Powerful patrons

Birth announcement: Damien Edmund!

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I posted a consultation for Kara and her husband at the end of September, and I’m thrilled to share that she’s let me know her little one has arrived — a little boy who’s been given the amazing name … Damien Edmund!

Kara writes,

“After your consult I realised how much I really love St Damien of Molokai and it seemed like the right name. My husband was hesitant because of THAT movie, but right after he was born my husband said a little prayer and felt it was the right name. And we added Edmund for Edmund Campion and Edmund Arrowsmith. So far, all our Catholic friends love the name Damien, and non Catholics haven’t said anything negative. Reclaim the name!“

You guys! I’m SO excited that Kara and her husband went ahead with Damien — such a great saint, such a great name, and I love that Dad went along with it after praying about it. And also! “Reclaim the name!” 😍💕💕💕 I guarantee it won’t take long until the people in Kara’s circle associate Damien primarily with her beautiful little boy!

Congratulations to Mom and Dad and big sibs Rosamond, Matthias, and Simeon, and happy birthday Baby Damien!!

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Damien Edmund

 

A political post

sanctanomina Prayer Intentions

Don’t worry! It’s not that kind of political post — nothing here to get anyone riled up!

(And before I continue, I just have to tell you all that I went to the Syracuse Catholic Women’s Conference yesterday and got to meet two of you wonderful ladies [and see a beautiful baby named after our St. John Paul the Great!] — what an amazing blessing in the midst of an incredibly blessed day!! I posted a couple pics from the conference to my Instagram with some highlights from the talks, if you’re interested. Also, I found out this morning that yesterday was the feast of Bl. Chiara Luce Badano, which is quite meaningful for me. Just a great day, all around.)

The Election Is Coming and the very best thing we can do for our country and the most vulnerable among us is pray pray pray. I’ve been loving Bl. Karl of Austria recently, both because he’s awesome and because he was a good and honorable leader of his country — he’s a perfect intercessor for the election. (I loved this article Blessed Karl: A Holy Emperor — On October 21st, remembering one of the few unequivocal heroes of the Great War.)

The St. Michael Prayer seems particularly appropriate for these times:

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

And of course the Rosary, one of the most powerful weapons against evil. (Speaking of, Fr. Calloway’s new book Champions of the Rosary is ah-MAZ-ing. The whole first section is how God spent a few centuries forging this new “sword” that literally hung from priest’s belts like soldiers’ scabbards. An awesome awesome book.)

I’ve also seen a call to say a Novena for the elections, starting today and ending on the evening before Election Day, which soothes me to no end, knowing that so many people will be praying specifically for protection for our country. This novena was written specifically for this intention, and asks for the intercession of some heavy hitting saints.

My family and I will be saying all these prayers, starting today (which is why I’m breaking my Sunday blog fast to post this, in hopes it’s helpful for all of you), (and I’m adding in the additional intention that I don’t forget to do so every day!). It’s such a comfort to know that there’s actually something real and powerful we can do to help!

[Comments are closed to preserve our sanity and good will. ❤]

Birth announcement: Eliana Katherine!

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A mama I did a private consultation has let me know her little girl has arrived and been given the gorgeous name … Eliana Katherine!

She writes,

“Baby has arrived! Meet Eliana Katherine. Namesakes: St Eliana, early martyr and St Catherine Laboure (no explanation needed)“

Isn’t Eliana a beautiful name?? It’s new to me, and I love it — that site linked above says it’s as a form of Helen! 😍😍😍

Little Miss joins her equally well-named big sibs:

Sophia Marie
Joseph Gabriel
Abigail Gianna
Claire Elizabeth

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Eliana!!

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Eliana Katherine

Birth announcement: Rosalee Maewyn!

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The mama from this consultation sort of sneakily snuck in a little comment on the post today sharing that she’s had her baby! Her little girl has been given the goooorgeous name … Rosalee Maewyn!

What an amazingly beautiful combo! I’m extra excited too that Rosalie was one of my suggestions — I’m so delighted it was a helpful idea!

If you remember, this sweet girl is Baby No. 11 and her parents didn’t want her name to repeat any of her siblings’ initials — I’m so impressed at how well they’ve done! She joins big sibs:

David Zachary
Caleb Daniel
Jesse Robert
Ethan Wyatt
Kathryn Cecilia
Aaron Mathias
Tobias Xavier
Bridget Darling
Phoebe Noelle
Levi Thaddeus

Such a handsome bunch of names! Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Rosalee!! (Be sure to check our her adorable little face over on her mama’s blog!)

Birth announcement: Owen Xavier!

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A mama I did a private consultation for has let me know her baby boy has arrived and been given the awesome name … Owen Xavier!

She writes,

“I thought I’d let you know our baby was born at home on Sept 22 at 4:44 pm, after about two hours of labor (though I was only certain I was in labor for about half of that). Owen Xavier was 9 lbs, 1 oz and 21.75 inches long. He’s a keeper!

We actually have been debating charging his middle name due to some uncertainty but I think we’re going to stick with it.”

First of all, can you believe she was in labor for only two hours, and she was only certain she was in labor for an hour?! What! Second of all, Owen Xavier is such a cool combo! I love it! I also love her explanation behind it:

“St. Nicholas Owen seems like such a great patron, and both him and St. Francis Xavier are Jesuits from the 16th century, which is kind of neat. One worked alone, one worked with people — seems to cover all possible bases for this little guy of ours. 😉 OXM seem like pretty cool initials, too.”

Such cool connections with two amazing saints!

He joins some amazingly named big siblings too:

Helen Perpetua
Susanna Jean
John Benedict (Jack)
Leo Tobias
Lucy Therese
Edith Rose
Lydia Agnes
Alice Louisa
Jane Elisabeth (in heaven)

Each combo is amazing! I love every single one! It is such a joy to see such beautiful names being used!

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Owen!!

Owen Xavier

Birth announcement: Declan James!

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The mama from this consultation has let me know her little guy has arrived and been given the so-handsome name … Declan James!

She writes,

“I am the mama from the post about Robert Edward or Benedict Joseph.  We went through a few other names including your suggestion of Bennett which I still love.

Ultimately we returned to our rules with our oldest’s name, John Patrick. With John we wanted Irish saint and a new testament name. It was slightly easier with him because his great grandpa is also John.

After several discussions about the pronunciation of Kieran, we landed on Declan James. He narrowly missed the opportunity to be named James Finbar, as St. Finbar’s feast day is September 25th and my husband’s patron. Declan was born on the 28th and is 7.06 pounds and 21 inches long.”

What an amazing set of brothers!! I absolutely LOVE John Patrick and Declan James together!!

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Declan!!

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Declan James

Birth announcement: Elizabeth Margaret!

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Amanda’s consultation was the one that posted this past Monday, and in light of my little niece’s birth announcement from this morning (Margaret Elizabeth), it seems very appropriate to post the birth announcement for Amanda’s little green bean 🌱 — a little girl who’s been given the gorgeous name … Elizabeth Margaret!

Amanda writes,

“Elizabeth Margaret was born at 10pm MST, Sept. 19th.  I couldn’t convince my husband to change Margaret to a first name, and he wanted to use it now.  He also wouldn’t agree with using a variation of it.

Thank you for your help in naming her!  While I was in labour, we were still talking about boy names.  My husband mentioned Nicholas, and though I have a sister name Nicole, it was growing on me throughout labour.  We’ll definitely have to keep it on our list for the next baby!“

It’s such a wonderful combo!! Margaret was Amanda’s husband’s paternal grandmother’s name, and it’s so lovely with Elizabeth — royal, really!  This wee lady joins big sibs:

Olivia Rita
Zachary Claude

I love Elizabeth as a sister to Olivia and Zachary! Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Elizabeth!!

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Elizabeth Margaret

Birth announcement: Margaret Elizabeth!

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You all know about my sister-in-law, mom of Owen who was grandchild No. 10 for my parents — and grandSON No. 10! We have been a boy-only family since my oldest was born twelve years ago (today)!

Until … last month! I have the very great pleasure of announcing the birth of the very first granddaughter in my family, born to my other brother and his lovely wife. They have given her the beautiful, meaningful name … Margaret Elizabeth!

Margaret is my SIL’s mom’s and grandmother’s name, full of meaning for her. Elizabeth, though, is a funny story — originally they’d talked about using my SIL’s mom’s maiden name, which was also my SIL’s middle name before she got married, but then their oldest son Matthew (who’s 5) was *sure* the baby was a girl (they didn’t find out gender) and that her name was Elizabeth! His best friend Elizabeth had moved away last year, which may be where his inspiration came from, and when Margaret — Maggie ☺– was born, they decided to use Elizabeth as a nod to her big brother who came up with the idea, and her other big brother Benjamin (who just turned 3) who no doubt went along with his brother’s grand plan. 🙂

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday to my beautiful niece (I still get swoony over being able to say “niece”!), Baby Maggie!!

❤ Margaret Elizabeth (Maggie) and her big brothers ❤

 

Birth announcement: Annunziata Graziella!

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Can you believe it? THREE birth announcements in one day?! (I have a bunch more to post Friday as well! Woo!)

A mama I did a private consultation for has let me know that her little girl has arrived and been given the ah-MAZ-ing name … Annunziata Graziella!

She writes,

“The day finally arrived! Our sweet little baby girl finally arrived Saturday Sept 17 at 3:14!

She was definitely harder to name than the boys just because we had so many beautiful choices! We decided to name her Annunziata Graziella.

I fell in love with Annunziata the first time I saw it. The idea of her name meaning the Annunciation really struck me and I just kept going back to it. Plus Nunzia! I found it so fitting. It just really seem to fit her 🙂

Graziella just seemed like the perfect companion for her first name. My husband told me that in Italian families Annunziata is especially popular when the families have had 6 or 7 girls they name the last girl Annunziata so the next “Annunciation”baby will be a boy. I thought that was really cool.

Also! My grandmother’s name was Anna and my great grandmother on my father’s side was Grace so it was great to incorporate them in a way as well!“

I’m just dying over Annunziata and Nunzia!! And you know that I don’t mind one little bit if my ideas are used or not — my only hope is to support parents in naming their babies, whether that means offering ideas or encouraging them in their own ideas — but it’s a special kind of thrilling when an idea of mine ends up being *the one* — so it was with Annunziata/Nunzia! I’m so excited! 😍😍😍

This lovely little lady joins big brothers:

Francesco Totti (called Frankie)
Marco Romolo

Such a wonderful bunch of Italian names! I love them all!

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Annunziata!!

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Annunziata Graziella

Birth announcement: Joseph Benedict!

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A mama I did a private consultation for has let me know her little green bean 🌱 has arrived — a boy! And he’s been given the so-handsome name … Joseph Benedict!

She writes,

“Just thought I’d let you know we had our baby and love his name!! We had narrowed it down to Edmond (Eddie) but the morning before he was born it didn’t feel right. I told my husband I really felt like if this was a boy we should go with Joseph (even though it’s a nephew of ours, but he is 22 so now we have big joe & little joe) my hubby said “let’s flip through my phone calendar and I’ll stop it on a random date and we will go with that feast day.” I was 17 hours into labor so I agreed…… What do you know he landed on March 19! I laughed cause he didn’t know that was Feast of St Joseph!!! So after 26 hours of crazy back labor Joseph Benedict joined our family!! Thank you for your help and input!!“

Can you beLIEVE that story about flipping through the calendar and randomly stopping on the feast of St. Joseph?? So so amazing!! I totally had goosebumps when I read that! And I love love the combo Joseph Benedict, so great.

This little man joins big sibs:

Zelie Anna
George Patrick (Georgie)
Timothy Michael (Timmy)
Martin Gerard (Marty)

I just love this family’s names! And the boys — I can totally see Georgie, Timmy, Marty, and Joey getting into all kinds of boyish trouble! 😀 (In a good way I mean, it’s just such an awesome bunch of names for a bunch of brothers!)

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Joseph!!

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Joseph Benedict