I emailed two lovely moms back recently who were waiting for my response, and there’s certainly no pressure or requirement that you email me back but since most people do I’m worried that the emails haven’t reached their destination (though my account says they were sent). If you’re reading this and have been waiting for a response from me and haven’t received it yet, please email me! Or you can comment here. Thanks 😉
Year: 2015
Finney the Leprechaun
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all!
Our very own reader Irish Nannie has published a book, the first in a series of books for children called The Adventures of Finney the Leprechaun. This first book is called Finney Hides the Pot o’ Gold, and I’m delighted to tell you more about it here.
No one does Irish Catholic like Irish Nannie (whose author name is simply Nannie). This sweet story of Finney and his little friend Michaelín is full of love of God and His creation as he learns how very important it is to say “Please” and “Thank you.” It’s all in rhyme, and Nannie writes that her “hope is that this story-poem is read aloud … either to yourself or, even better, to or with someone. The best ever is if you have the great privilege and blessing to read to a child!” My own boys love to hear this story read out loud, and they loooove answering the questions at the end of the story!
There are beautiful photos illustrating the book, and also quite a few pages at the end that give the full and proper names of Finney and his family members, all Irishy Irish names (with pronunciations provided!). It is clear from every page that Finney Hides the Pot o’ Gold was a labor of love — love of all things Irish and love of God through Whom all good things come.
I’m also delighted to tell you that Irish Nannie is me own mum, and quite possibly my biggest fan, as I am of her. 🙂 ❤
Since all of March is Irish month, there’s plenty of time still to get your copy! And, as a special St. Paddy’s Day gift especially for all of you, Irish Nannie and I are offering a free signed copy to the first person to comment here with the correct answer to this question: In what town was my maternal grandfather born? (Hint: It was the last stop the Titanic made before it sank.)
Beannachtaí na Feile Pádraig daoibh go léir! (Blessings to you on St. Patrick’s Day!)
Prayers for a happy delivery: Wee Lassie Heckaman
I don’t usually know ahead of time when the wee babes whose names are discussed here in consultation posts will be born, but I do know that the Heckaman baby is due to be born via scheduled c-section today. Please pray for her and her mama for a happy delivery! St. Patrick, St. Brigid, St. Gerard Majella, and St. Anne, please pray for them!
Celebrity guest: Danielle Bean (DanielleBean.com)
I’ve mentioned Danielle Bean before (here and here) — she’s the publisher and editor-in-chief of Catholic Digest (yes, that Catholic Digest), co-host of the Catholic women’s talk show The Gist, author of a bunch of books including, most recently, Momnipotent, a book and parish study “that help women find peace, balance, and joy in their roles as mothers.” She’s also a speaker and writing coach. She’s basically doing it all.
Like last week’s celebrity guest (Rachel Balducci), Danielle’s blog was a highlight of my day when my older boys were small, when motherhood was still new, when I so appreciated chatting with other moms who had more kids than I did and were funny and smart and real about the highs and lows and the eternal meaning of it all … even if that “chatting” took the form of me somewhat obsessively reading their blogs, anxiously awaiting for new posts, taking to heart potty training tips and night-sleeping tips, and referring to them in conversation with my in-real-life friends and family (this internet age is so weird, isn’t it?). (I also secretly wanted Danielle’s house, which was built by her husband [!] and always looked amazing — cozy and sweet — in any pictures she posted. Also, her annual Oktoberfest, with so much amazing food [recipes are still on her blog!].)
Danielle’s youngest (of eight) was born just a month or so after my second, and I was right there with her through her posts on morning sickness (I remember a particularly poignant one on goldfish crackers and chocolate milk — there was nothing in the world that she wanted more, and once she had them … nothing she could possibly want less, and likely could never even look at them again. Oh the things you remember!) and waiting-for-baby and I could NOT wait to see what name she and her husband would choose because — they have great taste!
Danielle’s not blogging too much these days, but she loves names like I do, and she graciously agreed to fill me in on her kids’ first and middle names, and how each were chosen (be sure to notice #2 — perfect for Irish week!):
(1) Kateri Anne [which they say KAY-tuh-ree]
Kateri Tekakwitha was my confirmation saint many years ago, before she was even a saint. I loved her from the day I read a biography of her as a young girl (published by Pauline Books, I won the book as a prize in a poetry contest they rain in My Friend magazine). Kateri is strong and connected with nature and her stories of personal sacrifice really inspired me as a young woman.
(2) Eamon Michael
Eamon is the Irish form of Edmund and St. Edmund is a favorite of my husband’s. I was hugely pregnant with Eamon when we were watching the Secret of Roan Inish. One of the characters was named Eamon and we were inspired to look it up. When we found out it was a form of Edmund, we were convinced that was the name for us. We like that it is unusual, but it’s actually quite common in Ireland.
(3) Ambrose Augustine
Well you can read the column I wrote years ago, he tells me he still loves his name. I laugh all the time, though, because I get phone calls about his doctor’s appointments and whatnot and they always call him my daughter. You know, Amber Rose.
(4) Juliette Marie
My mom is French Canadian. I studied French for a total of 9 years in school. I like this name because it’s beautiful and a recognition of our French heritage. Marie is my mom’s first name. I wish I had a great saint story to go with it, but we kind [of] stumbled on the saint connection after the fact. People tease her about waiting for her “Romeo,” but she loves her name and it suits her. She is a poised and graceful young lady.
(5) Stephen Matthias
We both just love this traditional name and the fact that it was the name of the first Christian martyr. Stephen was St. Stephen for All Saints day a few years ago and he loved carrying a bloody rock around with him at the party and describing his death in gory detail. Stephen’s middle name is Matthias. We loved how Stephen Matthias went together so smoothly and only discovered after we settled on it that the sound of it is so “right” because the saints names are listed that way in the Eucharistic prayer. To this day, Stephen gets a grin on his face when the priest says “Stephen, Matthias” from the altar.
(6) Gabrielle Therese
Again, with [a] French girl name. This one happens to be my maternal grandmother’s first name (Grandmaman to me). She is 93 today [Feb. 24]. She always disliked her name, though, and went by “Gaby” instead. When our Gabrielle was born, we said it such a beautiful name we would not shorten it, but of course we do. She is Gabby to all her siblings and friends, but I still make a point of calling her Gabrielle regularly. It’s just so pretty. And do not get me started about St. Therese …
(7) Raphael Joseph
We pronounce this name (ray-FEE-uhl) but usually call him Rafe or Rafey. He likes both. When we were discussing names, I suggested Raphael and [my husband] Dan accepted it after concluding that “Rafe” was definitely a name you could call out to someone playing basketball. Today, Rafe is a skilled player and we call him name lots. His middle name was going to be Thomas, but he was born on the feast of St. Joseph after I spent an entire pregnancy saying that was the day he would be born, so you know. We HAD to change it. 🙂
(8) Daniel John Jr.
It only took my poor husband five sons before he got to have a junior! 😛 When I was pregnant with Danny (we usually call him that) we could not agree on names, so finally we just said if it was a boy, Dan would name him and if it was a girl, I would name her. At that point, Dan said “Ok then, I want a junior.” He had said he wanted to use his name for a son in the past but I always rejected the idea as ridiculous. I mean, he is Daniel, I am Danielle, did we really need another Dan in the mix? But I agreed. Then the day Danny was born, my husband was REALLY sick (coxsackie virus). So sick he was in terrible pain and I suggested he leave the delivery room and get a hotel room to rest for a while while labor progressed. I promised to call him when it got close. We should have known better, but whatever. Danny was born before Dan could get there, by about 20 minutes. I had already named him Daniel John, Jr. and signed the paperwork! Dan could not believe it. He was so thrilled. He actually thought I would not have gone through with it because I had been so opposed. Today, Danny is so proud to share a name with his dad, and he is our littlest so it’s extra sweet.
Aren’t those amazing stories? I love how each first name and middle name flow together so well. I love reading about the name discussions/disagreements between Danielle and her husband, and how they eventually resolved things into amazing first-middle combos for their kids. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did! Thank you Danielle for a great start to the week! ❤
Spotlight on: Bridget/Brigid
If I wanted to write a really great post about Bridget/Brigid, this wouldn’t be what I’d write, but I’m tired and I wanted to post something Irishy today in anticipation of Tuesday! So this is what I got for you tonight:
“… The cult of St. Brighid [which this author says is pronounced “BRY-id” in “modern Irish”] was very popular in England as well as in Ireland. In English she was usually called Bride or Bryde, which represents the Irish Brighde, the genitive case of Brighid … it does not seemto have come into common use in Ireland until the 17th or 18th C. St. Brighid was known as ‘the Mary of the Gael,’ and it is possible that her name, like that of the Blessed Virgin, was considered too sacred for ordinary use. It is significant that Mary came into general use in Ireland at about the same time as Brighid. They are now and have long been the two commonest names in that country. The common pet-form Biddy displays the same process of formation as Fanny from Frances, Kit and Kester from Christopher. The name of the Swedish St. Brigitte or Birgitte (1303-73), which is usually translated Bridget in English, was an independent Swedish name. French and German Brigitte may represent either the Irish or the Swedish name, as the cults of both saints had a considerable extension.”
~ The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, by EG Withycombe, 54
Stay tuned for more fun next week, including another celebrity guest on Monday!
Big-family naming
What themes/trends/styles have you seen big families use in the naming of their kiddos? Which have you used yourselves?
Check out these names
Arwen and her husband’ve got it going on! Check out their kids’ names: Camilla, Blaise, Linus, and Ambrose. So swoony!
A quick search of her blog shows she’s blogged about names a bunch. Well. I know where I’ll be spending my time next time I want to read some juicy name posts. 😉
Mary the Dawn
My mom and I were talking more about Anastasia and Salome, and Jesus’ Birth in general, and the conversation moved onto the account of the Nativity in Ven. Mary of Agreda’s Mystical City of God that reader Irish Nannie referenced, and Mom read the passage to me and particularly wanted me to take note of the fact that Mary is referred to as “the resplendent Aurora Mary” to Jesus the Sun:
The “most poor and insignificant hut or cave, to which most holy Mary and Joseph betook themselves … was the first temple of light (Malachi 4, 2, Psalm III, 4) and … the house of the true Sun of justice, which was to arise for the upright of heart from the resplendent Aurora Mary, turning the night of sin into the daylight of grace.” (no. 468)
How beautiful is that? I knew aurora was Latin for dawn, and I knew that Mary has been referred to as the Dawn, but I’d never seen Aurora and Mary together like that. Just lovely.
Beautiful list of symbols associated with Mary
A wonderful resource! Mary’s Symbols
The new-to-me story of Anastasia and Salome
I posted a quote the other day from The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names by EG Withycombe stating that Anastasia “in medieval legend was attached to the Virgin’s midwife.” Which basically blew my mind. I’m not unaware of the Nativity story, you know? And yet I’d never once even considered the idea that Our Lady had a midwife. On the one hand — wasn’t Jesus’ birth miraculous, “without any violation to her physical, external virginity. As the Fathers of the Church explained, as ‘light passes through glass without harming the glass’, so Jesus was born with Mary’s Virginity ‘in tact’, that is with the preservation of her physical virginity“? So, you know, what would a midwife do? But then, as this possibility presented itself, I thought, surely it does make sense that Our Lady would have a midwife, especially if she and/or St. Joseph was/were unaware of how the birth would proceed. And midwives do more than just catch the baby, don’t they? It makes perfect sense that Our Lady would have women attend her, to help her through labor, to wipe her brow, to soothe St. Joseph. If I’m suggesting a scene that doesn’t fit with Church tradition, please tell me!
It seems the apocryphal Gospel of James is the source of the story of Our Lady’s midwife:
“19. And I [St. Joseph] saw a woman coming down from the hill-country, and she said to me: O man, whither are you going? And I said: I am seeking an Hebrew midwife. And she answered and said unto me: Are you of Israel? And I said to her: Yes. And she said: And who is it that is bringing forth in the cave? And I said: A woman betrothed to me. And she said to me: Is she not your wife? And I said to her: It is Mary that was reared in the temple of the Lord, and I obtained her by lot as my wife. And yet she is not my wife, but has conceived of the Holy Spirit.
“And the midwife said to him: Is this true? And Joseph said to her: Come and see. And the midwife went away with him. And they stood in the place of the cave, and behold a luminous cloud overshadowed the cave. And the midwife said: My soul has been magnified this day, because my eyes have seen strange things— because salvation has been brought forth to Israel. And immediately the cloud disappeared out of the cave, and a great light shone in the cave, so that the eyes could not bear it. And in a little that light gradually decreased, until the infant appeared, and went and took the breast from His motherMary. And the midwife cried out, and said: This is a great day to me, because I have seen this strange sight …“
That midwife has, according to some (here, here), traditionally been called Anastasia. The reading continues:
“And the midwife went forth out of the cave, and Salome met her. And she said to her: Salome, Salome, I have a strange sight to relate to you: a virgin has brought forth— a thing which her nature admits not of. Then said Salome: As the Lord my God lives, unless I thrust in my finger, and search the parts, I will not believe that a virgin has brought forth.
“20. And the midwife went in, and said to Mary: Show yourself; for no small controversy has arisen about you. And Salome put in her finger, and cried out, and said: Woe is me for mine iniquity and mineunbelief, because I have tempted the living God; and, behold, my hand is dropping off as if burned with fire. And she bent her knees before the Lord, saying: O God of my fathers, remember that I am the seed of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; do not make a show of me to the sons of Israel, but restore me to the poor; for You know, O Lord, that in Your name I have performed my services, and that I have received my reward at Your hand. And, behold, an angel of the Lord stood by her, saying to her: Salome, Salome, the Lord has heard you. Put your hand to the infant, and carry it, and you will have safety and joy. And Salome went and carried it, saying: I will worship Him, because a great King has been born to Israel. And, behold, Salome was immediately cured, and she went forth out of the cave justified. And behold a voice saying: Salome, Salome, tell not the strange things you have seen, until the child has come into Jerusalem.“
Straightforward enough, though the Gospel of James has always been a mystery to me — are we to consider it to have some authority or not? Fortunately, I came across a note about that, when I was looking up Sts. Anne and Joachim, as I thought they too had been part of the same writing:
“Tradition nevertheless, grounded on very old testimonies, very early hailed Saints Joachim and Anne as the father and mother of the Mother of God. True, this tradition seems to rest ultimately on the so-called “Gospel of James”, the “Gospel of the Nativity of the Blessed Mary”, and the Pseudo-Matthew, or “Book of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the Childhood of the Saviour”; and this origin is likely to rouse well-founded suspicions. It should be borne in mind, however, that the apocryphal character of these writings, that is to say, their rejection from the canon, and their ungenuineness do not imply that no heed whatever should be taken of some of their assertions; side by side, indeed, with unwarranted and legendary facts, they contain some historical data borrowed from reliable traditions or documents; and difficult though it is to distinguish in them the wheat from the tares, it would be unwise and uncritical indiscriminately to reject the whole.“
I could be wrong, but it seems then that there’s nothing wrong with considering the story of Anastasia and Salome. Even if the details aren’t quite true, they might be, and they proclaim the miraculous birth of Jesus.
Moving on from that, there seems to be some confusion as to who had the withered hand upon examining Mary’s virginity — the passage above says it was Salome; the abstract for this article notes that, “In an early fifteenth-century French book of hours (Getty MS 57), St Anastasia, born without hands, kneels in worshipful adoration with Mary and Joseph before the newborn Christ Child. According to apocrypha, Anastasia believed in the miraculous divine birth, and when she held the Christ Child in her arms, God rewarded her faith by sending an angel bringing new, beautiful hands … This article examines the iconography of the Getty Nativity and observes that the Anastasia legend parallels the apocryphal narrative of the midwife Salome. ”
So a little confusion there, furthered by St. Anastasia’s feast day being the same as Christmas; there’s also some speculation that the midwife Salome may be the same who is known as St. Mary Salome (and if so, what a great connection that she was one of the first to see the newborn Savior, and was also there at His Resurrection).
Had any of you known any of this? Do any of you have further insight into or knowledge about this story and these women? Does this story make the names Anastasia and Salome more or less appealing?
Sancta Nomina 