name change?

[Jebediah]

My IRL name is Neal Alan. It's Gaelic (I'm Irish and Scot) for champion. I have heard that I will need to take the name of an Orthodox saint at some point, is this true?

[gzt]

you only have to use your baptismal name when taking communion or at confession and such. but, you know, there is a St. Nilus or St. Nil [not etymologically related to Neil, but a lot about him is known], there is also a St. Alanus [not much is known about him, but he was popular among those coming into England with William the Conqueror and is commemorated Nov 25th and it is after him that all Alans are named].

[gzt]

Incidentlaly, one St. Nilus is celebrated on Nov 12th, which, on teh Old Calendar, is the 25th. Little funny coincidence.

[choirfiend]

Orthodox are given a christening/baptismal name. For those who are born Orthodox, it is usually the same as their legal name or middle name. This signifies their new life in Christ-that they are a new person, died and risen again with Christ. If you converted,you would most likely be asked to select (or be given) a Christian name, one born by a saintly Christian. If your name was already Christian, you might use it. This name would be used in Church sacramental functions, but most who choose a different name than their legal name continue to use their legal name for regular things and use their baptismal name for Church-related things. The priest's wife (MAh-tush-kah) at my church is named Linda. When she goes up for communion, she is called "the handmaiden of the Lord, Felicitus."

So, you would most likely select a new name, a patron saint's name, one who was close to your name, or was born on the same day as you, or that you felt an affinity towards. This new name would be used in as many places as you like, and it by no means indicates that you have to change your legal name. Hope this helps!

[makariya]

well, this will depend upon the guidance of your spiritual father.
it isn't unilaterally mandatory.
generally, however, you will discover that there is some saint who has been interceding for you since the time of your birth, and it is customary to take the name of this saint in some form. you don't have to make it your legal name however, it is your "christian" or "baptismal" name and the priest will call you by that name when he is hearing your confession, blessing you and serving communion.

sometimes the new name is interchangeable- we have a deacon at my church who is deacon charlie/george (charlie being his legal name and george being his christian name) and we call him by either name, and sometimes it takes the form of a middle name that is appended to the first in general conversation- my sister's name is gretchen, if she converted she might take elizabeth for her patron and be called gretchen elizabeth. we'd say, "oh would you like to go out to lunch with gretchen elizabeth and i?"

the process of choosing a patron is a lot more complicated. if your spiritual father does not have guidance regarding this, my advice is to look up dates that are meaningful to you (your birthday, the first day you attended orthodox service) in the church calendar and see which saints are celebrated on those days. also, keep an eye out for icons that are particularly moving to you. my legal name is kari, so i did a lot of research about the name and found that it is the finnish form of makariyos, so i believe (though i haven't officially chosen) my patron is Elder Makariyos of Optina, you might want to do some similar research regarding your names.

hope that helps!

[MariaRegina]

Alan IS an Irish Orthodox saint.

Sometimes it is best to keep your given name since you already have a saint's name. In this way your relatives won't be overly upset and think that you have joined some cultish group which brainwashes you into changing your name. :D

Again talk with your spiritual father.

[Jebediah]

Alan IS an Irish Orthodox saint.

Sometimes it is best to keep your given name since you already have a saint's name. In this way your relatives won't be overly upset and think that you have joined some cultish group which brainwashes you into changing your name. :D

Again talk with your spiritual father.

Huh, I didn't know that. Thanks all.

[gzt]

St. Alan wasn't Irish.

[MariaRegina]

St. Alan wasn't Irish.

Okay, the book I read was misleading. Then from where did he come?

I know that he was from the British Isles or Ireland.

I found him in an old edition of Butler's lives of the saints. And he was preschism.
However, I cannot find the books now as my son relocated them.

[EvangeliGirl]

...however, you will discover that there is some saint who has been interceding for you since the time of your birth...

This arouses my interest. How does one usually discover this? Sometimes as a Protestant Ive felt compelled to cry out to a particular person in the bible and talk to him as a Father. Does this mean something?

Is this the same thing as a guardian angel?

[choirfiend]

No, we do believe in guardian angels, but angels are not the righteous humans. Feeling like calling out for help from one of the bible figures would be a nice indication that you feel pretty close to them.

[elizabethevangeline]

I used to wonder what name I might take...Elizabeth is special to me.

But I think a new name may already have been chosen for me...Sunday at church a friend greeted me and called me "Julia".

My very 1st visit to the church I'm attending, I was greeted by a man and when I introduced myself "Julie" he responds with "hmmm JuliA".

:) I guess it's not something for me to worry about! Tho, ironically, I was dedicated as a baby as "Julie Ann" even tho my middle name is not Ann! The pastor made a mistake. I've noticed there are some saintly Juliana's too.

[ThePilgrim]

Taking a saint's name is a laudable custom, but not mandatory. People are more likely to take a new name if there's no saint with their first name, so that they'll have a new, Christian name. A friend of mine, however, named Curtis, wanted to change his name but his bishop wouldn't let him. When he told the bishop, "But there's no saint Curtis!" the bishop replied, "Then you see to it that there will be."

I wanted to change my name, but my parents didn't want me to, since it's a family name. Then, Archm. Roman, when I went to confession before chrismation, told me definitely not to change my name, and that St. John the Theologian would be my patron saint.

My dad, Dcn. Gregory, used to be Charles and still goes by that in most non-religious contexts. My mom, brother, and one of my three sisters also took new names. My other two sisters and I kept our same names.

Just my experience with conversion. I hope that helps.

Grace and peace,
John

[InnerPhyre]

My priest told me it was ok if I kept my given name, because it is already a strong saintly name.

[Jebediah]

Taking a saint's name is a laudable custom, but not mandatory. People are more likely to take a new name if there's no saint with their first name, so that they'll have a new, Christian name. A friend of mine, however, named Curtis, wanted to change his name but his bishop wouldn't let him. When he told the bishop, "But there's no saint Curtis!" the bishop replied, "Then you see to it that there will be."

I wanted to change my name, but my parents didn't want me to, since it's a family name. Then, Archm. Roman, when I went to confession before chrismation, told me definitely not to change my name, and that St. John the Theologian would be my patron saint.

My dad, Dcn. Gregory, used to be Charles and still goes by that in most non-religious contexts. My mom, brother, and one of my three sisters also took new names. My other two sisters and I kept our same names.

Just my experience with conversion. I hope that helps.

Grace and peace,
John

Wow your whole family converted?

[HandmaidenOfGod]

Speaking of family's converting...how's your wife handiling all this?

[Jebediah]

Only info on Alanus I can find is:


St. Alanus [Alain] (French, Benedictine abbot, 7th century)

Not much.

[Jebediah]

Speaking of family's converting...how's your wife handiling all this?

She's good...she came to Christianity herself a few weeks after me. She felt that Baptist services were pretty empty except for the sermon, too. She is a bit more emotion-based than I am...I do the research and come back and tell her and she goes and verifies and comes to conclusions and we act...it's a good system. I am like an information bloodhound.

As well, her family are all Latvian immigrants who are Russian Orthodox and have been all their lives. Only one of them is devout, her uncle, but she was baptised and chrismated as a child, but doesn't know much about it. From her point of view, not only does what I told her about apostolic succession and the history make sense, but it is also a way to get more involved with her family and be more a part of the family culture. I married into the family a lot like that "Big Fat Greek Wedding" movie...lapsed suburbanite ex-Catholic looking for spirituality in all the wrong places. The all have big outrageous accents and act like freaks and are wonderful. I even took their last name when we got married; I have no real family ties of my own, they have definitely become my family. So my wife is pretty amenable to converting. I have a tendency to do a lot of research and thinking before I present an idea, she is used to this.

[HandmaidenOfGod]

It's good to hear that you are equally yoked. :) :thumbsup:

God bless you both!

In XC,

Maureen

P.S. Don't worry about the name thing right now -- that will come in time.

[Akathist]

My first name is not even close to a Saints name. My middle name "Marie" is a derivative of Mary... but I took Xenia for Venerated Xenia of Rome because the day she is honored is close to my birthday.

I would actually prefer that people at church and new friends call me "Xenia" now as I like the idea of having a new name. But most people in my parish who convert do not use their Saints name except for communion and confession.

Also, in another church about an hour from where I live, the Priest there does not require that a member take a Saints name and there are a number of converts there who have not taken a Saints name. (I don't know if that is unique to Antiochian but while I go to an OCA church were everyone has taken a Saints name, the church that has some members who do not is Antiochian.)

[HandmaidenOfGod]

BTW, Happy Sava Xenia!

[Akathist]

BTW, Happy Sava Xenia!

Thanks.. but this is a week early.. Blessed Xenia is honored New Calender on the 24th of January.

She is my name's day Saint.

St. Joseph of Serbia is my family Sava... but I don't know the day he is honored. (I assume that I am to take my husband's families Sava Saint.)

[ThePilgrim]

Wow your whole family converted?

Along with a bunch of other people. We were one of those mass conversion things. It was really neat :-)

Grace and peace,
John

[Jebediah]

Along with a bunch of other people. We were one of those mass conversion things. It was really neat :-)

Grace and peace,
John

That is incredibly cool.

[MariaRegina]

I searched the Butler's Lives of the Saints. In the more recent edition (1981) there is no St. Alan listed. Does anyone have the original edition? Weren't a lot of saints deleted in the more recent editions of Butler's Lives?

I did contact an Orthodox Monastery who said that there is a St. Alan. I have requested more information from them and will list it here as soon as I receive that information.

[Jebediah]

I searched the Butler's Lives of the Saints. In the more recent edition (1981) there is no St. Alan listed. Does anyone have the original edition? Weren't a lot of saints deleted in the more recent editions of Butler's Lives?

I did contact an Orthodox Monastery who said that there is a St. Alan. I have requested more information from them and will list it here as soon as I receive that information.

You rock, thanks so much. :hug:

[Ioan cel Nou]

If you're ever interested in looking up pre-Schism western saints, this is a wonderful site run by a ROCOR priest in England. Fr. Andrew is also very helpful if you ever have any questions.

From his site:
http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/hp.htm

Alanus and Alorus Oct 26
5th cent. Two Bishops of Quimper in Brittany.

Alanus Nov 25
7th cent. Abbot and founder of Lavaur in Gascony in France.


And:


Nilus the Younger Sept 26
+ 1004. After a carefree youth in the south of Italy, he became a monk at the monastery of St Adrian in Calabria, where he later became abbot. In 981 the invading Saracens drove the monks to Vellelucio, where they lived on land given to them by the monastery of Montecassino. Shortly before his repose, Nilus designated that as the place where his monastery was to be definitively established. This monastery, of Grottaferrata, was for long faithful to Orthodoxy.

Hopefully this is helpful though, as others have said, you needn't take one of these just because you have a similar name. I'd also caution you that some Churches have issues with western saints even if they are pre-Schism. We had problems with our previous priest (Greek) over William when my son was baptised despite there being at least three pre-Schism saint Williams and it's possible that we could have a similar problem with my daughter's name, Sabina, as that is likewise a pre-Schism western saint's name. Romanians are not generally so strict as the Greeks about all this, though, so I doubt there'll be a problem. I'll see when I start organising the baptism with Fr. Constantin after Liturgy on Sunday (which is also our Parish's hram - patronal feast - and the day she gets churched.)

James

[HandmaidenOfGod]

Thanks.. but this is a week early.. Blessed Xenia is honored New Calender on the 24th of January.

She is my name's day Saint.

St. Joseph of Serbia is my family Sava... but I don't know the day he is honored. (I assume that I am to take my husband's families Sava Saint.)

:scratch:

I guess my sources were wrong cuz they said Xenia of Rome was honored today on NC.

Oh well, happy early Sava! :clap:

[Mary of Bethany]

Just a nit-picky clarification here . . . . . :D


SAVA is the name of a Saint. SLAVA is the name-day celebration, or family name-day in the Serbian tradition.

Mary

[HandmaidenOfGod]

Thanks! :blush:

[EvangeliGirl]

Along with a bunch of other people. We were one of those mass conversion things. It was really neat :-)

Grace and peace,
John

Thats so fascinating. Already Ive learned of four different groups that have done that, and I bet there are many more. There's a woman in my church whos entire congregation converted! We should pray for things like that...

[ThePilgrim]

Thats so fascinating. Already Ive learned of four different groups that have done that, and I bet there are many more. There's a woman in my church whos entire congregation converted! We should pray for things like that...

There really are more groups like this than one would think... Our group was about 33 people, including a family with 8 kids (the mother and 7 of the kids were chrismated). My dad had been pastor of the Church that we all came from and now, God willing, he'll be ordained priest on March 5th. The Bishop asked us to come out to the parish that he'll be at on that Sunday for the ordination. *That* parish is also a convert parish! The priest and the people at that parish used to be United Brethren.

Our bishop is in contact with at least two (possibly three, I can't remember) large groups/congregations wanting to become Orthodox.

It truly is amazing! The lost sheep are coming home :-)

Grace and peace,
John

[ufonium2]

As others have said, it's not mandatory, or even a universal custom, to have a saint's name. My husband and I never use ours, because it's not a big custom in our current (predominantly Arab) community. We used our legal names at our wedding too, and priests from two different jurisdictions were cool with that.

Speaking of slavas, my priest is Irish, and his wife is Serbian. So they have a family slava, but it's St. Patrick :) I love America.