The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-08-17
GIVING THE BABY THE RIGHT
NAME.

priest, as a representative of the
Church, solemnly confers it on the
child with the first question he adj
dresses: N, what dost thou ask Of
the Church of GOd?'
The choosing of a childs name is
important. Father and mother spend
much time and thought at it. Friends
and relatives offer many suggestions
and explanations. No name appar-
entity seems to express their hearts
desire, nor their fondest hope. None
measures up to the darling babe. They
would like to combine the legends OF
the early Christians with the poetical
of Indian names and the philosophical
of Orientals. But in being too par
ticular about it, the final choice is
apt to be too peculiar. The best way
out is TO select a plain name that puts
us in mind of Jesus Christ, His
Blessed Mother, the Saints, or the
Angels. All else matters little.
In the early days Of the Church"
Bishop Stang once wrote, converts to
the true faith dropped their pagan
names, which were often the names of
false deities, and took names from the
Old Testament Very soon baptismal
names were chosen from Christian
heroes, especially from the list of
glorious martyrs. This grew into a
custom which finally became law
among Christians
The individual thus baptized is
placed under the protection of d saint
or angel who is to serve him as
model. Socrates of old used to advise
parents to give the names of virtuous
persons to their children in order to
encourage them to initiate their eX-
ample. Alexander the Great used to
say to soldiers who had the same name
as himself Either take another
name, or see that you do credit to
mine
Noblesse oblige. Christians there
fore should so behave as to deserve
we'll of the saint whose hallowed name
they are privileged to bear. They
Catholic Belgium, they should cele-
brate the feast of their patron saint
rather than their own birthday. This
is but another way to put into prac-
tice our belief in the Communion of
Saints. And as heaven is blessed with
"a great multitude, which no man can
number, of all the nations, and tribes,
and peoples, and tongues, standing be-
fore the throne, and in sight of the
Lamb, clothed with white robes, and
palms in their hands" it is advisable
to multiply baptismal names and
thereby propagate devotion to the diff
ferent saints st John ChrysOstom,
therefore, censured the custom of Civ
ing the child the name Of his grand
father or great-grand father, and thus
remaining in a narrow circle"
With greater reason should we dis
courage the practice of calling the
oldest boy after his father, viz, John
d., Jr
The Shakespeare of the Neither
lands, Joost Van den VOndel, speaking
by sad experience, likewise admon-
ished against such practice, because
it frequently leads to confusion and
because the Ndiscredit of the junior is
often laid on the shoulders of the
senior, and sometimes vice versa.
This brings to mind the naming OF
John the Baptist, as told in st. Luke's
Gospel: And it came to pass, that
on the eighth day they came to cir
cumcise the child, and they called him
by his fathers name, Zachary. And
his mother, answering, said Not so
but he shall be called John. And
they said to her: There is none OF
thy kindred that is called by this
name And they made signs to his
father how he would have him called
And demanding a writing tablet, he
wrote, saying: John is his name, and
they all wondered"
Some mothers in their little pride
and vanity persist in calling a chic
after their own maiden name Chris
tian mothers should wait for that
honor until they have been canonized
The custom of giving more thar
one name, which exists in some coun
tries, dates from the fourteenth cen
fury; it is not deserving of praise
Strange, the longer the list of names
given at christening, the fewer vii
be used in daily life. An American
boy will do well if he initiates one
patron saint. Instead of giving {
whole litany of names, it would eXpe
dite matters by calling that child
"Tous-saints, "Allsaints" or "Allhal
lows" and he will surely begin the
yearly celebration of his patrons OF
Halloween. Bishop Stang advise.
wisely and we'll: "One baptisma
name with another added in Confirm
alton, should suffice any young either
in democratic country like Amer
lea
Of course, it stands to reason tina
no name should be given of notorious
infidels, unbelievers or renegades
Likewise names which SAVIOR of pro
family or impiety should be omitted
as we'll as names that are ridiculous
funny or foolish. Life in this vale!
of tears is unpleasant enough withou
such names. AS regards nicknames
''let them not so much as be named
among you as becometh saints.
Even most of the pet names coulc