Name Days are those days a baptized Catholic celebrates in honor of their patron Saint's feast day. When a child is born it is the duty of the Catholic parents to give them a Catholic saints name, according to the 1917 code of Cannon Law. When a child is named after a saint he/she is given an holy example to follow for all of their life, they are given a guide and someone to protect them and watch over them. Some holy person that they may look up to and have as a special friend. As a child is growing up they should be taught about their patron saint, about what made them holy and about how the child can follow their patron saint's example.
Name Days are a great way to instill the love of one's patron saint, and not just in children but in adults as well. The Name Day is celebrated on the particular Saint's Feast Day. As an example, in our home, we just celebrated the Feast of St. Linus on September 23rd. It is one of our children's patron Saints, another is the Feast of Saint Patrick. We will also be celebrating the Feasts of St. Paul, St. Anne and St. Faith as they come around.
Some families celebrate their Name Days -Patron St. Days in place of birthday's as it focuses more on our heavenly home than on the individual's day of birth. Along with Name Days some also celebrate their Baptismal Days as well as it is the day that we are made a Child of God and a special day to remember.
How to celebrate Name Days:
There are many different ways to celebrate one's name day. One source suggests treating it like a birthday but focused on the Patron Saint and taking that opportunity to learn about what made the Saint Holy, reading about the Saint and if the Saint is part of the cannon of the mass to read those prayers that go with it.
When we celebrate any feast in our house including that of one's Patron Saint we sort of follow the same form. We look for foods that have to do with that saint; such as for St. Patrick's day we have a traditional Irish dish for dinner and Irish dessert, we have shamrock shaped food and use a lot of green in our cooking. We look for a way to teach about God and His Holy Church; For the feast of St. Linus this meant teaching about the pope's as he was the 2nd Pope, the successor to St. Peter. We taught about the institution of women wearing veils in church as St. Linus was the Pope that instituted that. We talk about martyrdom and how it is a holy death when we die for the love of Christ.We use Christian Symbols; For St. Patrick it is the 3 leaf clover that tells us about the Holy Trinity for Pope St. Linus the miter (represented the shepherd of Christ's flock), red for martyrdom, the ancient symbol of the fish for Christ and so on. We look for craft activities or games that will give a real life and hands on experience for the children to remember the lesson about God we are trying to instill in their hearts. We decorate our altar with the Saint's picture, some flowers that symbolize their life on earth or their virtues, perhaps play a song that reminds us of that time. If the child's patron Saint is Mary or a form of Mary there are many Marian songs that can be played. Perhaps a history lesson of the church is given at this time to put us in the state of mind of that period. There are a few good picture books that may be used depending on which Patron Saint is being celebrated.
The Von Trapp family celebrated their Patron Saint's in there home, I wanted to share what Maria Von Trapp had to say about the topic:
Around the Year with the Von Trapp Family
The Feast of the Patron Saint
"Another feast day has fallen more and more into oblivion, and that is the celebration of the feast of our patron saints, in other words, our feast days. Alas, instead of choosing the names of the saints which are given to us by the Church as our patrons, as our big brothers and sisters, our protectors and intercessors - more and more people choose names of their own invention which have no relationship to Christianity. I know of one young mother who called her little daughter in honor of her own alma mater, "University of Texas"; I know another family who gave one of their boys the name of the place where they had a summer cabin; and a third one of our acquaintances called their little child, hoping it would make her a musician, "Melody."
This is a good moment for us parents to make an examination of conscience - by what principles do we choose the names of our children? Do we think of the aint, or do we think of the sound of the name, or are we persuaded by the fact that the godfather or the godmother might be offended if we didn't choose his or her name, although we really don't care much for it? It is a heavy responsibility to choose one of the greatest spiritual beings for the guidance and protection of our children.
The day of the patron saint is celebrated on somewhat smaller scale than a birthday. The gifts have some relation to the patron saint - books, pictures, legends pertaining to him are collected throughout the years. Again the feast-day child has his own say about the evening's program."
Do you celebrate Name Days already? Share a link with us for other's too see what celebrations look like! Here is also a link for more info on celebrating Name Days.
Name Days are a great way to instill the love of one's patron saint, and not just in children but in adults as well. The Name Day is celebrated on the particular Saint's Feast Day. As an example, in our home, we just celebrated the Feast of St. Linus on September 23rd. It is one of our children's patron Saints, another is the Feast of Saint Patrick. We will also be celebrating the Feasts of St. Paul, St. Anne and St. Faith as they come around.
Some families celebrate their Name Days -Patron St. Days in place of birthday's as it focuses more on our heavenly home than on the individual's day of birth. Along with Name Days some also celebrate their Baptismal Days as well as it is the day that we are made a Child of God and a special day to remember.
How to celebrate Name Days:
There are many different ways to celebrate one's name day. One source suggests treating it like a birthday but focused on the Patron Saint and taking that opportunity to learn about what made the Saint Holy, reading about the Saint and if the Saint is part of the cannon of the mass to read those prayers that go with it.
When we celebrate any feast in our house including that of one's Patron Saint we sort of follow the same form. We look for foods that have to do with that saint; such as for St. Patrick's day we have a traditional Irish dish for dinner and Irish dessert, we have shamrock shaped food and use a lot of green in our cooking. We look for a way to teach about God and His Holy Church; For the feast of St. Linus this meant teaching about the pope's as he was the 2nd Pope, the successor to St. Peter. We taught about the institution of women wearing veils in church as St. Linus was the Pope that instituted that. We talk about martyrdom and how it is a holy death when we die for the love of Christ.We use Christian Symbols; For St. Patrick it is the 3 leaf clover that tells us about the Holy Trinity for Pope St. Linus the miter (represented the shepherd of Christ's flock), red for martyrdom, the ancient symbol of the fish for Christ and so on. We look for craft activities or games that will give a real life and hands on experience for the children to remember the lesson about God we are trying to instill in their hearts. We decorate our altar with the Saint's picture, some flowers that symbolize their life on earth or their virtues, perhaps play a song that reminds us of that time. If the child's patron Saint is Mary or a form of Mary there are many Marian songs that can be played. Perhaps a history lesson of the church is given at this time to put us in the state of mind of that period. There are a few good picture books that may be used depending on which Patron Saint is being celebrated.
The Von Trapp family celebrated their Patron Saint's in there home, I wanted to share what Maria Von Trapp had to say about the topic:
Around the Year with the Von Trapp Family
The Feast of the Patron Saint
"Another feast day has fallen more and more into oblivion, and that is the celebration of the feast of our patron saints, in other words, our feast days. Alas, instead of choosing the names of the saints which are given to us by the Church as our patrons, as our big brothers and sisters, our protectors and intercessors - more and more people choose names of their own invention which have no relationship to Christianity. I know of one young mother who called her little daughter in honor of her own alma mater, "University of Texas"; I know another family who gave one of their boys the name of the place where they had a summer cabin; and a third one of our acquaintances called their little child, hoping it would make her a musician, "Melody."
This is a good moment for us parents to make an examination of conscience - by what principles do we choose the names of our children? Do we think of the aint, or do we think of the sound of the name, or are we persuaded by the fact that the godfather or the godmother might be offended if we didn't choose his or her name, although we really don't care much for it? It is a heavy responsibility to choose one of the greatest spiritual beings for the guidance and protection of our children.
The day of the patron saint is celebrated on somewhat smaller scale than a birthday. The gifts have some relation to the patron saint - books, pictures, legends pertaining to him are collected throughout the years. Again the feast-day child has his own say about the evening's program."
Do you celebrate Name Days already? Share a link with us for other's too see what celebrations look like! Here is also a link for more info on celebrating Name Days.
