

CarmeliteGirl25

Guest
I posed this question on Phatmass and got some very beautiful responses. I would like to pose this question to the discerners on CAF.

What religious name would you choose if you could have any name?

I would choose:

Sr. M. Catherine Therese of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

M. for the Blessed Mother, Mary, my Mother.

Catherine for St. Catherine of Siena, the patron of the Church where I was baptized and raised in. Coincidentally, it is my mother’s middle name. AND, if you want to hear something really spooky, when I went on retreat in November, St. Catherine of Siena was my small group’s patron. :eek: She follows me around quite a bit, and I have nothing but the utmost respect and love for her because she received the sacred signs of our Lord’s Passion (stigmata).

Therese, of course, for my most beloved saint who introduced me to the Discalced Carmelites. I have such a special relationship with my spiritual sister in Heaven. She has interceded for me several times. 🙂

I have a VERY special devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Whenever I pray to the Sacred Heart, I feel a very special connection. I just recently acquired a book about the devotion by an S.J. Father, and I can’t wait to read it!

What order are you interested in the most?

I am the most interested in the Carmelite order (my first love), most specifically, the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus in Milwaukee, WI. I plan to go there in February if I can get a job. I’ve been emailing Sr. M. Immaculata back and forth, and she invited me there. 🙂

I went to St. Louis with the best intentions to discern my vocation truthfully, but in all honesty, I went and didn’t do that. I went and met my friend and was sick the rest of the weekend from a stomach bug, and didn’t give them a fair shot (though I don’t blame myself for being sick). I want to attend a different province without my friend (no disrespect, my friend) and discern truthfully.

I was looking at their website, and they have nursing needs which are far greater than the needs in the Central province. I am going back to school soon for Registered Nursing 👍 and I feel that it is my God-given vocation to be a Sister and Registered Nurse. I believe God is calling me to serve in this capacity.

carmelitedcjnorth.org/

Here is the Central Province, if anyone is interested:

carmelitedcj.org/

I am also somewhat interested in the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration. ssfpa.org/

and

The Hawthorne Dominicans (which have St. Catherine of Siena on their intro :eek: )
hawthorne-dominicans.org/
 
Ok, mine would be really long…but here goes:
Mary Magdalene Therese of the Sacred Heart.

Mary Magdalene because of how she loved Jesus.

St Therese is one of my favorite saints -I’m trying to put her “Little Way” into practice. We also share a patron saint as mine is Teresa of Avila.

I have an affinity for the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

By rights, I suppose I should be a Carmelite because of my patron saint and that my birthday is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. We’ll see where I end up, though. 🙂
 
Br. Nicholas Augustine-Thomas Aquinas of the Little Chapel of the Most Agonized and Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary of California.

I believe the religious name is chosen by God through His saint. 🙂
 
Eucharisted said:
Br. Nicholas Augustine-Thomas Aquinas of the Little Chapel of the Most Agonized and Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary of California.

I believe the religious name is chosen by God through His saint. 🙂
Click to expand...
Good luck trying to get that approved by a religious Superior! LOL! 😉
 
joamy said:
Ok, mine would be really long…but here goes:
Mary Magdalene Therese of the Sacred Heart.

Mary Magdalene because of how she loved Jesus.

St Therese is one of my favorite saints -I’m trying to put her “Little Way” into practice. We also share a patron saint as mine is Teresa of Avila.

I have an affinity for the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

By rights, I suppose I should be a Carmelite because of my patron saint and that my birthday is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. We’ll see where I end up, though. 🙂
Click to expand...
Have you visited any orders yet??
 
Br. Dominic Michael of the Sacred Wounds of Jesus

Dominic Savio, Michael the Archangel, The Sacred Wounds of the Passion

I have talked to one friar who was suggested that he take the name Br. Polycarp, but soon (and as he says, by the Grace of God) the Order changed its rules on the requirement to take a religious name
 
If I were to choose now:

Br. Athanasius of the Incarnation.

Mar Athanasius of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, lived through some of the most turbulent times of the Church. He lived through the last great persecutions by the Roman Empire and then led the fight against the Arians who denied the divinity of Jesus. He was exiled five times from his See, sometimes for years at a time. He also aided in the foundations and establishment of monasticism in the Egyptian desert.

The Incarnation may be a bit redundant (you’ll understand that if you know this great Saint), so some possible alternatives:

of the Holy Family
of the Holy Name of Jesus
of the Hidden Life of Jesus
of the Nativity of Jesus
(can you tell that the Joyful Mysteries are my favorite ;))

I don’t know how well this would fly, but:

of the Desert.
 
Most Religious Communities that have their religious change their names have rules regarding such things.

Some even give the name rather than allowing the religious to chose.

As for myself, this sort of thing never entered my discernment.
 
Mine… hmm, let’s see.

I would choose Charles Eugene of the Suffering Savior.

If i am allowed to choose a name, i’ll choose this. i would like to be named after Bl. Charles Eugene of Jesus
 
I once attended a Mass celebrated by a Blessed Sacrament Father, and he told us in the homily about how he chose his religious name. (The Gospel that day was the changing of Simon’s name to Peter, and what it meant, so it was an interesting comparison.) He said that he was originally called Kenneth, and wasn’t particularly pleased with the idea of having to change. So when his Order insisted that he assume a saint’s name, he called himself after - you guessed it! - Saint Kenneth. His superiors weren’t happy, but technically there was no reason why he couldn’t get away with it.

For myself, I don’t really know what name I’d choose. Almost certainly something to honour my patron saint, Patrick, and then one of the martyrs as well: Irene, Agnes, or maybe Perpetua. There are lots of saints whose names I’d be proud to be bear: lucky I’ve got plenty of time to decide!
 
ByzCath said:
Most Religious Communities that have their religious change their names have rules regarding such things.

Some even give the name rather than allowing the religious to chose.

As for myself, this sort of thing never entered my discernment.
Click to expand...
Oh come on, don’t ruin a fun thread with reality. 😛
 
I would trust in the community to choose a name for me.

When I visited the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, they told me the story of a young postulant who did just that. The naming ceremony was in the evening and after there was to be no talking, only prayer until the next morning. So, the community servant approached the new young friar and said, “You will now be forever called Br. Eoin Pol” (pronounced Owen Pole). The new friar went back to his cell and obeyed the rule of silence, but he was freaking out. “Who the heck is Eoin Pol? I’m gonna be called this the rest of my life?!”

Finally morning came and after Mass he sat with his brother friars at breakfast and one finally spoke up, “So, would you like an explanation of the name we chose for you?” To which the young friars replied to the affirmative. “We chose your name in honor of the late Holy Father. Eoin Pol is Gaelic for John Paul”.

The postulant was stunned. “Oh…That’s Awesome!”

So, yeah. I would let my community choose my name.
 
Drilling4Truth said:
I would trust in the community to choose a name for me.

When I visited the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, they told me the story of a young postulant who did just that. The naming ceremony was in the evening and after there was to be no talking, only prayer until the next morning. So, the community servant approached the new young friar and said, “You will now be forever called Br. Eoin Pol” (pronounced Owen Pole). The new friar went back to his cell and obeyed the rule of silence, but he was freaking out. “Who the heck is Eoin Pol? I’m gonna be called this the rest of my life?!”

Finally morning came and after Mass he sat with his brother friars at breakfast and one finally spoke up, “So, would you like an explanation of the name we chose for you?” To which the young friars replied to the affirmative. “We chose your name in honor of the late Holy Father. Eoin Pol is Gaelic for John Paul”.

The postulant was stunned. “Oh…That’s Awesome!”

So, yeah. I would let my community choose my name.
Click to expand...
LOL! The CFRs are too cool. There’s a chance that I might not get the name I choose, and the community will pick it for me. If that is the case I entrust Jesus to give them the name He desires. 🙂
 
Spiritu said:
I once attended a Mass celebrated by a Blessed Sacrament Father, and he told us in the homily about how he chose his religious name. (The Gospel that day was the changing of Simon’s name to Peter, and what it meant, so it was an interesting comparison.) He said that he was originally called Kenneth, and wasn’t particularly pleased with the idea of having to change. So when his Order insisted that he assume a saint’s name, he called himself after - you guessed it! - Saint Kenneth. His superiors weren’t happy, but technically there was no reason why he couldn’t get away with it.

For myself, I don’t really know what name I’d choose. Almost certainly something to honour my patron saint, Patrick, and then one of the martyrs as well: Irene, Agnes, or maybe Perpetua. There are lots of saints whose names I’d be proud to be bear: lucky I’ve got plenty of time to decide!
Click to expand...
I really hated the idea of changing my name when I first started discerning, but I have come to love the idea. My name is Caroline, which is the feminine form of Charles (my dad’s name, actually, but my mom didn’t do this on purpose), so I could be named after St. Charles Borromeo. I just never know! 🙂

But I like Sr. M. Catherine Therese better. 🙂
 
Oh, good question! 👍

I would choose “Sister Mary Magdalene of the Merciful Love of Jesus”, or just “of the Merciful Love.”

I would choose Mary Magdalene because every time I heard my name called, I would remember that I was a sinner and have no reason to ever be proud.

I would choose “of the merciful love” because I would be reminded that while I am a sinner, God’s merciful love is the fountain and wellspring of all life, and it is God’s merciful love alone that will save me.

So my name would remind me both of how sinful I am on the one hand, and how great God is on the other hand.

Now I want to be a nun :nun1: Just teasing…sort of.
 
Angeluzza said:
Oh, good question! 👍

I would choose “Sister Mary Magdalene of the Merciful Love of Jesus”, or just “of the Merciful Love.”

I would choose Mary Magdalene because every time I heard my name called, I would remember that I was a sinner and have no reason to ever be proud.

I would choose “of the merciful love” because I would be reminded that while I am a sinner, God’s merciful love is the fountain and wellspring of all life, and it is God’s merciful love alone that will save me.

So my name would remind me both of how sinful I am on the one hand, and how great God is on the other hand.

Now I want to be a nun :nun1: Just teasing…sort of.
Click to expand...
I’ve thought of something similar that I may include on my list of 3 name choices (which I have a lot of time to think about):

Sr. Magdelena Marie of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

😃

I like your story behind it. That’s beautiful.👍 :blessyou:
 
Thank you CarmeliteGirl25 :thankyou:

Oooh, Magdalene and the Sacred Heart…another good choice! :clapping:
 
What a fantastic thread!

I would be:

Sister Mary Teresa of Jesus and the Most Holy Rosary

Mary. . . for the Blessed Mother

Teresa. . . for St. Teresa of the Andes, the saint I hold responsible for drawing me into the Catholic faith

Jesus. . . obvious reasons there 🙂

Most Holy Rosary. . . because the Rosary has become my logic; in it, I find Jesus in a way I never have before

My order: a cloistered Carmelite one, with full habit
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top