Powerful patrons

Birth announcement: Marielle Elise!

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Do you all remember the spotlight post on Ruby? Julie had asked for it, since she and her husband were considering it for their second baby girl — she emailed me to let me know her little one has arrived, and has been given the gorgeous name … Marielle Elise!

Julie writes,

“Hi Kate!

I am the reader that had requested the spotlight on Ruby. You asked if I would share our final choice, and I would love to! We didn’t end up choosing Ruby for the birth certificate, but this little girl came out with bright strawberry blonde hair so it has been floating around as a nickname. 🙂 I tend to be very “nick-namey” so she also goes by Mellie, Ellie, Elle, and Mari-Berrie … Marielle Elise was born in early February! (Pronounced Mary-El)

Our older daughter is Rosalie Gabrielle so you can tell that we gravitate toward French monikers. We liked the idea of both girls having connections to our Blessed Mother via at least one name. Then it happens that my favorite mysteries of the Rosary are the joyful, so their middle names tie into people present at the Annunciation and the Visitation. Both full names have numerous family connections as well.

I have suffered medical complications since her birth so I would appreciate any spare prayers you might have. Thank you and thank you for your blog. Keep writing!“

You all are such great prayer warriors, I know you’ll remember Julie in your prayers. And how wonderful are her girls’ names?! I love that both have a Marian name and a Joyful Mystery name — that’s pretty Master Class naming right there! And I love that Ruby’s still possibly a contender as a nickname — I love that, in Marielle’s case, it would be for her hair, how lovely!

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Marielle!! (And remember Julie in your prayers!)

marielle_elise

Marielle Elise

(Can you believe that sweet smiley face on such a tiny girl? ❤ )

 

Spotlight on: Ludmila

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Grandparents — especially grandmothers — have been on my mind this week. Feb. 20 marked the 17th anniversary of my paternal grandmother’s death; Feb. 23 was the 25th anniversary of my maternal grandmother’s; and my mother-in-law — my boys’ grandmother — is rapidly being called home, it won’t be long. Please pray for her and for our family.

In light of all this, today’s spotlight is perfect. Months ago Amanda emailed me this image from the Magnificat:

ludmila

And said,

“I love the story! It seems like more and more of these parent/grandparent saint stories are emerging lately, which makes perfect sense. The saints had to learn from someone!“

And I was so struck by that thought — the impact of grandparents on the faith of their grandchildren — that it’s stayed with me all this time. My boys have been very very blessed to have two grandmothers who have contributed in immense ways to their faith formation, as well as a living grandfather (my dad) who’s a great model of Catholic manhood, and a grandfather in heaven (my father-in-law) who I know has been praying for all of us, and who himself was also a great model of Catholic manhood. And of course we can’t forget our dear St. Anne, Grandmother to the Divine, who holds the Sancta Nomina community close.

But — as much as I’m loving the story of St. Ludmila — that name! Oof! So what can we make of Ludmila. I think the secret lies in the second part of her name: Mila’s got a totally current look and sound, and according to behindthename the -mila element of Ludmila means “gracious, dear.” How lovely! Another spelling is Ludmilla, so –> Milla, a la actress Milla Jovovich, whose given name is actually Milica (said MEE-lee-tsah), from the same element that renders -mila in Ludmila; behindthename says Milica was “originally a diminutive of names that began with that element.” Lida is also given as the Czech diminutive of Ludmila, and the comments on behindthename’s entry for Ludmila list Luda, Lulu, Lidka, and Lila as nicknames for it (among other more ethnic options) — Lulu and Lila seem particularly suited to today’s tastes. The DMNES has an entry for Luda, which is from the same word as the Lud- part of Ludmila, and says that Luda can be a pet form of any Slavic name beginning with that element. Could be cute?

I’m also tagging this as a possible Christmas name, since St. Ludmila’s grandson Vaclav/Wenceslaus, who she had so much influence over in terms of teaching the faith, is the King Wenceslaus from the carol “Good King Wenceslaus.” Cool, right?

What do you all think of Ludmila? Would you consider using it as either a first or a middle? Or would Mila/Milla/Lulu/Lila/Luda be more the way you’d go, if you wanted to name a little girl after this saint? Do you know anyone with this name? What do they think of it? Do they go by a nickname?

“Father in heaven, through the intercession of St. Ludmila, bless all grandparents who seek to share the faith with their grandchildren.” ❤

 

Birth announcement: Elias Pier Giorgio!

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A mama I did a private consultation for has let me know her seventh baby has arrived — the handsomely named Elias Pier Giorgio!

She writes,

“Announcing the birth of Elias Pier Giorgio, born February 1, at 10:28, in Regina, Saskatchewan, weighing 7 lbs 8 oz.

I think that the Marian connection to Elias, that you made for us, gave the name meaning to my husband and he chose my favourite as a first name. I let my husband choose the middle names and decided it was nice to honour the Saint with both names. Perhaps he was teasing me, for nine months, with Septimus….

The older kids are loving this new brother soooo much. He has barely been set down since the moment he came home.

Thanks for all your suggestions. We all had fun (including aunties and grandma) contemplating these name ideas along with our other ideas.”

I love this little baby’s name!! So handsome and significant!!

His older siblings have equally amazing names:

Connor Kenneth Joseph
Christian Michael David
Mattea Gabriella Grace
Tomas Micah Joseph
Emmett Maximillian Sheen
Magnus John Paul

What a family! I’ve been kind of swoony lately over two middle names — you’re able to fit in so much that way! Beautiful beautiful names.

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday baby Elias!!

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Elias Pier Giorgio

Spotlight on: Philomena

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This was yet another reader request, and I’m really glad for it, because Philomena’s kind of a funny duck.

On the one hand, there aren’t a whole lot of names that are exclusively Catholic. I mean, I claim lots of names as ours, for impeccable Catholicky Catholic reasons, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the world agrees. But when it comes to Philomena, I think the whole world *does* agree: it’s Catholic. Catholicky Catholic. Oozing Catholic cachet. Do you agree?

The funny part is, though St. Philomena is the source of our love and devotion for this most Catholic of names, she’s no longer on the liturgical calendar, having been removed in 1961 at the directive of Pope Paul VI because of lack of historical evidence.

Is this news to any of you? Because it was to me when I first found out from the mama of this consultation a year ago. Up until I then, I was blissfully ignorant, and from what I can tell, much (most?) of the Catholic world is as well.

So this is the story, according to this site: In 1802 a tomb was discovered with an inscription that could say “Pax Tecum Filumena” if the words were reorganized, and inside was the skeleton of a 14-year-old girl and a vial of her dried blood. Then:

philomena

I don’t think “since the 1960’s, she has been almost forgotten” is totally accurate, both because I know there are people still bestowing her name on their children, and because of the laity perhaps not being totally clear on what exactly the Church was saying.

From what I can tell, the Church isn’t saying she’s not a saint. This article made a good argument (though based on research that the author doesn’t link to so I can’t verify):

“Now, a question that must be addressed in this essay is what the Sacred Congregation of Rites said in regard to Saint Philomena. They removed the feast of Saint Philomena from the calendar based on the lack of historical evidence for her existence. It is very important to note at this point that the Congregation of Rites did not have any ecclesiastical power of any kind. It was only a “liturgical directive”. This directive however left many people confused, and rightfully so. In fact, it left bishops concerned too. Bishop Sebastião Fernandes of Mysore, India, whose cathedral was consecrated in Philomena’s honor, sent a letter to Pope Paul VI in 1964. This correspondence was sent to Mugnano by Bishop Fernandes as follows:

“What must I do for the people in my diocese who are greatly troubled by the decree of the Sacred Congregation regarding St. Philomena?” Paul VI responded, “Do not let it disturb you and do not disturb your people; let devotion to St. Philomena continue as before” (proseguiva come prima)[vi].

These words should be a comfort to those who have faith in the intercession of Saint Philomena, and reinforce the notion that devotion to her has never been officially abolished or suppressed.”

I love what now Bl. Paul VI’s response was! I also love this from that same site:

“We have the bones of a young girl, we have a grave that shows the marks of martyrdom, and we have more approved miracles coming from the intercession of this saint than most canonized saints of our times. What does it matter if her original name was Philomena or not? Does it matter whether or not we have no historical documents to prove her existence? No! We have papal approval, and we have miracles. The only way to deny the existence of Saint Philomena is to deny that the miracles which catapulted her to public veneration just 35 years after her buiral discovery in Rome. I assure you, venerating Saint Philomena will be most providential for your soul, for she is powerful with God. Saint Philomena, pray for us! For the glory of God, and the salvation of souls, Amen.”

I like how he says, “What does it matter if her original name was Philomena or not?” I’ve often had the same thought about Sts. Joachim and Anne — we get their names from the Protoevangelium of James, which is not canonical, so there’s a chance those aren’t the names of Mary’s parents, but so what? If they’re not, we have no others to put in their place, and Mary DID have parents, so why not remember them as Joachim and Anne? When we think of their names, we’re thinking of them, you know? This site gives some more really good info, including:

“[To St. Pio] St. Philomena was the “Princess of Heaven”. After the liturgical reform of 1961, Father Pio used to imperatively reply to whoever dared to doubt the existence of the Saint: “for the love of God! It might well be that her name is not Philomena, but this Saint has performed many miracles and it is not the name that did them.” This is the wisest reply: who wants to understand, will understand!“

Speaking of whether Philomena was actually the girl’s name or not, the name itself has a beautiful meaning. The site I just cited says, “The name Philomena (fee-lo-MAY-nah) is of Latin origin. The inscription on the original loculus tiles, is Filumena. The word filia is Latin for daughter. The word, lumena, is Latin for, light, lamp, lantern; light of day; the eye; clearness; understanding,” while Behind the Name says, “From Greek φιλος (philos) “friend, lover” and μενος (menos) “mind, purpose, strength, courage” … [Filumena] may have in fact been a representation of the Greek word φιλομηνη (philomene) meaning “loved”.” So whichever of those is correct, they’re all beautiful meanings for a little girl and easily full of faith significance if you so desire.

St. Philomena certainly has a history of love in the Church, by Popes and Saints even, and with the name having the Catholic cachet it has, I still think it’s definitely a beautiful name for a Catholic family to consider. Do you agree?

There are the spellings Philomena (English, German, Greek) and Filomena (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch), and I myself go back and forth as to which spelling I prefer. There are also loads of nickname options, which I’ve mentioned before: Fia, Fila, Fina, Finn, Finna, Lola, Mena, Minnie, Pia, Pim, Pina, and Pippa. Each one so darling!

I’d love to know you what you all know about St. Philomena! Especially if you have any further light to shine on the subject from sources that aren’t critical of various Popes and the Church (I found too many of those when I was doing this research).

And tell me also your thoughts on the name — would you/have you considered Ph/Filomena for a daughter? Which spelling do you prefer? Do you know any Philomenas? Do they like their name? Do they go by a nickname?

Birth announcement: Reuben Dominic!

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Our wonderful, loyal reader eclare, also known as Emma in real life, has had her fifth baby—her fifth boy!!

She writes,

“We have good news to share! Our baby was born this past week!

Reuben Dominic T________
Born January 14th, 9:51 pm
8 lbs 10 oz, 21.75 in. long
Our 5th son, and our 3rd birth at St Isidore Acres 

We have always loved the name Reuben, and nearly used it previously for middle names, but each time decided to save it for a first name. This pregnancy we discovered that it fittingly means, “Behold, a Son!” (As if we were surprised to produce a 5th male heir, ha!)

Dominic means “Blessed by the Lord,” so Reuben Dominic’s name altogether means, “Behold, a Son Who is Blessed by the Lord.”

Another amazing name connection that we discovered during Reuben’s pregnancy, is that my namesake Great-Great Grandma Emma had a son Reuben. So we are the 2nd Emma-Reuben mother-son pair in the family tree! And I just got an email from my genealogist aunt who discovered at least 3 Reubens in my mom’s family tree 200 yrs ago… so it’s actually on both sides of my family– so cool.”

Soooo wonderful!!!! If all that wasn’t amazing enough, she and I emailed a bit more and she shared this as well:

“First of all, I am still so excited about our mini-consultation that determined that I could use Ione to honor my grandma Joan… except we had a boy!

Secondly, we go back and forth about considering the Patriarchs to be patron saints, so we are always happy to discover a canonized/beatified person who also bears the name (St Abel the Abbot, for our Abel, and now Blessed Reuben of Jesus, for Reuben).
The discovery of Blssd Reuben was doubly interesting, because he was martyred with another priest, Blessed Arthur (not Blessed Arthur Bell of England, our Arthur’s patron, but another one)! A cool link between our youngest two sons.

Thirdly, for some reason this middle name was the hardest for me. Suddenly the two-syllable accent-on-the-first pair sounded all wrong, despite choosing that pattern for all our other sons. For example, Reuben Michael just sounded wrong. I wanted something more the pattern of Reuben Alexander (except I don’t even like Alexander, and the initials would be unpleasant). I was willing to live with the two-syllable pair if the middle was something more unusual, like Reuben Oscar… but that had the unpleasant initials problem as well. So Reuben Dominic was really an answered prayer!

Finally, perhaps the most nerdy connection I am excited about: his two patrons have back-to-back feast days! St Dominic on August 8, Blssd Reuben on Aug 9. (And then my own birthday on Aug 10– 8-10, which was also his birth weight– followed by my patroness, St Clare, on 8-11). Connections, connections!”

But wait, there’s more!

“I’ve always loved the nickname Ben, but have never liked Benjamin. When I first heard of Bennett/Ben I swooned… but then it was very clear that we were supposed to use it as [one of the older boys’] middle name. So I gave up on ever having a Ben… until it occurred to us that Ben could be a nn for Reuben! Only half our boys use nicknames, so not sure if we will use it, but it’s nice to have the option.

The other thing is that we were calling our naming theme “old German farmer” until #4, which sort of still fits, but also gives us a 2nd category “British gent” (#3 and #4). Also, the boys each have a family name and/or part of their godfather’s name, plus their patron is a martyr. But Reuben actually fits in every one of these categories!”

And finally, two things which I’m so delighted by:

“You are the one who convinced me that a blondie can wear the name Dominic … and of course he comes out with dark hair!” and, as Emma wrote in a comment on my Ruby spotlight the day I posted it, “Kate, you and the Holy Spirit did it again: a post on Ruby/Reuben on the very day we named our son Reuben. Amazing!“

I know you’re all loving this info like I did when I first read it! So I know you’re all dying to know the big brothers’ names, and I’m so excited Emma agreed to share them with you all—I’ve loved them ever since she told me about them! (Alt characters used for privacy.)

M@rk 1sidore
Ab3l Benne++
$imon-Pe+er C1ement
Ar+hur 3dmund

Amazing, right? Such great taste!!

Congratulations to Emma and Donal and their four big boys, and happy birthday Baby Reuben!!

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Reuben Dominic

Spotlight on: Joan

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One of you recently requested a spotlight on Joan and I’d been thinking about it and looking up bits and pieces here and there and then I read this on the DMNES blog:

“Joan: Many people may not realize that this is in fact a Biblical name, the name of a woman healed by Jesus and who later accompanied him as a disciple. She was later venerated as a saint, but it was the use of this name by many medieval queens, in addition to the “Maid of Orleans”, Joan of Arc, that helped the name maintain its place as one of the most popular women’s names throughout history.” (emphasis mine)

And knew it was time for the spotlight. 🙂

So Joan is a feminine form of John, which is a great way to start — any of the Sts. John could be honored with a little Joan. But there are loads of amazing Joans (in various forms — I’ll get to that in a minute) that are great patrons for a little girl.

First off, the biblical Joan mentioned above is, I believe, the woman whose name is usually given as Joanna; she’s mentioned briefly in Luke 8:3 as one of the women who accompanied Jesus as He “went on through cities and villages, preaching bringing the good news of the kingdom of God” (Lk 8:1):

“And the Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.” (Lk 8:1-3)

The footnote in my Bible (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, Second Edition RSV) is particularly awesome regarding those verses (Lk 8:1-3):

“Jesus’ urgent mission left no time for him and the disciples to settle into a trade. Several women thus accompanied them to offer provisions and financial assistance. This challenged Jewish custom, which discouraged men from associating with women in public (Jn 4:27).”

(That reference to Jn 4:27 is this: “Just then his disciples came. They marveled that he was talking with a woman …”) (The woman was the Samaritan woman; interesting that they marveled that He was talking with a woman, rather than with a Samaritan.)

Then of course there’s St. Joan of Arc — a totally awesome warrior woman! She’s also known as Jean/Jeanne/Jehanne.  A personal favorite of mine is the mother of St. Dominic, known variously as Bl. Joan/Jane/Joanna/Juana of Aza. There are a whole bunch of others (lots of Sts. John included in that list as well).

Speaking of variants, these are all listed in the DMNES entry on Joan — they all had medieval use (I’m not listing all the variants — there are tons! But these were either my favorites or the ones I was most surprised by):

Genne, Genet
Ione
Jana
Jane, Jayn, Jayne, Jeyne, Jaen, Jaine
Janet
Janne
Jean, Jeanne, Geane
Jehanne, Jehenne, Jehanette
Jenna
Jenne
Joana, Joanna, Johanna
Joane, Jone
Johanetta
Jonet
Juana, Juanita
Vana
Vannella
Zoana, Zoanna

Awesome list, right? So many great ways to honor a Joan! Re: Ione, I’d recently come across this book, which lists several places in literature (like Shakespeare) where Ione was used interchangeably with Joan (read the bottom of p. 156 and top of p. 157 — the link takes you right to it).

As for Joan itself, I’ve always thought the nickname Joanie is sweet, and Jo/Joey could also work; I’ve also seen Nonie. In this case, of course, the nicknames would be more affectionate or spunky rather than true diminutives or need for something shorter — you can’t get much shorter than the one-syllable Joan! There are a million nicknames for its variants too (Jane et al.), but I won’t get into them here.

What do you all think of Joan? Would you consider it for your daughter, or have you? Do you prefer one of its variants? Do you know any Joans (big or little), and if so, what do they think of their name? Do they go by nicknames?

Birth announcement: Edmund Terence Emmanuel!

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It’s a two-birth-announcement day!! Wooo!! 😀

A mama I did a private consultation for not too long ago let me know her baby boy has arrived, and she and her husband gave him the incredible name … Edmund Terence Emmanuel!

She writes,

“I’ve been meaning to write and tell you about our finally born and named little Christmas present!

Edmund Terence Emmanuel was born on December 27 – a week late!

We didn’t finally agree on our boy name until Christmas Day, so I guess it was good he was so late.  And I honestly thought he was a girl, so I didn’t think we would be using the boy name!

So, here are the details on his name:

Edmund has practically always been on my boy name list, since I began to love St. Edmund Campion when I read Evelyn Waugh’s biography back in middle school.

Since my husband finally agreed to Edmund, I let him pick whatever he wanted for a middle name, and he ended up with the uncommon name Terence, since it had been used in his family.

Then we both felt that since our son Peter’s full name is so long it would make sense to give another boy at least one more name, plus you know I really wanted that Christmas connection.  Emmanuel was not really being considered before, but it just fit in perfectly, and it gives Edmund the same number of syllables in his full name as Peter has.  And of course, it’s about as Christmas-y a name as you can get!

And you might have noticed that we now have an Edmund and a Peter!  More people than I expected have noticed the Narnia connection!  And we now have two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve too. 😉

In the end, his name was a compromise, but it continues to grow on me as I fall in love with my sweet baby boy.  I call him Edmund, but my husband and kids have been saying Eddie a lot, which is sweet too.”

How amazingly handsome is that name?? I LOVE Emmanuel for a Christmas baby, and I LOVE the Narnia connection! Two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve! 😀 And St. Edmund Campion. I mean, really. So great.

I also love (LOVE) how she says, “his name was a compromise, but it continues to grow on me as I fall in love with my sweet baby boy.” I’ve experienced that myself, and I’m sure you have too — it gives good hope that whatever name your give your sweet wee one will likely quickly become a favorite, even if it started as a compromise.

Little Edmund joins big sibs:

Grace Elizabeth
Helen Ann
Michael Eugene Gerard Peter, Jr. (“This mouthful of a name is the same as my husband; he very much wanted a junior. But my husband goes by Michael, and our son goes by Peter“)

Such wonderful names! I also love how they worked with Dad’s desire for a junior, but Dad and Son go by different names. I also love that new baby Edmund’s name matches his big brother’s in number of syllables — Master Class naming!

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

Edmund Terence Emmanuel and his big sisters and brother

Birth announcement: Kyteria Quinn!

sanctanomina Birth announcement ,

I posted a consultation for Shannon from Organic Mama’s Shop back in March, and I’ve actually referred to it quite a bit in my own research for other families as it was the first time I’d heard about Ven. Edel Quinn, and the info I found about her and her name that I put in Shannon’s post has been so helpful for me and for others.

I recently connected with Shannon, and she told me that her baby was born April 11, and they named her … Kyteria Quinn!

Shannon writes,

“My husband googled ‘bad ass Saint’ and found St. Quiteria! (Cool story, truly bad ass!) We went with the more ancient spelling of the name so that there wouldn’t be 2 Qs 😉 “

How cool is that?? I’m particularly impressed because Katrina and Kateri were both on their list, and Kyteria is pretty similar in appearance and sound, but totally different and unique at the same time. Also, once again, thanks to Shannon and her baby naming, I’ve learned about a new holy lady: St. Quiteria.

Congratulations to Shannon and her husband Zach and older sibs Trinity, Isabelle, Veronica, Gabriel, and Seraphina, and happy birthday Baby Kyteria!!

kyteria_quinn

Kyteria Quinn

Because you’re all such great prayer warriors

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Our friend Tommy Tighe, “The Catholic Hipster,” and his wife have shared sad news on Twitter (read up from the bottom):

tommy_tighe_baby-01.20.16

Please pray for Tommy and Karen and their other children, seeking intercession from Bl. James Alberione. ❤

Birth announcement: Beatrice Catherine!

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I did a consultation for Liz and Kevin not too long ago, which would have been a public post if the baby had come a little late, but instead she came a little early! Liz emailed me today to let me know her baby girl has arrived, and she’s been given the gorgeous name … Beatrice Catherine!

Liz writes,

“She’s here! Based on all your suggestions and inspiration, we went with a name that  kind of found us!

Beatrice Catherine was born Jan. 14, 2016 at 6:16pm (8 days early!!!)
7 lbs. 1 oz, 19 in. long!

Her middle name is the namesake of her maternal grandmother, and her first name of course to honor the Saint of the same name and is inspired by the character, Beatrice, in Dante’s Paradiso, part of the Divine Comedy. Beatrice shows Dante heaven 🙂 The name also means ‘bringer of joy’ and with the 2015 we had last year, she truly has brought so much joy to us!!

Thank you so much for everything you do, you helped us so much!!“

Isn’t that just an amazing name?? I see Beatrice talked about, but I rarely see it chosen — I love seeing it! Beatrice joins big sisters:

Ava Elizabeth
Gwendolyn Marie

I just love this sister set! Ava, Gwendolyn, and Beatrice … *sigh* !!

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

beatrice_catherine

Beatrice Catherine

and her amazing-looking can’t-possibly-have-just-given-birth mama (!)