Ryan McGee
#0
Quick question: when you choose a chrismation name, is that supposed to become the name that people call you at all times?
My original first name is Ryan. My chrismation/Christian name is George. At my present parish, the priest calls me George in receiving the Eucharist, and I\'ve met one parishoner who has wanted to call me George. I have one friend who officially changed his first name to his Christian name.
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My dad converted to Orthodoxy from Protestant. His birth name is Arthur. Since there is no known Saint Arthur, he choose the the name of the saint that is commemorated on his birthday, St. Alexander (forgot which one though). I guesss it\'s kind of fitting since they are both \\"A\\" names. Also, my mom converted to Orthodoxy from Roman Catholic and her mother unknowlngly named her Barbara, which her birthday is on St. Barbara\'s feast day. I was named Christine, so I was able to keep my name when I became Orthodox as a toddler. My husband converted to Orthodoxy a few years ago, his name is Adam. He kept Adam for church, but I haven\'t been able to figure out when his namesday is. There is one other St. Adam that was a monastic, but he choose Adam from Paradise. I wonder if that was a good choice?? My daughter Kaitlyn is named for St. Catherine and my other daughter, Alexandra is named after the New Martyr of Russia,St. Alexandra. Also, my sister is named for the New Martyr of Russia, St. Elizabeth, sister of St. Alexandra.
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Ryan McGee
#13
The real reason why I chose George:
[image]http://www.kvii.com/uploadedImages/kvii/News/Stories/Curious George.jpg[/image]
:)
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#14
I\'m one of those lucky born Orthodox. I didn\'t know you got a new name if you converted? Surprising!
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Yeah, the thing is that when you convert, if you aren\'t already named for a saint, well... you kind of have to pick one. In some cases, if you already have a saints name, the priest may allow you to take another saints name to mark the beginning of your new life as Orthodox.
It\'s really not that shocking. Remember, monks and nuns take new names when tonsured (and again if they are subsequently tonsured into the Great Schema!). Cephas became Peter, Saul became Paul, even Abram became Abraham. But Luke stayed Luke, Matthew stayed Matthew, etc. There\'s no hard and fast rule, and it\'s pretty individual.
Just my two kopecks. Feel free to ignore it. :)
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#16
That\'s interesting, I never thought about that since I was raised Orthodox. My name is Peter and my baptized name is Petros, which I say when I get the eucharist. But I also tell people to call me Petros on a daily basis because I just like it better.
I would say you can keep going by your original name. My sister is named Sara, but there\'s no St. Sara so she says \\"Sophia\\" at the chalice, but I\'ve never called her that.
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#17
Catkorn wrote:
My husband converted to Orthodoxy a few years ago, his name is Adam. He kept Adam for church, but I haven't been able to figure out when his namesday is.
Adam the First-created is commemorated two Sundays before the Nativity of the Lord, along with all the other OT patriarchs and righteous mothers, including Sarah (wife of Abraham), Rachel, Leah, and many others.
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Ryan McGee
#18
How is it that a bishop got away with the name Lucifer--Bishop Lucifer?
Yeah, yeah, I know the name means Light-bearer, or something to that effect, but still.
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Ryan McGee
#19
I just found this. Interesting. [url=I just found this. Interesting. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09410a.htm]Lucifer[/url]
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#21
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:confused: You know, I\'m not a linguistic scholar, but I\'d say something is pretty whacked there. Tell you what, I\'ll pass this on to someone I know who should know this stuff like the back of his hand, but he\'s pretty busy. If/when I get an answer back about this I\'ll post it. But, in the mean time, I think this is just another reason to not take anything you read on the internet as necessarily accurate.
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Ryan McGee
#2
usmichael wrote:
The name we receive in Holy Baptism (or Holy Chrismation for some converts) ties us mystically to our patron (whether he be a saint or an event, e.g., Anastasia, etc), so much so that it has been said that as we progress in the spiritual life, we even take on the qualities of our patron.
St. John of San Francisco would counsel converts in his Church that to use one name in Church and another name in the world is to cheapen one's Baptismal name and to live a dual life, one foot in the Holy Church and one foot in the world.
In Holy Baptism, our old man is crucified and he dies. We die to the world and all its vanities. We are raised a new creation; we are a new person after Baptism. That new person has a new name.
How then can we still live in the world that we died to?
To change one's name legally seems to be a small crucifixion; I have applauded those I know that have done just that after their conversion.
Let us live our new lives that the Church has given us ...
All right. That makes considerable sense.
Consider the following, however. If you look at the names of the saints of newly converted Orthodox areas, or the names of converts to Orthodoxy in the early Church, you will notice, even amongst the saints, names of native origin rather than named after a former saint. Many of the Celtic saints, in particular, have names that previously were borne by the pagan gods. To my knowledge, neither St. Constantine nor St. Vladimir officially changed their names. To my knowledge, Blessed Augustine did not change his name either.
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#1
Neither did Sts Olga, Nina (Nino), most of the Georgian saints, and many of the Nordic and western European saints, nor most of the Apostles. Of the Aposatles, only Simon Kephas and Saul became known as Peter and Paul.
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We often find saints commemorated as \\"St. so-and-so, in Baptism so-and-so.\\" This is true of St. Vladimir who is fully commemorated as \\"Equal of the Apostles Great Prince Vladimir, in Holy Baptism Basil, the Enlightener of the Russian Land.\\" His worldly name is sanctified with his glorification, paving the way for all of the Vladimirs we (or at least I) come into contact with every day. St. Olga was baptized as \\"Helen.\\" Having a patron saint is for our benefit. They unceasingly pray for us and we have their lives as an example to emulate the best we can. I do not believe that not legally changing one\'s name in any way cheapens one\'s baptism/chrismation. As a priest, I would not deter anyone from doing so, but I would also not insist upon it either. I have not legally changed my name and do not see a reason to as only a handful of people know me, let alone call me, anything other than Fr. Gregory.
With regards to Peter, \\"Cephas\\" is the masculine version of \\"cepha\\" (kefa) the aramaic word translated in Greek as \\"petra\\" (masculine - \\"petros.\\" See Jn. 1:42), and Paul, or Pavlos, comes from the Latin \\"Paulus\\" meaning \\"small\\" and \\"humble.\\" One thing we in the modern world tend to forget is that names mean something. It is likely that Paul changed his name not just because he became a follower of Christ, but as a kind of penance for his persecution of the early Church and to reflect his status as \\"doulos Christou Iesou\\" - \\"a slave of Christ Jesus\\" (Rom. 1:1).
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Hi
My Christian name that I picked for my Chrismation was Joseph. It was a name that was pressed upon me as young child by parents when I was RC. So I chose to keep that Christian name for Holy Chrismation. So I joined the Orthodoxy on Jan 7, 2001.
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