MY NAMEDAY--COME FOR DESSERT by HELEN MCLOUGHLIN Nihil obstat: John Eidenschink, O.S.B., J.C.D., Censor deputatus. Imprimi potest: +Baldwin Dvorschak, O.S.B., D.D., Abbot of St. John's Abbey. Imprimatur: +Peter W. Bartholome, D.D., Bishop of St. Cloud. August 24, 1962. Copyright 1962 by The Order of St. Benedict, Inc., Collegeville, Minnesota. CONTENTS Abbreviations My Nameday--Come for Dessert How to Observe a Nameday Program for a Nameday Mary St. Joseph Most Popular Boys' Names Most Popular Girls' Names Apostles and Saints who Bear Their Names The Saints of the Canon of the Mass Other Popular Names Virgin Saints Martyrs Confessors Doctors of the Church Founders of Religious Orders Holy Women Scriptural Saints Special Patrons for Children and Youth Martyrs and Saints of Great Britain Gaelic Names and Irish Saints Index of Recipes Day by Day Calendar of Patrons Index of Names, Patrons, Namedays Nameday prayers in honor of patron saints for whom no special prayers are given in this book. If your patron saint was a MARTYR-BISHOP, see Martyr-Bishops. MARTYR who was not a bishop, see Martyr-Bishops. WOMAN-MARTYR, see Women Martyrs. VIRGIN, see Virgin Saints. VIRGIN-MARTYR, see Virgin-Martyrs. CONFESSOR-BISHOP, see Confessor-Bishops. CONFESSOR, see Confessors. POPE, see Popes. DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, see Doctors of the Church. ABBOT, see Abbots. SAINT mentioned in the Canon of the Mass, see The Saints of the Canon of the Mass. HOLY WOMAN who was not a martyr or virgin, see Holy Women. If in doubt, use the prayer in Program for a Nameday (or Scriptural Saints). ABBREVIATIONS {We have retained this listing of addresses and companies, even though almost all are out of date. If you find some the products listed in this book or a good substitute, please let our subscribers know, and we can update the references.} In this book references are frequently made to stores or companies from which various items may be purchased for the nameday celebration. In order to avoid repetition only the initial letters are given with a direction to this page. Here follow the full addresses: AL Alinari Via Nazionale 6 Firenze--Florence Italy AMS Ave Maria Shop 11 Barclay St. New York, N.Y. BER Berliner & McGinnis Nevada City, Cal. BM Bobbs-Merrill Co. 1720 E. 38th St. Indianapolis, Ind. BMA Birmingham Museum of Art Birmingham, Ala. BR Bruce Publishing Co. 400 North Broadway Milwaukee 1, Wis. CAB Mother Cabrini Shrine 701 Fort Washington Ave. New York, N.Y. CCA Contemporary Christian Art 1053 Lexington Ave. New York, N.Y. CR Thomas Crowell Co. 432 Park Ave. South New York 16, N.Y. DA Devin-Adair Co. 23 E. 26 Street New York, N.Y. FC The Frick Collection 1 East 70 Street New York 21, N.Y. FL Frederick Leighton Mexican Imports 15 E. 8 Street New York, N.Y. FLB Family Life Bureau 1312 N.W. Massachusetts Ave. Washington 5, D.C. FP Frederick Pustet Co. 14 Barclay St. New York 8, N.Y. FSC Farrar, Straus and Cudahy 19 Union Square W. New York, N.Y. GI Gregorian Institute of America 2130 Jefferson Ave. Toledo 2, Ohio GO Gourmet Magazine Plaza Hotel New York, N.Y. GR The Grail Grailville Loveland, Ohio HNA Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 6 W. 57th Street New York 19, N.Y. IR Irish Industries Depot 831A Lexington Ave. New York, N.Y. JU Jubilee 168 E. 91st Street New York 28, N.Y. LAS The Little Art Shop Regina Laudis Monastery Bethlehem, Conn. LP The Liturgical Press St. John's Abbey Collegeville, Minn. MA Manganaro Foods Inc. 488-9th Ave. New York, N.Y. MB Morehouse Barlow Co. 14 E. 41st St. New York 17, N.Y. MF Montfort Book Shop 40 South Saxon Ave. Bay Shore, L.I. New York MG Mary's Gardens 124-c West Chestnut Hill Ave. Philadelphia 18, PA MMA Metropolitan Museum of Art 5th Avenue at 82nd St. New York 28, N.Y. MR Maryknoll Sisters Maryknoll, N.Y. MS Maid of Scandinavia 3245 Raleigh Ave., South Minneapolis, Minn. NB Newman Bookshop Westminster, Md. NCRLC National Catholic Rural Life Conference 8301 Grand Ave. Des Moines, Iowa NGA The National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C. PA Pantheon Books 22 East 51st St. New York, N.Y. PB Party Bazaar 390-5th Ave. New York, N.Y. PC Patronscraft % Little Art Shop Regina Laudis Monastery Bethlehem, Conn. PJK P. J. Kenedy and Sons 12 Barclay Street New York 8, N.Y. PP Paulist Press 180 Varick St. New York 14, N.Y. RC Regina Coeli Center 80-17 37th Ave. Jackson Heights, N.Y. SF Salesian Fathers Mission Office--Box 30 New Rochelle, N.Y. FL St. Leo Shop Newport, R.I. SMC Sister Mary of the Compassion, O.P. Dominican Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Blue Chapel Union City, N.J. SMG St. Martin de Porres Guild 160 5th Ave. New York, N.Y. SP Scapular Press 329 E. 28th St. New York 16, N.Y. SS Simon and Schuster 136 W. 52nd St. New York, N.Y. SSJ The Sisters of St. Joseph Brentwood, L.I. New York SW Sheed and Ward 64 University Place New York, N.Y. WRN William R. Nelson Museum Kansas City, Mo. YCW Young Christian Workers 1700 W. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, Ill. YOHS Ye Olde Herb Shoppe 46 Dey St. New York, N.Y. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Photo credits: Oudin designs: Hurvault, Phot., 9 rue de Metz, Saint Germain-en-lay, France, pp. 29, 37, 82, 170, 183, 187, 202, 212, 217, 218, 228; Daniel McManamy, pp. 15, 109; John Harrington, pp. 26, 27, 90; Kevin McKiernan, p. 40; General Foods Kitchens, 250 North Street, White Plains, New York (Baker's Angel Flake Coconut), pp. 32, 80, 108, 154-161 (cf. "Baker's Coconut Cut-Up Cakes" booklet); Maid of Scandinavia, 3245 Raleigh Ave. South, Minneapolis, Minnesota, pp. 35, 73, 191, 222; The Nestle Company, pp. 58, 112, 140, 214; Knox Gelatine, Inc., pp. 69, 76, 88, 123, 145, 210, 226; Richard Snyder School of Bakery, pp. 67, 84; Norton and Peel, 1004 Marquette Ave., Minneapolis, Minnesota, p. 73; Florida Citrus Commission, p. 114; Borden Milk Company, Ice Cream Division, p. 167; Fluffo, 36 Central Park South, New York 19, New York, p. 87; Rev. Hugh Witzmann, O.S.B., p. 105 Hymns: Hymns given on pp. 56, 93, 144, 200 are under copyright by McLaughlin and Reilly Company, Boston, Massachusetts; used with permission. Hymns given on pp. 148, 194, 245, 248 are under copyright by The Gregorian Institute of America, Toledo, Ohio; used with permission. Quotations from: "Meditations Before Mass," The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, p. 15, 16; "Liturgical Piety," Notre Dame University Press, pp. 30, 103; "Butler's Lives of the Saints," P. J. Kenedy and Sons, p. 63; "Ancient Irish Poetry," Constable and Company, p. 113; prayers from the "Raccolta," pp. 79, 107, 184. There! it is finished, the cake for your nameday: Brown, with red raisins, pink icing and candles, Frilly fine paper with podgy gilt puppies To ribbon the rim like a wrist with its bangles. Tomorrow your quick little heart will start pounding, Your quick little laugh tinkle over the table. As yet you're too young to suspect love abounding Went to that baking--later on you'll be able. They'll heap you with names in the dear Irish fashion: "Paistin,"1 "little thrush," "peteen-o," and "heart's treasure," Kind love will float round you, a pool of hushed passion; You dear little soul, you'll be loved without measure. Beginning the third of the years you are with us The Father fulfil you, the Christ and the Spirit; The Mother of Jesus be vigilant for us Nunc et in hora...and keep you, and cherish.2 MY NAMEDAY--COME FOR DESSERT is an invitation to parents to celebrate the family's namedays. It contains the names, feasts, and symbols of our Blessed Mother and the saints, prayers of the liturgy, and appropriate desserts for the celebration of the sanctoral cycle of the Church year in the home. A nameday commemorates the feast of the saint whose name we received at baptism. To the Church's mind, the day of the saint's death is his real feastday, and that is the day usually assigned as his feast--his birthday into heaven. In some countries and in most religious orders it is customary to observe name-days instead of birthdays. On a child's nameday, "Come for Dessert" is a popular way to entertain. It is economical, festive and meaningful, and permits the family to splurge on a fabulous dessert without inflicting lasting wounds on the budget. It can be a "little evening"--a time for a party and a prayer for the child in the company of friends, a time for pleasant conversation for the grown-ups to accompany them. Namedays are a means of strengthening the faith of our children, of drawing them closer to the Communion of Saints. The extra work on the parents' part will be amply rewarded. "A little more and how much it is; a little less and what miles away." In the thirteen years from kindergarten through high school, children spend 13,000 hours in school (five hours a day); 37,960 hours asleep (eight hours a day); and 62,920 hours awake at home or elsewhere. The chief problems parents face are how to make a Christian home in which the children may pass their waking hours, how to teach the lessons of the faith over and beyond the catechism, how to counteract the secular influences of television and radio. The Sisters, Brothers and teachers in our schools teach Christian doctrine, it is true; but parents must teach "religion." And the bulk of the work should be done before the child is six years old. Our Catholic educators can only build upon the foundations of Catholic training inculcated in the home. One of the ways to create a supernatural atmosphere in the home and to train our children in the faith is by the celebration of namedays. Namedays enrich a child's thinking and create feelings of security, reverence and love of tradition which come from links with the past. They bind the members of the family closer to each other, to God. and to the saints; they are a means of sanctifying the home, fulfilling the command of the bishops of the United States: "Christians must make their homes holy." The nameday dessert may be served as formally as you like. It is most attractive at the dining room table, covered in its Sunday best with linen, polished silver, good china, and candles. A low centerpiece decorated with a symbol of the patron saint will provide beautiful decor. The table may be set with placemats, nameday napkins (available at $.50 a package from MS; see Abbreviations), and place-cards marked with an attribute of the saint or a verse from the Bible easily taken from the Mass of the patron. At a gathering too large to be seated, let the table be set as a buffet with a taller and more imposing centerpiece, perhaps built around a statue or paper cut-out of the-child's patron saint. Serve the most beautiful cake or pie in your repertoire, or a dessert frozen in a symbolic mold, nameday punch for the children, and coffee (perhaps Irish coffee, p. 264) for the grown-ups. Just before the dessert is served, the family and guests pray the Collect of the day for the nameday child. A copy of the prayer may be typed or printed by hand for each guest. HOW TO OBSERVE A NAMEDAY The impetus for keeping namedays must ordinarily begin with mother. She can stage a nameday celebration just as successfully as she whips up a cake. Nothing happens on a nameday unless she makes it happen. The triduum beforehand, the vigil prayers, family attendance at Mass on nameday morning, the fun of the dessert party are the result of conscious planning born of a love for the traditions of the Church. Family observance of namedays adds to the richness and completeness of life. Namedays like holidays give variety to our years; furthermore, they are a stabilizing influence, bringing the family together and uniting it to the Church Triumphant. So let's have namedays, even if they do make another job for mother. "How do you find the time?" mothers ask. "Something less important must go undone," is the answer. Namedays need not be all work and no fun. The solution lies in systematic planning. Like all other household activities, advanced planning relieves the pressure. It is easy to work out a nameday routine that will become a family tradition. Change the routine here, change it there, but keep the same outline from year to year. Done in this way, the celebrations are easier to manage, and children will love the program the more for its familiarity. They will feel a part of it. As they grow older, they will take the whole thing out of mother's hands. Establish a nameday closet. As namedays roll around, acquire permanent fixings which can be tucked away in labeled boxes or in a drawer. Here can be stored special nameday symbols and table decorations, crowns, gummed seals, ribbons of appropriate colors, odds and ends that are needed for dramatizing the life of the saints and a nameday wreath for feasts (MS, see Abbreviations). A special party pantry, or at least a shelf, is also a good idea. In a short time its resources can turn any dessert period into a nameday celebration. Such a shelf should hold colored straws, marshmallows, gum drops to make a crown for Elizabeth, Margaret, Henry, Kenelm, or Louis; perhaps a gummed alphabet; "Cake-mate" in colors to write the patron's name on a cake; silver dragees to make a rosary on a cake for Catherine, Dominic, or any Dominican saint; chocolate bits to form musical notes for a David, Vivian, or Gregory; paper napkins to be crayoned; and even such things as animal crackers. For instance, for a small Daniel or Mark, lions in cookie form or gummed-seal lions may be used to decorate cupcakes. Put a candle on the top, with the lions encircling it (this is also for Leo, Marciana, Jerome, Natalie)--and you will have a nameday celebration in no time at all. It is well to have party balloons and paper plates on which the symbols of saints may be painted with nail polish. With such materials on hand, it is possible to celebrate namedays without trouble or expense. Chart the Church year for namedays. Your religious calendar will serve as a reminder if you circle the dates of your family's patrons. We cannot stress enough the importance of such activities; in themselves they may seem to be of no consequence, but seen in a broader perspective they have great spiritual value. Anything which unites our children more closely to the Communion of Saints is worth the effort it costs a mother. It is an ordinary household chore which can have supernatural significance. In organizing a successful nameday party, one which your children will enjoy and remember, there are a few rules to be observed. First, invite no more children than can be comfortably managed; second, keep the party short and snappy. Plan the time so that a few games may be played before refreshments--always a quiet one to end with. It is best to give prizes to the winner of each game at a small child's party; crayons, soap bubbles, modeling clay, yo-yos, or candy are suitable. The table is the center of attraction at these parties; the child's patron and his symbols will dictate the party theme. The nameday vigil: a period of quiet. The preceding suggestions were meant to give the assurance that the celebration of your child's nameday need not involve much feverish preparation. In fact, a spirit of quiet and calmness should pervade the household on the vigil. Romano Guardini in "Meditation before Mass" (Newman Press, Westminster; Maryland) stresses that such a period of composure is the "prerequisite of a liturgical holy act"--in this case, holy Mass on the nameday feast of your child. This period of quiet may be devoted to a reading and explanation of the Mass of the day, or at least of the Collect. Often the Mass text in honor of the child's patron--pope, bishop, abbot, martyr, holy woman or virgin--will suggest symbols and verses for the place- cards to be used at your party the next day. We have found that the period of quiet is best maintained by having the children work in silence at a table where they can cut silhouettes or name shields, make paper sculptures of the patron saint, draw and paste up symbols. Their work is used on the family altar, over the mantel, or on the kitchen bulletin board. Helping to create a nameday decor provides children with a period of stillness in which the Holy Spirit may work upon their hearts and minds and hands. Sometimes the drawing or cut-out is a simple mitre for a bishop; at other times they may work out more elaborate designs. Like most children, ours are most often noisy, so this period of absolute quiet always impresses them. Then they were small, decorating paper napkins with crayoned symbols was a sure guarantee of a quiet period. They also enjoyed gummed seals on place-cards (3x5 file cards), such as a goose for Martinmas, St. Martin's day; a horse for Irene; a rooster for Guy or Peter. Now that they are older they use nail polish to outline the symbols on paper plates. These exercises are not for pedagogical value. For example, in drawing a crosier for a bishop they learn that the straight staff denotes righteous rule; his mitre designates his authority. Sometimes the children rule paper napkins with borders and color them in keeping with the feast: blue border and monogram for our Blessed Mother; black and white with a shield for Dominicans; brown for Franciscans, etc. For St. John the Baptist green is used as a symbol of spiritual initiation. Red is the color for the many martyrs who suffered in times of persecution. Yellow or gold symbolizes sacredness; both St. Joseph and St. Peter are pictured in art wearing this color. A helpful book, "Paper Sculptures" by Mary Grace Johnston, will give ideas on making a paper sculpture of a patron (available from RC, see Abbreviations). "The image is a reality; the mind can only attempt to plumb it. The image is richer than the thought; hence the act by which we comprehend an image, gazing, is richer, more profound, vital and storied than the thought. People today are over-conceptualistic. We have lost the art of reading images and parables, of enacting and understanding symbols. We could relearn some of this by encouraging and practicing the power of vision, a power which has been neglected for too long" (Romano Guardini, ibid.). For teen-agers this period of quiet should be devoted to reading the life of the saint or studying the missal for the Mass of the feast. It is also a time to help the younger children with artwork. Parents too must become aware of the mystery of the feast. They must revere and pray to their children's patrons daily, must express love for the heavenly protectors after whom they have named their children by a joyful celebration of the heavenly birthdays of the family patrons. Again Guardini gives the clue: "From the liturgy it is clear that the (name) day does not begin with the morning, nor with midnight, but on the evening before with a vigil. (It need by only a period of quietness, a decade of the Rosary to ask our Lady and the child's patron for his needs, and, if possible, a prayer in the child's own words.) There is a profound insight into this. It is not a question of the astronomical, but of the living day. The one is mathematically exact fraction of time which begins with a certain second, regardless of what takes place in it; whereas the other, the living day, is a continuously renewed form. "Then when does the nameday begin? One could say at the moment of deepest sleep, when life is at its stillest, on condition that sleep itself begins and moves and ends properly. Sleep is profoundly influenced by the hours that immediately precedes it. Therefore the problem of a happy nameday begins on the vigil, the evening before" (Guardini, ibid.) It is for parents to find how to meet this challenge, to find time in schedules already overcrowded. (This obviously means curtailing TV.) Family participation in Mass is the most important part of the nameday--a miniature of the Mystical Body at the Lord's table. Early in the Mass, at the Collect, the family seeks God's graces for the nameday child through the intercession of his patron. They receive God's word, glorify Him, and place the child's particular needs at the feet of Providence. At holy Communion they see God the Father's hand proffering sacred nourishment which all readily accept that they may "have life." The Lord received in holy Communion lingers to hear your desires for your nameday child, to pour out the love of His Heart, to bless him or her in a special manner, and to give life everlasting. "If anyone eats of this Bread, he shall live forever; and the Bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world" (John 6:33-57)--ideal for nameday vigil reading and meditation. It is most important that parents understand the significance of Christ's coming in the liturgy. It is not the dessert or the baubles or the party, but Christ's coming to yourselves and your nameday child that makes a feast. What are the Christian implications of this word, feast? The dictionary says a feast is "a religious festival or celebration." Before accepting that definition, however, we must remember that our society has lost touch with certain ultimate mysteries. "We are rationalists and psychologists, and reduce everything to the intellect or moral plane, or to the subjective level of experience," Guardini says (ibid.). Then he proceeds to give his definition of a Christian feast. "To wait for our Lord, to invite Him, to go to receive and honor and praise Him, to be with Him, drawn into the intimacy of communion with Him (and through Him into communion with the nameday saint)--that is the Christian feast," and the true meaning of a nameday. The celebration at home, the agape, or nameday party which highlights the child's patron and his attributes by special desserts and decorations, the Collect prayer at the party--all are dependent for their effectiveness upon understanding the meaning of a Christian feast. What good is a feast to children surfeited with sweets? To get the full effect of a nameday feast, give youngsters the opportunity to fast from desserts on the vigil, or better still, during a triduum before the nameday. After a day or two without a dessert, the nameday cake looms twice as beautiful and tasty. NAMES "I will give him a white pebble, and upon the pebble a new name written" (Apoc. 2:17). A name is a badge of individuality. As long as an infant is nameless, he is amorphous. When he receives a name by which he can be identified, he enters upon a subjective existence. To the ancient Israelites a person's name was an expression of his personality. Throughout Old Testament history the significance of names passed as an accepted principle. Thus the conversion of Abram to Abraham ("father of many nations," Gen. 17:5) was proper to the covenant of circumcision and ratified God's benediction. "And it came to pass on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him by his father's name, Zachary" (Luke 1:59)--this verse recalls the Hebrew custom of naming the male child eight days after birth. The conferring of a baptismal name has profound significance. The new name indicates the deep transformation and renovation of the soul through the waters of baptism, the sacrament of supernatural rebirth. A person receives a new name because he is new creature reborn in Christ. A name may be given casually from sheer circumstances or with some thought. But once given, it stands for the depths of a child's being. Patrons. Canon law admonishes the priest that "a Christian name must be chosen for the one to be baptized, and if he cannot secure this being done, then he himself must add the name of some saint to that given by the parents, and enter both into the baptismal register." The Roman Ritual also urges that in baptism "no improper, fabulous, or ridiculous names be given, nor those of false deities or godless heathens, but as far as possible only those of saints by whose example and under whose protection the faithful may be inspired to lead holy lives." As early as 400 A.D. St. John Chrysostom urged parents to adopt the names of saints for their children, not those of ancient heroes, reminding parents of the great spiritual benefits that would accrue to their offspring from the example and intercession of their heavenly patron. When a child is placed under the protection of a saint, that saint becomes the child's patron or patroness. The words are derived from the Latin "pater" (father) through the word "patronus." Patron is a generic term embracing sponsor, benefactor, advocate. In ancient Rome, when a slave was liberated by an aristocrat, the slave became a client of his master. In this new state the slave gained a protector, and the master a right-hand man who could be trusted. This new father-son relationship gave rise to the term "patrons." Today the word is in quite common use. Top-flight television artists have their patrons who help them to get started toward stardom. The baker, the grocer, the dry-cleaner--all need our support, or as they sometimes put it, "your esteemed patronage." It is reasonable that creatures of eternity should need patrons superior to the patrons of earth. Born in the slavery of original sin, we Christians, made freemen and sons of God by baptism, need heavenly patrons to protect and care for us. Holy Mother Church realizes our need for such heavenly patronage; the liturgy abounds with prayer-formulas invoking their intercession. Pope Pius XII wrote in "Mediator Dei": "There is further reason why the cult of the saints in heaven is valued by Christian people, that is, so that they may employ their help, and that they may be raised up by the protection of those in whose praises we delight. And from this, it may be easy to understand why the holy liturgy offers us many formulas of prayers in which it invokes the assistance of the saints in heaven. "In some of our heroes, His apostolic zeal is resplendent; in others, His fortitude even to the shedding of blood, in some that constant watchfulness is conspicuous with which they awaited their divine Redeemer; and in others glowed a virginal radiance of soul and the modest sweetness of Christian humility. Finally, in all the saints burned a fervent love of God and their neighbors. "All these beauties of holiness the holy liturgy places before our eyes in order that we may gaze upon them for the good of our souls, and in order that we may be inflamed by the example of those in whose merits we rejoice. Therefore, we should conserve innocence in simplicity, union of heart in charity, modesty in humility, diligence in administration, watchfulness in helping those who are laboring, mercy in cherishing the poor, constancy in defending the truth, justice in the severity of discipline, that there may be no lack of any virtue which is proposed to us as an example. For these are the footprints which the saints, going back to their heavenly homeland, have left for us, so that following always closely in their footsteps, we may follow them to their blessedness." This belief in the desirability of modeling one's life on that of the saints, and the belief that one may invoke their aid and be heard is sometimes difficult even for Catholics to understand. Often it is heatedly denied by strangers to Christian tradition. Some ask where in holy Scripture can be found the slightest justification for naming a child after a patron saint, for believing that the saint will protect the child. Nowhere in Scripture will be found one word to condemn the practice of asking the saints' protection. On the contrary, the Bible states that saints do pray for us and that, by the doctrine of the Communion of Saints and the duty of praying for another, the Catholic position is justified. Already Genesis (18:18) tells of God speaking about the mutual blessings of Abraham's children; further we read how God predicted that Abraham would "pray for you, and you shall live" (Gen. 20:7). The Israelites implored Moses to be their mediator with God (Ex. 20:19). Friends of Job bade him: "Call now! Will anyone respond to you? To which of the holy ones will you appeal?" (Job 5:1). These were spirits other than God. God said to Eliphaz: "Let my servant Job pray for you; for his prayer I will accept not to punish you severely" (Job 42:8). In Jeremiah (15:1) God tells the prophet that He is too disgusted with the people even to hear the prayers of Moses and Samuel for them. Of Jeremiah himself Onias said: "This is he who prays much for the people and for all the holy city, Jeremiah, the prophet of God" (2 Mach. 15:14). Christ Himself described the rich man condemned to suffering in the next life as interceding for his relatives on earth (Luke 16:27-28). In Acts (12:5) we read how the Christians poured out prayers that St. Peter might be released from prison. In his epistles St. Paul speaks constantly of his prayers for those to whom he writes and asks for their prayers in return. And St. James tells us: "The unceasing prayer of a just man is of great avail" (James 5:16). St. John declares that in his vision of heaven he saw "the prayers of the saints ascending before God from the hands of an angel" (Apoc. 8:4). Among the Church Fathers, St. Augustine offers this testimony: "Christians celebrate the memory of the martyrs with religious ceremony in order to arouse emulation and in order that they may be associated with their merits and helped by their prayers. But to none of the martyrs do we erect altars as we do to the God of martyrs; we erect altars at their shrines. For what bishop standing at the altars over the bodies of martyrs ever said: We offer to Peter or Paul or Cyprian? Mass is offered to God who crowned the martyrs, at the shrine of the martyrs, so that the very spot may remind us to arouse in ourselves a more fervent charity toward those whom we imitate and toward Him who gives us the power to do so." St. Thomas Aquinas justifies the practice as follows: "Prayer may be offered to a person in two ways, either so that he himself may grant it or that he may obtain the favor from another. In the first way, we pray only to God because all prayers should be directed to obtaining grace and glory which God alone gives, according to the psalmist: 'The Lord will give grace and glory' (Ps. 83). But in the second way, we pray to the angels and saints, not that through them God may know our petitions, but that through their prayers and merits our petitions may be effective." Devotions to the saints in other faiths. Not only Roman Catholics but their Eastern Orthodox neighbors also invoke the saints. In "The Orthodox Church" Bulgakov writes: "The saints, in constant relation with us, pray for us and aid us in all our life. They are in mysterious relations of love with the glorified Church and with the earthly militant Church. This is the Communion of Saints. It is loving aid and assistance, and intercession by prayer. "The cult of the saints occupies a considerable place in Orthodox piety. The saints are our intercessors and our protectors in heaven, and, in consequence, living and active members of the Church Militant. Their blessed presence in the Church manifests itself by their pictures and relics. They surround us with a cloud of prayer, a cloud of glory of God. This cloud of witnesses does not separate us from Christ, but brings us nearer, unites us to Him. "Those who reject this cult suffer great spiritual loss; while remaining near to Christ, they lose true relationship to Him. They are destined to remain spiritually without a family, without race, without home, without fathers and brothers and sisters in Christ. They traverse the way of salvation all alone, each one for himself, without looking for examples and without knowing communion with others." Anglicans, too, believe in direct invocation of the saints. In their English Hymnal is the verse: O saint of God, beloved, And placed on His right hand Thy prayers be like a rampart As 'gainst the foe we stand. The archbishops of Canterbury and York drew up a report on Christian doctrine in the Church of England containing these words: "It is impossible to declare that the departed saints cannot hear our prayers; and we, therefore, must not condemn as impossible direct address to them as a private practice, provided this be to ask for their prayers whether for ourselves or others." In his book, "The Faith of England," Canon A. H. Reeves writes: "The lives of the saints on earth are the supreme achievement of divine grace. So close is their union with Christ that in them He lives and prays, suffers and dies in self-offering to the Father. That life which He re-enacts in every one of the baptized, He lives to the full in the saints. For this reason, the Church honors the saints as the most glorious handiwork of God's grace and asks their prayers before God's throne as of those who are especially pleasing to God." A Presbyterian minister who lived in the apartment above us used to wear a Celtic cross. When we challenged him, he said that it was the symbol of St. Colmcille of Iona, patron saint of Presbyterians. Upon checking we found many instances of public pilgrimages by Protestants to saints' shrines in England, including one to St. Alban, protomartyr of England. On pilgrimages to the shrine of St. Aidan on the island of Lindisfarne, Protestants made the final steps barefoot, like the monks of old. The bishops of Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Jarrow led the processions in cope and mitre. Thousands of pilgrims received St. Aidan medals. St. Christopher-tide blessings are imparted to travelers and vehicles by the Church of England. English newsmen observe the feast of their patron, St. Francis de Sales, with the celebration of the Eucharist in London's Church of St. Mary-Le Strand. And not long ago we read that the Anglican Boys' and Girls' Club of Holy Trinity, Charlton, was "placed under the patronage of St. John Bosco." We mention these devotions of Protestants in order to encourage those in mixed marriages to celebrate their children's namedays in the home. It is to be regretted that so many children grow up in a puritan atmosphere which stifles any knowledge and love of their patron saints, depriving youngsters of this precious heritage. Home shrines. From the day of his baptism the Catholic child should be prepared for full participation in the life of the Church. This involves much more than learning by heart a few truths from the catechism; it is a life in itself. The home is the place where religious sentiment should be nurtured, where children are free in the expression of their religious instincts. Ideally each child should have a good medal of his patron, and, if possible, a statue or picture to be placed on an altar at his level; in this way he can bring flowers and candles to the shrine. Some of my happiest memories are of the religious processions in our home in which we carried flowers to a patron saint's altar. Tiles of the ten most popular patrons have been made by an American artist and sell for about $4.50 (from CCA; see Abbreviations). An exceptionally beautiful Madonna which looks like carved pressed wood costs but $.50 and is unbreakable (from FP, see Abbreviations). Medals of any saint may be ordered from LAS (see Abbreviations). The Collect: telegram to God. Patron saints should be prayed to. Any formula that springs from a child's heart will do. We use the Collect of the Mass for our nameday family prayers. Many of the Collects are included in this book; others may be found in your daily missal. The Collects, especially the ancient ones, are masterpieces of prayer if one considers their structure, the harmonious cadence of their phrases, and the profound doctrine which they express. They are usually composed of three parts: praise, petition, and conclusion. The first part invokes God and offers Him praise, or gives a short exposition of the mystery of the day. In the second part we ask for our needs through the merits of Jesus Christ, our divine Head, and the intercession of a patron saint. The mark of a saint. It is the mark of a saint that he fulfills the highest ideal given to man and is at the same time a friend and an inspiration. Saints tell their namesakes what is possible for them, whether one has one talent or ten, whether one lives in sorrow or in joy, in days of menace, or in time of hope. They combine almost impossible weakness with strength, darkness with joy, self-denial with profound humanity and affection. Regardless of the era in which they lived, saints remain ever contemporary in that they reveal the everlasting Source of happiness, the secret of how to turn the commonplace into something perfect and unique. Each saint somehow manages to find the true cross, the emblem of life and hope. The saints are waiting to welcome and guide the faithful through the Church year. Dr. Pius Parsch tells us in "The Church's Year of Grace" (available from LP; see Abbreviations): "Let us lovingly take their hand and retain their company during the Church year. How will the saints benefit us? By their lives and example they become our teachers and models, stars in the night skies of life by which we may sail a straight course to God. Moreover, they plead and intercede for us in heaven, a mediation we ask for again and again in the liturgy. Nevertheless their greatest function is to act as mediators of grace. By reason of the Communion of Saints, they supply the graces we still lack. They are the chosen vessels of divine grace; not their virtues but God's love makes them great. When we go to meet the Bridegroom at the holy Sacrifice, they lend us their wedding garments to cover our nakedness. It is with their merits, and even in their stead, that we appear before God at Mass and in prayer.... As the eagle coaxes her young toward the sun, so the saints must draw us upward from the hollows of earthly life toward the divine Sun reigning in heaven" (Vol. 1, p. 381). Little-known saints. Our names tell a story. Perhaps it is the story of some well-known saint like Augustine, Dominic, Catherine, or Therese. Saints are the hardest people to write about because they are saints; few writers have succeeded in making their lives come to life. Of many saints after whom our children are named, very little is known. Over the centuries a thick mist has spread between Christians and these men and women who sanctified their time and won for themselves the crown of eternal life. The lives of many are shrouded in legend, much of which we find hard to believe. Toward such hagiography we might apply the Italian saying: "Se non e vero, e ben trovato--If not true, it is at least very apt." What shall we tell our children about saints of whom little is known or who have only sugar-coated lives? We might do best to say something like this: Your patron saint loved God with all his heart and his neighbor as himself. He cherished our Lord, meditated on His words in the gospel, ate His Body at the altar, and counted on Christ's merits to be saved. He let the Holy Spirit guide his actions. He was humble, sought the last place, obeyed his superiors, was merciful, practiced mortification and patience He prayed without ceasing, restrained his passions, considered himself unworthy of the graces received, and believed that he could never do enough in response to God's goodness or to merit heaven. Far from seeking in his supernatural virtues a pretext for eluding the natural law, your patron avoided lying, double-dealing deceit, stealing, and flattery. He was always straightforward and regarded all his brothers as having been created for God and not for himself. It is true, some of the miracles ascribed to the saints are hard to believe. Yet are not the miracles performed by our Lord and the apostles sometimes regarded as "hard to believe"? Just before His ascension, Jesus predicted of His followers: "They shall cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay their hands on the sick and they shall recover" (Mark 16:17-18). Supernatural power abides in the earthly remains of the saints "They cast the body into the sepulcher of Eliseus. When it had touched the bones of Eliseus the man came to life and stood upon his feet" (4 Kings 13:21). Wonders like this take place in the twentieth century even as they did in past ages and justify the veneration which the Church teaches her children to pay to the relics of the saints. PROGRAM FOR A NAMEDAY Before dealing with specific saints and offering suggestions for the celebration of their individual feastdays, we would like to describe how we keep the feast of St. Joan of Arc in honor of our Joanie's nameday. This will perhaps give you some ideas as to how to adapt different practices for your own nameday observances. To keep the nameday of St. Joan of Arc, we begin on the eve of the feast. The children are busy making symbols for decorations and writing verses from her Mass on place-cards. Because St. Joan has a number of attributes, we select a different one each year and so have opportunity to vary the decorations. One year it is the fleur-de-lis which she bore on her banner as she went into battle; another year it is fire to commemorate her death at a burning stake. Then again it might be her motto, "Jesus, Maria," which we use to decorate place-mats, napkins, and even the cake. Children love repetition and ceremonial. Nothing touches a child's heart quite so deeply as a fitting celebration of the feast of the saint whose name he bears. This need not be a costly affair. You may be able to do no more than attend holy Mass on the feast, pray the Collect of the day, and have a nameday cake. From these simple delights a child learns to love and imitate his or her patron. Our Joanie bears the Irish form of her name--Siobhan (pronounced she-vawn), which means "white spirit." For one nameday we found place-mats and napkins decorated with white doves. For a centerpiece we used a pinata, a Mexican pottery basket covered with papier-mache to resemble a dove, the symbol of Siobhan. A baptismal candle with symbolic designs on it heightened the significance of the nameday party. Our special nameday punch was called "Licking Punch" by the children when they were small. To six small bottles of 7-Up, a pint of sherbet (raspberry is best) is added. The punch is stirred and served before the sherbet melts. A mixing bowl can be used instead of a punch bowl, or the punch can be poured from a chilled pitcher. We have a mold with a fleur-de-lis design (from MS, see Abbreviations) which we use for the feast of St. Joan of Arc, for French saints, and for feasts of Our Lady. Tin-lined, the mold can be used to bake a small cake to top a larger one, or to make frozen desserts. A crown made of gold paper is used for a saint's day version of "pin the tail on the donkey." Blindfolded, the children try to pin St. Joan's crown on her head in a print of the saint. The one who comes closest wins a prize. A special Irish dance, for which the prize in Ireland was a cake garlanded with flowers, is popularly supposed to have given rise to the saying "take the cake," in the sense of beating out all comers. Since dancing contests are not feasible in a city apartment, we devised a quieter contest. Our children and their friends compete by singing to decide who will "take the cake." Fire is another symbol that children love. We float tiny flames on salad oil in a platter bearing a statue of the saint. Called Halo Wicks, these tiny wicks in cork bases can be bought for about $1.00 (from MS, see Abbreviations). The pinata swings from the ceiling, and each child is blindfolded and given a chance to strike it with a stick in the hope that the favors and gifts for the nameday guests will come tumbling down when the dove is broken. A pinata may be ordered from FL (see Abbreviations). The Collect from the missal is said as a prayer with the grace before dessert. The children sing "Happy Nameday to You" as the nameday cake, topped by a symbol and lighted candle, is brought to the table. Here are the prayers we say for St. Joan's feast: Father: Alleluia, alleluia. You have played a man's part and kept your courage high. The Lord gave you firmness of resolve and your name shall be ever blessed, alleluia (Jud. 15:11). All: Pray for us, St. Joan, holy woman that you are, and the Lord's true worshipper, alleluia. Father: What though I walk with the shadow of death all around me? All: I will not be afraid of any harm, for You are with me, Lord Jesus. Father: Let us pray. O God, who in a marvelous manner inspired Joan the maid to defend her faith and her country, grant at her intercession that Your Church may vanquish all her enemies and enjoy abiding peace. Through Christ, our Lord. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! In "Liturgical Piety" (Notre Dame University Press), Father Louis Bouyer gives a pattern of praising God that is suitable for nameday prayers. It consists of a psalm, a Collect, and a brief pause for the personal needs of the nameday child. (St. Benedict warns that personal prayers should be short in order to bring the mind to God and not leave it exposed to the danger of idle thoughts.) Psalm 150 Father: Praise the Lord in His sanctuary, praise Him for His firmament of strength. All: Praise Him for His mighty deeds, praise Him for His sovereign majesty. Father: Praise Him with the blast of trumpet, praise Him with lyre and harp. All: Praise Him with timbrel and dance, praise Him with strings and pipe. Father: Praise Him with sounding cymbals, praise Him with clanging cymbals. All: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Father: Let us pray. O Lord, You are the loveliest melody of our choir. You have commanded that the songs of our heart should be rendered now by wind instruments, now by strings: grant that while we are singing with spiritual desire, we may be admitted among the everlasting choirs and praise You together with all Your saints. All: Amen. A personal prayer for the nameday child is said aloud if he or she is small; for an older child the prayer may be mental. To this is added the prayer to the nameday child's patron saint. Some of these specific prayers are given throughout this book; others will be found in the "Common" for bishops, popes, martyrs, bishop-martyrs, virgins, virgin-martyrs, and confessors. When no prayer can be found, the following may be said: Father: Let us pray. Dear heavenly patron, whose name N.... is proud to bear, always pray to God for him (her) Confirm him (her), in the faith. Strengthen him (her) in virtue. Defend him (her) in the fight that he (she) may deserve to conquer the malignant foe and obtain eternal glory. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Girls who keep this feastday are Joan; Jeanne, Jehanne, and Jeannette (French); Juanita and Nita (Spanish); Johanne and Hanne (German); Giovanna, from which Yvonne is derived (Italian); Jovanna (Portuguese); Ivanne (Russian); Jenny and Jesse (Scottish); and Siobhan (Irish). St. Joan of Arc's shield, which a child may make for her home shrine or family altar, has a white field, gold fleur-de-lis, and the words, "Jesus, Mary." The fleur-de-lis, emblem of the kings of France, may be cut from gold paper or foil. The arrow which pierced our saint's breast and thigh in the two battles which she led is also suggested as a symbol. The nameday dessert might appropriately be the lamb cake (see Lamb Cake) decorated with the fleur-de-lis or with the motto from her shield. To accomplish this we suggest "Cake-Mate," a gel that writes like a pencil on frosting (available in supermarkets or from MS, see Abbreviations); or you may use gummed letters available at most stationery stores. The flambe dessert (see Cherries Jubliee) could also be used, or the crown cake given below. We found a picture of St. Joan of Arc in a back issue of "Realite," a French magazine. Later, after the picture had been punctured by pinholes in a game of "pin the symbol on the saint," we found a ceramic wall decoration of St. Joan by Oudin imported from France for $20.00 (from CCA, see Abbreviations); this is an object of art as well as devotion. A miniature figure (not a statue) of Joan of Arc for about $6.00, a charming nameday gift, comes from RC (see Abbreviations). The Little Art Shop (LAS, see Abbreviations) carries Roualt's Joan of Arc, a reproduction of modern art, and medals by Fernand Py ranging from $1.50 to $8.00. CCA (see Abbreviations) has a handsome statue which is fairly costly but a treasure to last a lifetime. Bastien LePage's Joan of Arc can be obtained for $.50 from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA, see Abbreviations). CROWN CAKE This is the ideal nameday dessert. The crown is considered a mark of victory or distinction for all those who have attained heaven. In this sense the Crown Cake can be used on the feast of any saint or blessed, for, according to the vision of St. John, the saints in glory wear crowns upon their heads (Apoc. 2:10; 4:4). To make a Crown Cake you will need: cake flour milk* baking powder orange extract salt almond extract sugar eggs shortening *With vegetable shortening use 3/4 cup of milk; with butter or margarine, use 1/2 cup of milk. Measure into a sifter 3 cups of sifted cake flour, 2 teaspoons of double-acting baking powder, 1-1/2 teaspoons of salt, and 1-3/4 cups of sugar. Measure into a mixing bowl 1 cup of shortening. Measure into a cup the milk, which will vary according to the shortening. To it add 3/4 teaspoon of orange extract and 3/4 teaspoon of almond extract. Have ready 3 eggs and 1 egg yolk unbeaten. Mix by hand or with an electric mixer. Count only the actual beating time or strokes. Scrape the bowl and beaters or spoon often. Stir the shortening just to soften. Sift in the dry ingredients. Add milk and mix until all the flour is dampened. Then beat for 2 minutes at low speed with your mixer, or 300 vigorous strokes by hand. Add the eggs and 1 yolk and beat 1 minute longer with the mixer or 150 strokes by hand. Pour the batter into a lightly greased and floured 9-inch tube pan. Bake in a moderate oven (375 degrees) for 1 hour or until done. Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Then loosen from the sides of the pan with a spatula or knife. Turn right side up on a cake rack to cool before frosting. Place the cooled cake on a large plate with the wide base upright. This is a basic recipe and may be used to bake a nameday cake in any tin you have available. MAKING A CROWN To make a crown, cut 2 strips of thin cardboard about 20 inches long and 7/8 inch wide. We use yellow cardboard. Bend each strip downward in the middle. Around the sides of the cake cut 4 narrow slits, equidistant from each other and about 1-1/2 inches up from the base. Place 1 strip of cardboard across the cake, bend the ends securely inward, and insert the ends in the slits in the opposite side of the cake to fasten securely. Place the second strip at right angles to the first, and insert the ends in the cake in the same manner. If necessary, tie the strips together in the center with a fine thread. Cut a circle from cardboard and place over the center hole in the top of the cake. Make a seven- minute frosting (recipe follows), using 2 egg whites. Spread over the top of the cake and down the sides to within 1-1/2 inches from the bottom. Make a half recipe of seven-minute frosting, using 1 egg white and beating only 4 minutes. Tint with a few drops of yellow food coloring. Use this yellow frosting to cover the upper and underside of the cardboard strips and to frost around the base. Reserve a small amount for decorations. At the base, bring the yellow frosting up in the form of triangles, making 3 triangles in each of the four sections formed by the cardboard strips. Have the center triangle in each section extend to the top of the cake. Outline the edges of the cardboard strips and the triangles with silver dragees. Place a square, clear, bright-colored candy (we use "Charms") on each triangle and at the base of the cardboard strips to resemble jewels. Then place a silver dragee at the four corners of every candy. Place 4 more candies on each cardboard strip. For the center of the crown use a flat red lollypop which has been removed from its stick. Make a Maltese cross on each flat side with some of the reserved yellow frosting and decorate with pieces of silver dragees. With a small amount of frosting, fasten 2 long silver dragees to the side edges of the lollypop and a large dragee at the top to resemble pearls. Then fasten the lollypop to the intersection of the cardboard strips with more frosting. Sprinkle shredded coconut over the white frosted areas of and around the base of the cake. Scatter chocolate chips in coconut at the base at 2-inch intervals to resemble ermine. The "Crown Cake" requires a good deal of time. If a mother is in a hurry, it is better to make a crown cake by adding a gold-paper crown to an ordinary store cake, or to bake a cake mix and add a crown of gumdrops. A little child will enjoy these too. CROSS CAKE The Crown Cake recipe on may be doubled for a Cross Cake. The Seven-Minute Frosting is used on it. SEVEN-MINUTE FROSTING egg whites cream of tartar sugar light corn syrup water vanilla Place in the top of a double boiler and beat until thoroughly blended 2 egg whites, 1-1/2 cups of sugar, 5 tablespoons of cold water teaspoon of cream of tartar, and 1-1/2 teaspoons of light corn syrup. Put these ingredients over rapidly boiling water. Beat constantly with a rotary beater or with a wire whisk for 7 minutes. Remove the icing from the fire. Add 1-1/4 teaspoons of vanilla and continue beating until the frosting is of the right consistency to spread. KUGELHUPF For this traditional German nameday cake you will need: milk flour water raisins sugar lemon rind salt eggs butter or margarine For pan: butter or margarine bread crumbs or finely blanched almonds ground almonds Pour into a mixing bowl 1/2 cup of scalded milk and cool until warm. While the milk cools, sprinkle 1 package of active or 1 cake of compressed dry yeast into some warm water in a cup. (Crumble compressed yeast into lukewarm water.) Stir until dissolved. To the milk in the bowl add 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1-1/2 cups of sifted flour. Mix well. Add the dissolved yeast and beat until smooth. Add 2 eggs and beat thoroughly. If you prefer, beat the eggs first in a separate bowl. Add 1/2 cup of melted and cooled butter or margarine. Stir in 1-1/4 cups more of flour. Then beat the batter for about 5 minutes (an electric mixer set at a moderate speed is good for this). With a rubber scraper scrape the batter down from the side of the bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 1- 1/2 hours). While the batter rises, prepare the baking pan. Use either a Kugelhupf mold (from MS, see Abbreviations) or two one- pint molds, or a 7-inch angel food cake pan. Rub the inside of the pan generously with 1 tablespoon of butter or margarine. Then sprinkle 2 tablespoons of fine bread crumbs or finely ground almonds into the pan. Shake it to coat the whole inside of the pan with crumbs. Arrange 15 or 16 almonds in a design in the bottom of the pan. When the batter has doubled, stir it down. Mix in 1/2 cup of chopped raisins and 1 teaspoon of grated lemon rind. Carefully spoon the batter on top of the almonds so as not to spoil your design. When all the batter is in the pan, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 1-1/4 hours). Bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) for 45 to 50 minutes. Look at the cake after it has baked for 15 minutes; if it is turning brown, lay a piece of clean brown wrapping paper over the top for the rest of the baking period. This is a rich batter and browns easily. When done, turn out of the pan onto a wire cake rack. If you wish, dust lightly with confectioner's sugar. To make a design on the top of the cake, lay a scalloped lace doily on the cake and sift confectioner's sugar over it. Lift the doily carefully and pour the extra sugar back into the container Mary Thou art God's sky, in which the Sun arose: Thou art His moon the window of His light. Thou art God's earth God in thee taking root; God's seed: He was thy tree; God's tree...thy fruit. Thou art God's spring jetting out Life; God's river-bed through which His torrent rushed; God's sea in which He spawned His sacred Fish; God's oyster secreting the pearl of Christ. God's lake His cloud rose from to rain on earth; God's cloud: by Him from thee was lightning struck; God's lightning blazing the encumbered heaven; God's heaven, for heaven's where's God.3 The name Mary. Loved in a hundred forms in song, poetry and the history of earth and heaven, Mary is the name of the Mother of God, of saints and of queens. Mary is a form of Miriam, who was the sister of the great biblical leader Moses. The Irish form is Maire or Moira (often spelled Maura), and the diminutives Moreen and Maureen. The Polish form is Marya; Bavarian, Marla; French, Marie and Manon. In Latin, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, and German the name is Maria (the Spanish also have Marita and Mariquita). Other variations include Muriel, an Irish form used for "Star of the Sea," Marietta, Marilla, Mamie, Marion, Molly, May, Minnie, and Marelle. Marianne and Marian are from the Italian form Marianna, honoring both our Lady and her mother St. Anne. Of course, many of the saints and beatified, both men and women, bore some form of the name Mary, e.g., Mary Rose, Mary Frances, Mary Cleophas, Mary Bartholmea, Mary Magdalen, Maria Goretti, and Miriana de Parides, the "Lily of Quito." Among the men saints are Louis Mary of Montfort, Alphonsus Mary Liguori, Peter Mary Chanel, the Marist martyr, Clement Mary Hofbauer, second founder of the Redemptorists, and Gabriel Mary (Friar Gol). Other male derivatives include Gilmary, Gilmore, Melmore or Myles, all meaning "servant of Mary." Other Mary names. Because of Mary's unique dignity, Catholic parents are fond of naming their children after her. In our family it is customary to give some form of the name to each girl: Immaculata in honor of the Immaculate Conception; Carmel for the Madonna de Carmine; and Myles for the Virgin of the Assumption. Even the feasts and mysteries and shrines in her honor are used as names. Once in a beauty parlor we heard one of the beauticians called Monsy. Knowing that she was of Spanish extraction, we asked what her name meant. "Montserrat, in honor of the Virgin of Montserrat," she replied. Montserrat, a Benedictine abbey in Spain, is the home of Spain's most celebrated shrine, La Morenta or the "Little Black Madonna." An expensive but exceptional statue of the Black Madonna is available from JU (see Abbreviations). We also know of a Puerto Rican girl called Sara. When she signed her name she wrote Saragossa. This is the name of the city where the shrine of Our Lady of Saragossa, called Our Lady of the Pillar, is located. Legend claims that the Blessed Mother appeared to the Apostle James here. Under the title Nuestra Senora del Pilar, Mary is honored by girls called Pilar. Girls named Loretta keep their nameday on the feast of Our Lady of Loreto and of the translation of the holy house of Nazareth to Italy. Mabel and Amy honor Mary as Mater Amabilis; Alma, as Alma Redemptoris Mater. In our great cities we also hear Spanish names which are derived from the liturgical titles and attributes of Blessed Mary. Girls called Cary (for Caridad) honor Our Lady of Charity; Luz, Our Lady of Light; Concetta, Concepcion, and Concha, the Immaculate Conception, Pura, Virgin Most Pure; Consuelo, Our Lady of Consolation; Victoria, Our Lady of Victory; and Stella, Star of the Sea. Sometimes these children bear American first names, but their baptismal names are bestowed for feasts of Our Lady, such as Natividad for her birth as a Jewish child and lineal descendant of the royal family of David; or Anunciacion, Visitacion, and Assunta, for events in her life. Because of the devotion of these people to patron saints, a wide variety of nameday greeting cards are available in the greeting- card stores of big cities. We have a friend called Farida, whose name, according to the Syrian custom, expresses an attribute of the Mother of God. Farida refers to Mary's "uniqueness" or Immaculate Conception. Thus Farida (or even Frida) keeps December 8 as her nameday. In the Maronite rite of Farida's people, the names Kamala and Jamala are also given, the first in honor of Mary's perfection, and the second in honor of her beauty. Events connected with Mary's patronage over the Church prompt various names also. Thus in honor of the Virgin of Mount Carmel we have the Italian name Carmine or Carmelo, Imogene, we were told, is given in honor of Our Lady of Limoge in France, Nieves honors Our Lady of the Snow; Mercedes, the apparition of Our Lady of Ransom. Children called Rosario and Rosemary keep the feast of the Virgin of the Most Holy Rosary. Lourdes and Mary Bernadette commemorate the miraculous apparitions of the Immaculate Conception to Bernadette Soubirous. "The Immaculate Conception had a youthful appearance and was clothed in a pure white gown and mantle with an azure blue girdle. A golden rose adorned each of her feet"-- these were Bernadette's words describing Our Lady. Her patronage may be extended to many girls with unusual names. For instance, the Franciscan feast of the Joys of Mary gives rise to the names Joy, Joyce, Letitia, and Lettice. The Mother of Sorrows Mater Dolorosa, protects not only Dolores and Adolorata, but also Pieta and Pia. The birthday of Mother Mary, "Lily of Israel," is the nameday for Lily and Lillian. As Our Lady of Hope she is the patron of girls named Hope, Spes, Nada, and Nadine. Mary Star of the Sea is a patroness of Stella, Muriel, Astrid, Astra, Esther, and Estelle. Cara or Caritas celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Charity; Vickie, Victory, and Victorine, Our Lady of Victory; Neva and Nieves, Our Lady of the Snow, whose feast is a commemoration of the apparition and invitation by the Virgin to a Roman to build a church on a site indicated by snow in August. There are girls' names meaning "white" in every language--Alba, Gwen, Bianca, Blanche, Candida; their nameday is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Donna may choose the "Lady Day," March 25, as her nameday, for the name means "lady." SUGGESTIONS FOR MARY'S FEASTS "There is nothing which gives more joy to my heart, yet nothing which inspires me with more fear than to treat of the glory of the Virgin Mother." Whoever attempts the theme of the Mother of God must feel as St. Bernard did when he wrote these lines. Catholics pay to Mary the highest homage bestowed upon a creature because she is the Mother of God. "Hyperdulia" is the technical name for the homage paid her; of course, it is infinitely below that paid to God. As Mother of His Son, she has been raised to the fullness of grace. To study the lessons in the life of Mary, to praise God for the graces conferred upon her and the blessings which He has bestowed upon the world through her, to recommend our needs to so powerful an advocate--for these reasons are festivals celebrated in her honor. Some of them should be kept by families even when they do not have a nameday to celebrate on the feast. Very beautiful icons and devotional statues of Our Lady are available from St. Leo's Shop (SL, see Abbreviations). Many of these are reproductions of renowned art, while others are original works by the noted liturgical artist, Ade Bethune. THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION December 8 The singular privilege of Mother Mary's Immaculate Conception stands out as a splendid light at the beginning of her earthly journey. On this day is celebrated the grace by which she, alone of human creatures, was exempt from original sin and filled with grace from the first moment of her existence. "The Blessed Virgin Mary by an unique grace and privilege of almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, was in the first instant of conception preserved exempt from all stain of original sin," Pope Pius IX declared on December 8, 1854. In the Anglican "Book of Common Prayer" December 8 is listed as the "Conception of the Virgin Mary." Byzantine Catholics call the feast "The Child-begetting of the holy Anne, mother of the Mother of God." Many people erroneously believe that the feast refers to the virginal conception of our Lord by Mary, whereas it is Mary's own conception that is the object of this feast. The veneration of Mary as immaculately conceived is one of the most popular Marian devotions. She was declared patroness of the United States under this title by the First Council of Baltimore, eight years before the doctrine was defined. The poet Wordsworth's words come to mind when treating of this feast: Mother whose virgin bosom was uncrossed By any shade of thought to sin allied, Woman above all women glorified, Our tainted nature's solitary boast. Desserts and decorations. A crown cake with twelve stars (Apoc. 12:1) makes an appropriate nameday dessert today. The lily of the valley is the flower of the feast because of the whiteness of its flowers and the sweetness of its scent, a meaning based on the Canticle of Canticles (2:1): "I am a rose of Sharon and a lily of the valleys." Thus the feast becomes a nameday for Sharon, Lillian, and Rosemary if you wish, who honor Mary as the Lily of Israel, as well as for Mary Immaculate, Maria Immaculata, Alba, Farida, Concha, Concepcion, Gwen, Candida, Blanche, Bianca. We in the city force lily of the valley pips in order to have the flowers bloom for the feast. Lily of the valley symbols come in gummed seals to decorate nameday place-cards, paper plates, or even white frosting on cakes or cupcakes. An artistic mother or the local baker can add the symbol to the nameday cake with frosting. "Sixty-five Buttercream Flowers," a book by Richard Snyder, tells how to portray lilies of the valley in icing (available from MS, see Abbreviations). Ready-made lilies of the valley in icing are also available by mail (from MS; see Abbreviations). However, it's a great satisfaction to make one's own and gives a mother a chance to use her talents. Family Prayers. For today's nameday, families may pray the following from the breviary and missal: Father: Let us celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. All: Let us adore Christ the Lord, her Son. Father: This day a rod came forth out of the root of Jesse; this day Mary was conceived without any stain of sin; this day the head of the serpent was crushed by her. All: Alleluia. Father: From a homily of St. Jerome: The nature and greatness of the glorious and blessed Mary ever Virgin were revealed by God in the message of the angel: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women." It was fitting that the Virgin should be endowed with such gifts as to be full of grace, for she it is who has given to heaven glory, to the earth the Lord to the world peace, to the nations faith; she it is who has put an end to vice, brought harmony into life and purity into morals. All the holy patriarchs received grace, yet it was not in its fullness; to Mary was infused the plenitude of grace which is Christ. This is the reason the angel said: "Blessed art thou among women." Thus the curse incurred by Eve was totally removed by Mary's blessing. It is in praise of her that Solomon says in the Song of Songs: "Come, my gentle one, come, my pure one." All: Thanks be to God. Hymn: IMMACULATE MARY. {Musical notation cannot be displayed in ASCII text.} 1. Immaculate Mary, your praises we sing. You reign now in splendor with Jesus our King. (Refrain) Refrain: Ave, Ave, Ave Maria! Ave, Ave Maria! 2. In heaven the blessed your glory proclaim, On earth we your children invoke your sweet name. (Refrain) 3. We pray for the Church, our true Mother on earth, And beg you to watch o'er the land of our birth. (Refrain) Mother: Let us pray. Through the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, O Lord, You prepared a worthy dwelling-place for Your Son; You preserved the Virgin from all stain by letting her benefit in advance, from the sacrifice of the Cross. We entreat You: may her intercession purify our souls and help us to come into Your presence. Through the same Christ our Lord. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Small walnut plaques of the Immaculate Conception, handmade by the Carmelite nuns of Japan; can be bought for $3.50; also available is Tiepolo's Immaculate Virgin for $4.00 (from LAS; see Abbreviations). OUR LADY OF LORETO December 10 Nameday of Loretta, Lorinda, and Lori. Father: Alleluia, alleluia! How blessed, Lord, are those who dwell in Your house. All: They will be ever praising You, alleluia. Father: Let us pray. O God, in Your mercy You sanctified the Blessed Virgin Mary's house by the mystery of the Word-made-flesh and miraculously placed it in the heart of Christendom; grant that we may shun places that are the occasion of sin and become worthy to dwell in Your own holy house. Through the same Christ our Lord. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Dessert. In honor of the Holy House of Loreto, a house cake-mold can be purchased in family size for about $1.50 (from MS; see Abbreviations). To avoid leakage, we line the roof with aluminum foil when we use this mold. A ready to assemble honey-cake house with instructions for decorating costs about $2.00 (from MS, see Abbreviations). One can also buy a house-cake booklet for $.25, and a green grass mat, tissue cut to resemble grass, for $.35; neither is necessary, but fun to have (available from MS, see Abbreviations). Other suggestions. Medals of Our Lady of Loreto are available at prices ranging from $1.50 to $10.00; they are inscribed: "Pray for us who fly" (from LAS; see Abbreviations). A fine print that can be framed comes in the book "Il Caravaggio" by Aldo Martello Editore, Milan (available from RC; see Abbreviations). OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE December 12 Nameday for Guadalupe, Lupe, or a Mary born on this day. Father: Alleluia, alleluia. The flowers have appeared in our land. All: The time of pruning has come, alleluia. Father: Let us pray. O God, You have placed us under the special patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary and through her You have favored us with endless blessings. May we who joyfully honor her this day on earth enjoy her company forever in heaven. Through Christ our Lord. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Suggestions. The symbol for this feast is the rose to commemorate the appearance of Our Lady of the Americas at Guadalupe, Mexico in 1531, to a poor Indian peasant called Juan Diego. It was by means of roses growing in winter that our Lady indicated the site where she wished a church to be built. Delicate white edible roses an inch in diameter may be procured for about $.55 a dozen to decorate candy, cupcakes, or a nameday cake for this feast; larger yellow roses cost $.65 a dozen (available from MS; see Abbreviations). The rose cake is also appropriate (see Rose Petal Coconut Cake). The Liturgical Press offers 6 x 9 prints of Our Lady of Guadalupe for $.30 apiece, and also a pack of 100 holy cards for $1.25 (LP, see Abbreviations). THE PURIFICATION OF OUR LADY February 2 Nameday of Pura, Maria or Mary born or baptized on this feast, which commemorates the presentation of the Child Jesus in the temple and the purification of our Lady. Family Prayers. Since this feast is also called Candlemas Day, the day on which the Church blesses the candles used at home, it would be fitting to hold them lighted during today's prayers. Father: Behold, the Lord and Ruler is come to His holy temple. All: Rejoice and be glad in meeting your God, Sion. Father: An aged man carried the Child, but the Child guided he aged man. All: The Virgin who had given birth to Him remained a Virgin after childbearing. Him whom she bore she adored. Father: Let us pray. O almighty and everlasting God, we humbly beseech You that as Your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in the substance of our flesh, so too You would grant us to be presented to You with purified souls. Through the same Christ, our Lord. Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Hymn: A recording of the Magnificat and Canticle of Simeon can be bought for $2.50 from GI, see Abbreviations. Dessert. Tradition tells us that the burning bush which Moses saw ("the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed"--Ex. 3:2) was a symbol of Mary's virginity and motherhood--because the bush remained inviolate even though bearing the flames. In her honor today prepare a flambe dessert (see Cherries Jubliee), perhaps in a chafing dish, although a frying pan does equally well. A candle in a cupcake is an effective dessert, provided mother reminds her children that they, like Jesus, are born and baptized to be a light to the world. A pair of doves brings out the symbolism of Joseph's offering in the temple. Icing doves an inch in size cost about $.75 for 20 (from MS; see Abbreviations). These tiny white birds will enhance a child's nameday cake, cupcakes, or petits fours. APPARITION OF THE IMMACULATE VIRGIN AT LOURDES February 11 Nameday for Marian, Marion, Lourdes, and Mary Bernadette, on the anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. Father: Let us celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. All: Let us adore Christ the Lord, her Son. Father: Arise, my love, my fair one, and come, my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall. All: Show me but your face, let me but hear your word. Father: Let us pray. O God, by the Virgin's Immaculate Conception You prepared a fitting dwelling-place for Your Son. We humbly pray that we who are celebrating her apparition at Lourdes may obtain health of mind and body. Through the same Christ, our Lord. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Hymn: IMMACULATE MARY, Lourdes Hymn, see Immaculate Conception. Dessert. A cake decorated with a rosary made of silver dragees on the frosting, or a frosted crown cake with twelve gold stars or gummed star seals is suggested. A reading of Apocalypse (12:1) tells your child why twelve stars crown the dessert. The Mass of today's feast provides suitable texts for place- cards. "And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars" (Epistle). The Gradual verse recalls the grotto of the apparition: "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come, my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall." Suggestions. You may purchase a small hand-painting of Our Lady of Lourdes done on Japanese walnut by the Carmelite nuns of Japan for about $3.50 (from LAS; see Abbreviations). A medal of Our Lady of Lourdes by Fernand Py comes in two sizes for $1.50 and $8.00 (from RC; see Abbreviations). Under this title Our Lady is invoked against bodily ills. "Bernadette and the Lady" by H. Pauli is a book that would make a good nameday gift for a Mary or Bernadette (about $2.00 from FSC; see Abbreviations). Beautiful statues of the Virgin and Bernadette come from CCA (see Abbreviations); they are expensive but worth it. The Lourdes Hymn is included in the album "Hymns through the Centuries," available at $4.75 (from GI, see Abbreviations). THE ANNUNCIATION (LADY DAY) March 25 This is the nameday of Maria Annunciata, Mary, Anunciacion Donna, and Ancilla, names for girls born around this feast. Ancilla means "handmaid" and commemorates Our Lady's words: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." The Divine Office for the feast of the Annunciation commemorates Mary's "fiat": "In that instant the Word of God became forever united to manhood; produced from nothing, the soul joined to Christ Jesus begins to enjoy God and to know all things past, present and to come. At that moment God begins to have a Worshipper who is infinite, and the world a Mediator who is omnipotent; while to the working of this great mystery Mary alone is chosen to cooperate by her free assent." Her "fiat," "Be it done unto me according to Your word," expresses perfect cooperation of a human will with the divine, and sums up the whole content of a life in union with God. Nameday prayers may well begin with the hymn: HAIL, THOU STAR OF OCEAN. {Musical notation cannot be displayed in ASCII text.} 1. Hail, thou Star of ocean, God's own Mother blest; Ever stainless Virgin, Gate of heav'nly rest! Taking that sweet Ave, Gabriel spoke of yore, Eva's name reversing, Peace for us implore. 2. Break the bonds of sinners, Lend us light to see; All our guilt expelling, Plead our ev'ry plea; Show thyself our Mother; May thy Son divine, born for our salvation, Grant our prayers through thine. Father: Be not afraid, Mary. All: God has selected you and chosen you. Father: The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, Mary. All: And the power of the Most High shall overshadow you. Father: The Angel Gabriel spoke to Mary, saying: All: Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Father: Blessed art thou among women. All: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to Your word. Mother: From a homily of St. Ambrose. Into her presence the angel came. That she was a virgin, learn from her behavior, learn from her modesty, learn from the announcement made to her, learn from the very mystery itself. Would that girls would imitate this example of modesty. And the angel greeted her. For it was fitting that an angel and no man should utter the mystery of so sublime a message. Today for the first time are heard the words: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you." They are heard and believed. Then Mary answers: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to Your Word." Mark her humility. Mark her piety. All: Thanks be to God. Father: Let us pray. O God, You willed that at the message of an angel Your Word should take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Grant to Your suppliants that we who believe her to be truly the Mother of God may be aided by her intercession before You. Through the same Christ, our Lord. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Hymn: THERE WAS A MAIDEN (Grail recording available from GR, see Abbreviations). Recipes and decorations. There are two symbols associated with this feast. The first, the lily, is well known, the second, the stork Christians have long forgotten to associate with Our Lady. This is the time to hunt up the stork used for your last baby shower. Place it atop a nameday cake and explain the symbolism. the stork denotes piety and chastity. It is associated with the Annunciation because as the stork announces the coming of spring, so the annunciation to Mary indicates the coming of Christ. The northern European tradition that newborn babies are carried to their mothers by the stork is a late derivation from its association with the Annunciation. The lily is the flower of the Annunciation. In Renaissance paintings the Angel Gabriel holds a lily, or a lily is placed in a vase between him and the Virgin Mary. A box of ten lilies to make a spray for the nameday cake should be at hand (available from MS, see Abbreviations). Gummed seals in a lily design are used to decorate place-mats, napkins, and candy or nut cups; such seals are available in stationery stores To carry out the lily theme for this feastday we suggest Lily Sandwiches for lunch or for the nameday party. LILY SANDWICHES cream cheese bread cream salt and paprika carrot green pepper Combine and work into a paste three 3-oz. packages of cream cheese with two to four tablespoons of cream, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of paprika. Remove crusts from 20 slices of bread. Roll into cornucopia shapes by bringing two straight edges together and letting them overlap. Hold the edges together with additional cheese. Press them gently. Roll and chill before filling with cream cheese mixture. Insert into each lily formed a thin strip of carrot. Cut into leaf shape a green pepper. Attach a leaf or two with cheese to sides of the lily. Chill sandwiches before serving. The Annunciation and Mary's virginity. We tell our children the firm and constant belief of the Church that Our Lady remained a spotless Virgin. As the special Preface provided for Mary's feasts puts it: "The glory of virginity still abiding with her, she shed upon the world the everlasting Light." Children understand Our Lady's virginity when we explain to them that as light passes through crystal without harming it, so did Jesus, the Light of the world, who is from eternity, shine upon His creation when He visited the earth. His Virgin Mother did not suffer harm or pain in her childbearing when Emmanuel passed from the resting-place He had chosen to dwell in before bestowing His visible presence upon His own. Mary was His way to earth from heaven when He came to us, "skipping over the hills, leaping over the mountains." Art suggestions. The National Gallery of Art (NGA, see Abbreviations) has reproductions of the "Annunciation" from the Master of the Barber Panels for $.25. There are also originals painted on Japanese walnut by the Carmelite nuns of Japan available for about $3.50 and $6.50 (from LAS, see Abbreviations). Other reproductions include Benedetto Bonfigli's "Virgin of the Annunciation," a fifteenth-century Italian, painting for about $4.00, and Angelico's "The Annunciation." THE SEVEN SORROWS OF MARY Friday after Passion Sunday Nameday of Dolores, Maria Adolorata, Dolorita, Dolora, Pieta, and Pia. Father: As we recall the sorrows of the glorious Virgin. All: Come, let us adore the Lord who suffered for us. Hymn: STABAT MATER (this hymn is included in "Hymns through the Centuries," a $4.75 recording available from GI, see Abbreviations). Father: From a homily of St. Bernard: Do not be surprised that Mary is said to have been a martyr in spirit. Why are you more surprised to see Mary suffering with her Son than to see Mary's Son suffering? He, it is true, was able to die in body; could not she die with Him in spirit? All: It was for our sins that He was wounded, it was guilt of ours that crushed Him down. By His bruises we were healed (Is. 53:5). Father: Let us pray. O God, at whose passion, as Simeon foretold, a sword of sorrow pierced the sweet soul of Mary Your Virgin Mother, grant that we who revere her by calling to mind her anguish and sufferings may through the pleading of all the saints who stand loyally beside Your Cross secure the happiness which Your own sufferings have gained for us. You live and reign forever. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Desserts and decorations. The heart pierced with a sword is a symbol of devotion under conditions of extreme trial. In reading about Marian symbols, we discovered that our favorite winged heart pierced by a sword, in St. Vincent Ferrer Church, New York, is also one of the best representations of its kind. A heart-shaped dessert with red roses is suitable for the nameday party. The cake may be baked in a heart-shaped tin (from MS, see Abbreviations) or cut out of an oval cake (see Heart Cake). In Christian symbolism the red rose signifies martyrdom. Inch-sized red roses of sugar icing may be ordered by mail, twelve for $1.00 (from MS, see Abbreviations). Decorations for this feast are the heart pierced by a sword (or arrow), red roses, and a spring flower, the iris. The name "iris" means "sword-lily," an allusion to Mother Mary's sorrows; the flower is used as her symbol by Flemish painters. Another plant for Dolores is the cyclamen, early dedicated to Mary's sorrowing heart because of the red spot at the heart of the flower. (Burpee Seeds have cyclamen house-plants that can be grown by a Dolores for her nameday. It takes a year for the plant to flower.) The medal for today's nameday child is Our Lady of Sorrows, invoked for courage against adversity (about $2.00 from LAS, see Abbreviations). Sassaferrato's "Mater Dolorosa" is reproduced on a wooden plaque costing about $2.00 and makes an exceptional little nameday gift (from CCA, see Abbreviations). MARY, MOTHER OF GRACE April 4 Nameday of Grace, Maria Gracia, and the Gaelic, Grania. Father: Alleluia, alleluia. Jesse's rod has blossomed; a maiden has borne the incarnate God. All: God has restored peace, in His own person reconciling the lowest with the highest, alleluia (Num. 17:8). Father: Let us pray. O God, who conferred upon mankind, through the fruitful virginity of Blessed Mary, the grace of regeneration, grant that we who claim her on earth as Mother of grace may ever enjoy the happiness of fellowship with her in heaven. Through Christ our Lord. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! An original large statue of Mary, Mother of Grace, imported from Ireland, may be specially ordered from CCA (see Abbreviations); they also carry statues of Our Lady of Grace, imported from Germany ($6.00). REGINA CAELI Say, did his sisters wonder what could Joseph see In a mild, silent little Maid like thee? And was it awful, in that narrow house With God for Babe and Spouse? Nay like thy simple, female sort, each one Nothing to thee came strange in this Thy wonder was but wondrous bliss: Wondrous, for, though True Virgin lives not but does know (Howbeit none ever yet confess'd) That God lies really in her breast Of thine He made His special nest! And so All mothers worship little feet, And kiss the very ground they've trod; But, ah, thy little Baby sweet Who was indeed thy God! --Coventry Patmore THE QUEENSHIP OF MARY May 31 Nameday of Regina, Gina, Reine, Virginia. Father: Come, let us adore Mary's Son, alleluia. All: O Virgin now our Queen, O'er all creation thou dost tower, And every form of loveliness In rich abundance is thy dower. Adorned with merits numberless Give heed to us as now we sing, And in thy gladness, pray, accept The humble homage we would bring. Father: From the encyclical of Pope Pius XII: From the monuments of Christian antiquity and prayers of the liturgy in short, from all sides, we have gathered evidence affirming the pre-eminence of the Virgin Mother of God in her royal dignity. By our apostolic authority we have therefore decided to institute a feast of Mary the Queen which is to be celebrated throughout the world each year on the thirty-first day of May. All: Thanks be to God. Hymn: HAIL, HOLY QUEEN ENTHRONED ABOVE. {Musical notation cannot be displayed in ASCII text.} 1. Hail, holy Queen enthroned above, Salve Regina! Hail Queen of mercy, Queen of love, Salve Regina! (Refrain) Refrain: Sing her praise, ye Cherubim! Join our song, ye Seraphim! Heav'n and earth resound the hymn: Salve, Salve, Salve Regina! 2. Our life, our sweetness here below, Salve Regina! From you all grace and comfort flow, Salve Regina! (Refrain) 3. Our Advocate with God on high, Salve Regina! To you our pleading voices cry, Salve Regina! (Refrain) Father: Let us pray. Grant, O Lord, to us who keep the festival of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Queen, that under the shelter of her protection we may become worthy to enjoy peace in this life and glory in the life to come. Through Christ, our Lord. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Desserts and decorations. If a mother has time, the crown cake is ideal. However, a small child will enjoy building a gumdrop crown or cutting a gold paper crown for any cake baked in a tube pan. Small gold crowns to be used on napkins, place-mats, or even on the cake can be purchased, ten for about $1.00, from Party Bazaar (PB, see Abbreviations). Crowns are easy to draw and children should be encouraged to produce their own art work. If you have an inexpensive picture of the Virgin, perhaps from a calendar, blindfolded children will enjoy "pinning the crown" on their Queen during a nameday party. "Queen" napkins for $.35 are available from MS (see Abbreviations); the same company also carries a crown topped by a cross for the nameday child ($1.00) and gold foil crowns for guests (12 for $.75). Filippo Lippi's "The Coronation of the Virgin" may be obtained in two sizes ($.25 and $4.50) from the National Gallery of Art (NGA, see Abbreviations). Your local museum might have a reproduction for your purpose. The "fleur de lis," a variety of lily and an emblem of royalty, is the particular symbol for this feast. Mother Mary's altar- shrine can be decorated as a throne to signify her Queenship. We use gold paper or gold corduroy in place of velvet. Medals appropriate for this feast are Queen of the Stars and Queen of Peace (from LAS, see Abbreviations). The same source has a fifteenth-century "Madonna Enthroned and Saints" by Mantegna for about $4.00, as well as "The Coronation of the Virgin" by Angelico. An idea for a nameday gift is the record "Our Mother Mary" narrated by Janet of the Lennon Sisters ($1.49 from SSJ, see Abbreviations). The hymn "Hail, Holy Queen" is included in the album "Hymns Through the Centuries" ($4.75 from GI, see Abbreviations). THE VISITATION July 2 Nameday for Marybeth, Betty Marie, Marie Violette, Mary Elizabeth, Mary Viola, Moreen Eilese (Irish), Visitacion (Spanish), Marie Giselle and Marie Isabelle (French), Mary Ishbel (Scottish), and Maria Elizabetta (Italian). Father: Let us celebrate the Virgin Mary's visit to Elizabeth. All: Let us adore her Son, Christ the Lord. Hymn: O MARY OF GRACES. {Musical notation cannot be displayed in ASCII text.} 1. O Mary of graces And Mother of God, May I tread in the paths That the righteous have trod. And mayest thou save me from Evil's control, And mayest thou save me In body and soul. 2. And mayest thou save me By land and by sea, And mayest thou save me from tortures to be. May the guard of the Angels above me abide, May God be before me and God be at my side. Father: This day the Blessed Virgin Mary of the family of David visited her cousin Elizabeth. All: Most devoutly let us celebrate the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Father: Let us pray. Bestow on Your servants, O Lord, the gift of heavenly grace, that as the childbearing of the Blessed Virgin was the beginning of our salvation, so the solemn festival of her Visitation may bring us an increase of peace. Through Christ our Lord. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Holy Scripture (Luke 1:39-47) tells how Our Lady, bearing the God-man within her, hurried to meet her cousin Elizabeth. Hearing her praise, Mary answered in that wonderful song we call the Magnificat, the most perfect thanksgiving and praise for the incarnation of the Son of God and a most precious monument of Mary's humility. She praises God with all the powers of her soul and gives glory to Him alone. This hymn should have a place in all nameday prayers on Mary's feasts. A parent trying to paraphrase it for a child might say: "I am thankful to God and I rejoice with a holy joy for the great favors which God has granted me, His humble servant. By reason of His goodness to me, I shall be admired and honored forever. I rejoice because of the wondrous miracle wrought in me by the Almighty, who is all-holy." Dessert and decorations. This nameday suggests a heart-shaped dessert (see Heart Cake) because of Mother Mary's charity and because the heart in art is considered to be the source of understanding, love, courage, devotion and joy. Its deep religious meaning is expressed in 1 Sam. 16:7. "The Visitation" in blue and white by Lauren Ford comes in a small 4-1/2 x 6 pyraglass plaque (about $3.25), an ideal nameday gift for a godparent to give (available from LAS, see Abbreviations). Your local museum may have a print of the Visitation for under a dollar. Contemporary Christian Art has a small Grunewald reproduction on a plaque for about $2.00 (CCA, see Abbreviations). The National Gallery of Art has Fra Angelico's "Madonna of Humility" as an 8 x 10 print laminated with clear plastic for $1.25 (NGA, see Abbreviations). "Our Lady of the Violet" by Stephan Lochner (a picture for Viola or Violet) may be seen in Volume IX, p. 320 of the "Catholic Encyclopedia." The print can be specially ordered (from LAS, see Abbreviations). This feast recalls Mary's great humility. In honor of her Magnificat musical symbols would be appropriate on a cake. Candied violets for a nameday cake can be found in the gourmet shops of large department stores. The violet is a symbol of humility; St. Bernard referred to Our Lady as the "violet of humility." MUSICAL CAKE Frost a cake baked in a round pan. Dot top of cake with chocolate morsels, points in, for base of musical notes. Melt 1/4 cup semi- sweet chocolate morsels over hot (not boiling) water. Force melted chocolate through decorating tube to make stems of notes. COMMEMORATION OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL July 16 Nameday of Carmel, Sharon, Althea, Carmen, Carmelita, Lita, Carmella, Carmine, and Carmelo. This patronal feast of the Carmelite Order is a nameday of our daughter. We had invoked Blessed Mary under this title for a baby girl by adoption and promised to name her Carmel. After the favor had been granted, we called the Carmelite Fathers in New York to find out the Gaelic form for Carmel. A soft Irish voice replied: "Wisha, you can't say Carmel in Gaelic. 'Tis a mount in the Holy Land, Ma'am." So Sheila Carmel became our daughter's name. On this day our family prayers are as follows: Father: All the majesty of Lebanon is bestowed on her. All: All the grace of Carmel and of Sharon, alleluia. Father: Your head is as erect as Carmel. All: Bright as royal purple the ripples of your hair, alleluia. Father: Let us pray. You were pleased, O God, to honor the Order of Carmel with the particular title of Mary ever Virgin and Mother; grant that we who this day celebrate her commemoration by a solemn nameday may be shielded by her protection and attain eternal joys. You live and reign forever. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! The Vigil of Mount Carmel in Little Italy. Because our daughter bears the name Carmel and is part Italian, we celebrate the vigil in Little Italy, where half a million people from far and near keep festival like a country fair for a week each year. In the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on the fringe of Harlem lights arch the streets and festoon lamp-posts like diamond necklaces. Families move large tables to the city streets and sit out to enjoy the music, dancing and food. Behind the chairs, city buses creep cautiously, close enough to scrape off the varnish, it seems. All along the tenemented streets vendors sell their wares. In booths stoves steam with oysters. The night is permeated with the pungent aromas of sizzling sausage and spicy pepper. From vats of bubbling fat pop golden zeppoles, fried doughballs, hot, sugared and tempting. Hawkers fly whistling birds and giant balloons. Others call out, "Tortoni, spumoni, nougats!" Torrone is stacked by the pound beside S-shaped gingerbread and pasta, the sweet cake of Pallo, on carts at street corners. With the peddlers' cries are mingled the music of Verdi from the bandstand, the squeals of children swaying on ferris wheels high above parking lots taken over for the feast, and the screech of a careening fire engine. In stalls along the streets are displayed tawdry medals and religious wares, bracelets, earrings, cuff- links marked with the emblem of the Virgin of Mount Carmel. In the street stalls near the church, candles four feet high, some symbolically decorated, are sold. Penitents bear them lighted in the ten-block parade on July 16. Inside the church we hear the praises of the Virgin in the liquid peasant accent of southern Italy. Great crowds walk slowly in line to the altars for scapulars, which are worn publicly during the feastdays. An offering is made at the altar. Beneath a picture of the Virgin are streamers, green with dollar bills pinned there by the faithful seeking favors from Our Lady and by penitents who crowd the church on the vigil. The Virgin of Mount Carmel stands on a throne of white and gold marble high above the altar with its sea of three-hundred vigil lights. She wears a white silk robe embroidered with real gold lace and sparkling gems; her Infant is dressed to match. Her hair is shoulder length, jet black and straight. Their crowns are gold and bear large emeralds set in diamonds, gifts of St. Pius X, who gave consent to the Virgin's coronation as an endorsement of her miracles. Once every twenty-five years the Virgin and Child are carried in the streets in a public celebration. White pigeons sprung from a cage precede the procession. The feastday itself. On the feastday proper we take our child (also part Irish) downtown to the Scapular Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel to attend solemn Vespers and Compline. Services over, the church gates are closed to the public and the street is barricaded to prepare for the procession. Toward evening the parade of Our Lady of Mount Carmel begins. Carmelite priests, their brown and white habits flying, head the procession up First Avenue, followed by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and bagpipers, whose stirring hymn, Faith of Our Fathers, gives the step. A giant drummer twirls and swirls his drumsticks as he leads the children of Carmel from 23rd Street up to 30th on First Avenue, then down Second Avenue to 28th Street. The Women's Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars prays in procession as it carries a gigantic rosary. Every bead is baseball size, each decade a half a block long. Irish cultural societies parade with accordion bands. Pipers lead Hibernians who have come to the sweltering city from Long Island and Connecticut to march in honor of the Virgin of Mount Carmel. Irish county associations bear the banners of little-known patron saints of Ireland. Last to parade are Third Order Carmelites, who wear wide brown badges, part of their habit. For seven hundred years the Gaels have followed Our Lady of Mount Carmel and their steadfast devotion to her is a tribute to the Carmelite Fathers. When the procession reaches East 28th Street, the bands strike their grandest airs. Waiting on the steps of the priory are a mitred bishop, resplendent in gold, and monsignori, sweltering in crimson as the broiling sun slants on the tenements and crowds. It is a thrilling sight to watch. "Let Erin remember the days of old e'er her faithless sons betrayed her," comes clear and strong from the bagpipes of one band. The next skirls an ancient Marian hymn as it proceeds to the church. Fourth-degree Knights of Columbus in plumed tricorns, crimson- lined capes and gleaming sabres prepare to follow the bands. Altar boys, cassocked in gold, swing lanterns uneasily in the oppressive heat as Carmelites, monsignori and the bishop enter the crowded East Side church. The sermon is short, for the night is hot. The choir could be better still, this is a tribute which the Virgin of Mount Carmel will most certainly accept. In the vestibule of the church, Knights, flag-bearers, kilted Irishmen and a motley congregation prepare to leave. On a pedestal Elias, the prophet, his arm outstretched with a torch, looks wild-eyed at this group who have honored his Lady of Mount Carmel. We take our daughter home. The antiphon of Mother Mary's feast keeps running through the mind: "All the majesty of Lebanon is bestowed on her, all the grace of Carmel and Sharon, alleluia!" Our dessert is a simple gold cake with a chocolate frosting, or a molded dessert (see "Bombe Carmen"), or a panettoni cake bought from hawkers at the vigil. Suggestions. Small reproductions of a modern Virgin of Mount Carmel, depicted with effective symbolism by a contemporary Irish artist, Richard King, are available by mail for $.15 from Scapular Press (SP, see Abbreviations). A godmother or parent could easily put a blue mat and a 5x7 frame around this print to use for the home shrine. The same Press carries an 8x10 Murillo reproduction of Our Lady of Mount Carmel for only $.50. OUR LADY OF THE SNOW August 5 Nameday for Nieves and Neva. Father: Let us pray. Grant to Your servants, O Lord, lasting health of mind and body. At the intercession of glorious Mary, ever Virgin, may we be delivered from the sorrows of this life and enjoy the happiness of heaven. Through Christ our Lord. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Dessert. For little girls born on this feastday we offer a simple recipe. SNOW HEARTS lemon-flavored gelatine egg whites egg yolks Make up lemon-flavored gelatine according to the directions on the package. Chill swiftly until slightly thickened. Add two egg whites. Set in a pan of ice cubes and water and whip with a rotary beater until the chilled gelatine and egg white is fluffy and thick like whipped cream. Chilled jello has a way of whipping magically. Pour the mixture into a large heart-shaped mold or into small heart-shaped molds to harden. At serving time, serve with a thin custard sauce made from the two egg yolks. This Snow Hearts recipe is used at a famous New York hotel and is called a "Floating Heart." It is made by molding Snow Hearts into a large heart shape, chilling it, and then unmolding it upon a wine-flavored custard sauce into which sliced strawberries or other fruit has been added. Decoration. A plaque of Our Lady of the Snow is available from the Maryknoll Sisters (MR, see Abbreviations). THE ASSUMPTION August 15 Nameday of Mary, Maire, Marie, Maria, Mamie, Miriam, Marita Moira, Maura, Maureen, Molly, May, Marilyn, Marianne, Marya, Marelle, Mimie, Marla, Marleen, Muriel, Asuncion, Assunta, and Mariquita. This is a feast in honor of Mother Mary's death and glorification. "The Assumption of the Virgin Mary is St. Mary's Day par excellence, the greatest of all the festivals which the Church celebrates in her honor. It is the nameday of children dedicated under her name without any special invocation. It is the consummation of all other great mysteries by which Mary's life was made wonderful; it is the birthday of her greatness and glory, and the crowning of all the virtues of her whole life which we admire singly in her other festivals. "Mary is the mother of Jesus. Jesus is God. Therefore she is the mother of God. That she remained absolutely sinless for her whole life is affirmed by the Council of Trent. As the second Eve, Mary is spiritual mother of all living. Veneration is due to her with an honor above that accorded to all other saints. But to give divine worship to her would be idolatry for Mary is a creature like the rest of human kind, and her dignity comes from God." --Butler's Lives of the Saints St. Thomas Aquinas tells us: "The Blessed Virgin, because she is the mother of God, has a certain infinite dignity from infinite good, which is God." Another distinguished writer develops and explains the thought that "the Blessed Virgin...is the Mother of God. Therefore, she is the purest and most holy, so that under God a greater purity cannot be understood." In the encyclical "Fulgens Corona," Pope Pius XII proclaimed: The radiant crown of glory with which the most pure brow of the Virgin Mother was encircled by God seems to us to shine more brilliantly. By divine Providence, it fell to our lot to define that the Mother of God was assumed body and soul into heaven. These two very singular privileges of her Immaculate Conception and her Assumption stand out in a most splendid light as the beginning and as the end of her earthly journey; for the greatest possible glorification of her virgin body is the complement, at once appropriate and marvelous, of the absolute innocence of her soul, which was free from all stains; and just as she took part in the struggle of her only-begotten Son with the wicked serpent of hell, so she shares in His glorious triumph over sin and its sad consequences. Father: Come, let us adore the King of kings, for today His Virgin Mother has been taken up into heaven. All: Alleluia. Hymn: HAIL, HOLY QUEEN, ENTHRONED ABOVE, see Queenship of Mary. Father: From a homily of St. John Damascene. My dear children, to the Temple of the Lord not made by hands, there today has come blessed Mary, a holy tabernacle, re- enlivened by the living God. David her father rejoices, and with him choirs of Angels and of Archangels, choirs of Virtues and of Principalities are glorifying her; choirs of Powers and of Dominations and of Thrones sing exultingly to her; the Cherubim and Seraphim are praising and chanting her glory. All: You are the glory of Jerusalem (Jud. 15:10). Mother: You are the joy of Israel, you are the honor of our people. All: Come, let us adore the King of kings, for today His Virgin Mother has been taken up into heaven. Father: Let us pray. Almighty and eternal God, You have taken up into heavenly glory the body and soul of the immaculate Virgin Mary, the Mother of Your Son. May we always look upward to heaven and come to be worthy of sharing her glory. Through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! We sing the Magnificat (see Purification of Our Lady). Our children like to select for night prayers an additional hymn to Our Lady from the book, "Around the Year With the Trapp Family" (about $4.50 from RC, see Abbreviations). The Benedictine nuns of Stanbrook Abbey sing "Regina Coeli," "Ave Regina" and a number of other hymns to Mother Mary on a record available for $4.75 from GI (see Abbreviations). In "Cooking for Christ" (from NCRLC, see Abbreviations) Florence Berger tells a delightful story of her family in the country collecting their finest flowers and mixing them with the green of herbs on the eve of the Assumption. These were taken to church and blessed by the priest. A father or mother may sprinkle holy water on flowers and herbs and lead the family in the following blessing proper to August 15: Father: Almighty, everlasting God, by Your Word alone You have made heaven, earth, sea, all things visible and invisible, and have adorned the earth with plants and trees for the use of men and animals. You appointed each species to bring forth fruit in its kind, not only to serve as food for living creatures, but also as medicine to sick bodies. With mind and word we earnestly implore Your unspeakable goodness to bless these various herbs and fruits, and add to their natural powers the grace of Your new blessing. May they ward off disease and adversity from men and beasts who use them in Your Name. Through Christ our Lord. All: Amen. Alleluia. Polish Americans honor Mary this day as Our Lady of the Flowers. The children sing hymns in English and Polish at church services or at home, and later with the grown-ups swing into their native dances to the lively music of the polonaise. When we lived in Greenwich Village, Portuguese neighbors surrounded Mother Mary's statue with angels and crowned her Queen of the Angels in a family celebration resounding with the music of their bagpipes. A friend in Massachusetts bakes Portuguese bread, a great favorite with our children, who receive it a day or two after the feast. In Italy the statue of the Virgin of the Assumption is carried in public procession through the streets to the cathedral or church. The blessing of grapes takes place at Mass on this day in Armenia; these are the first grapes of the season to be eaten. Brittany calls this the "Feast of the Soul of Mary" and on this day betrothals are made in the churches. Herbs for city families may be found at green grocers, procured packaged in the spice section of your supermarket, or ordered by mail from Ye Olde Herb Shoppe, an old-fashioned emporium bursting with three thousand boxes that hold herbs and spices (YOHS, see Abbreviations). This shop supplies us with spices like sweet cinnamon from Ceylon, other sweet-smelling herbs for sachets, mint, and even frankincense and myrrh to carry with medicines for the poor at Epiphany family processions, an idea we culled from "The Church's Year of Grace" (from LP, see Abbreviations). The connection between the Assumption and the blessing of herbs is a legend. All the flowers and herbs of the earth had lost their scent after Adam and Eve had sinned in the Garden of Eden. On the Assumption, the flowers were given back their scent and the herbs their power to heal. Flowers of Our Lady and Mary Gardens is a $.25 booklet which tell about seeds, bulbs, and plants named in honor of the Virgin that are available for planting (from MG, see Abbreviations). Desserts and decorations. To carry out the theme of fruits and flowers on Assumption Day, mothers or godmothers may order ready- made tiny fruits such as pineapples, bananas, peaches and grapes as decorations for cookies, cupcakes, or sheet-cake squares. Half an inch in size, assorted fruits come 75 for $1.00 in a candy- fruit mixture (from MS, see Abbreviations). Another jiffy decoration to top cupcakes, tea cakes or petits fours is an assortment of miniature icing flowers, 50 for $.75, from MS (see Abbreviations). We have made a wreath out of fresh fruit leaves and flowers surrounding a "jeweled" gold-paper crown as a centerpiece to symbolize honor, sovereignty and victory for the Virgin of the Assumption. To dramatize this theme, we sometimes hang a cloud of "angel hair" and a miniature statue of Mary from the dining room chandelier. One year for this Marian feast our children made a crown of gold cardboard with twelve stars; this was placed around a statue of Our Lady and used as a centerpiece for the table. Other years they have made an altar poster. The idea comes from "Rhythmic Designs," a book rich in ideas on the liturgical year for the mother interested in training her children in visual art expression (available for $3.00 from LAS, see Abbreviations). In this altar panel Mother Mary is ascending to heaven above a cedar, a cyprus, a palm and an olive tree and a rose plant, all so simple in design that children can draw them. CCA (see Abbreviations) carries an import, "Virgin of the Assumption," by Oudin, some of whose works are reproduced in this book. "The Assumption of the Virgin" by Valdes Leal is available as a 2x2 color slide for $.35 (from NGA, see Abbreviations). Here also one can purchase a framed print of "Mary, Queen of Heaven" by the Master of the St. Lucy Legend for $5.00, and Memling's "Madonna with Angels," framed, for $26.00. For Assumption-day, place-cards decorated with a crown are placed at each child's place. The cards bear verses from the Mass of the Assumption. For instance, one card has lines from the Entrance Hymn: "Sing to the Lord a new canticle, for He has done wondrous deeds." Other suitable verses can be found throughout the Mass. For Mary's altar our children pick a handful of wild flowers along the Hudson River (there's no dearth of wild flowers even in a big city). Mostly, however, our flowers come from our window boxes or a Broadway florist shop. To make amends for all the fattening desserts listed above, the following one is low-caloried and may be used on any feastday. It can be served by itself or with a gelatine dessert. Each wedge of cake contains only about 54 calories. SUGARLESS SPONGE CAKE eggs lemon juice water cream of tartar Sucaryl solution cake flour vanilla salt Beat 7 egg yolks until thick and lemon colored, about 5 minutes. Combine 1/2 cup cold water, 3 tablespoons Sucaryl solution, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Add to egg yolks and continue beating until thick and very fluffy, about 10 minutes. Beat 7 egg whites until foamy; add 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar and beat until stiff and glossy peaks form. Fold carefully into yolk mixture. Combine 1-1/2 cups sifted flour and 1/3 teaspoon salt. Sift a small amount at a time over the egg mixture, folding in gently until all flour disappears. Pour batter into an ungreased ten-inch tube pan. Bake in a moderate oven, 325 degrees F., for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Makes a ten-inch cake. Icing orange blossoms, symbols of purity, may be procured for $1.15 to top the cake (from MS, see Abbreviations). Keeping a holy day well in a time of heat and humidity such as August often brings is not easy. And additional time at home on the range turns knees to jelly. To avoid this we use gelatine desserts since they require a minimum of heating, can be made on a cool day in advance, require no last-minute fussing, and are enhanced by the interesting forms of various copper molds. SUNBURST DESSERT We have carried out the symbolism of Our Lady clothed in the glory of the sun by making a nameday sunburst mold (about $.98 from MS, see Abbreviations) of fresh fruit with mint which has been given the blessing of herbs; when brought to the table it is almost too pretty to eat. The shimmering goodness of fresh fruit and the mint molded in gelatine provide a dessert which is far less complicated to make than it looks. The trick to gelatine molds is to place the mold over a bowl of ice. Cover the bottom with a thin layer of gelatine and chill until firm. The fruit is used to form a design in the mold. Each layer of fruit must be carefully covered over with a layer of cool gelatine and chilled. Continue filling the mold to the top with alternate layers of fruit and slightly thickened gelatine, ending with gelatine. Chill until firm. To serve, gently loosen the gelatine with a paring knife. Then place a chilled serving dish upside down on top of the mold; invert. Cover with a towel wrung out of hot water. Carefully lift off the mold and you have a sunburst to enthrall your nameday guests and to perk up appetites that have waned with the summer heat. A sunburst mold may also be used to bake a cake for Our Lady's feasts in wintertime. ASSUMPTION DAY FRUIT MEDLEY Unflavored gelatine is congenial to any fruit combination for a summer nameday dessert. Melon balls, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, peaches, blueberries, grapefruit and orange sections, bananas--any or all may be used. One envelope of gelatine and two cups of liquid will jell up to two cups of diced fruits. (Sugar is counted as part of the liquid since it goes into solution.) To form an artistic motif that will show on top of the dessert when unmolded, arrange a design of fruit in the bottom of the mold. Spoon just enough of the gelatine liquid over the fruit to cover the bottom of the mold. Carefully place in the refrigerator and chill until firm before adding the rest of the gelatine and fruit layer by layer. 1 envelope unflavored gelatine 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1-1/2 cups water, divided 1/4 cup lemon juice Mix together gelatine, sugar and slat in saucepan. Stir in 1/2 cup of the water. Place over low heat, stirring constantly, until gelatine and sugar are dissolved. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining 1 cup water and lemon juice. Chill until the consistency of unbeaten egg white. Fold in desired combination of fruits. Turn into large or individual molds. Chill until firm. Unmold to serve. 1 cup sliced strawberries 1/2 cup blueberries 1/2 cup halved white grapes or 1 cup grapefruit sections 1/2 cup diced canteloupe 1/2 cup orange sections or 1 cup raspberries 1 cup diced peaches 1/2 cup sliced bananas Yield: 6 servings. Father: From a homily of St. Bernardine of Siena: What mortal man, were he not on the sure ground of divine revelation, would dare to speak even the slightest thing with his impure and polluted lips concerning her who is truly the Mother of the God-man, her whom the Father, God before time was, predestined to remain ever a virgin, whom the Son chose to be His Mother, whom the Holy Spirit prepared as the dwelling-place of all graces? With what words can I, a mere man, proclaim the sublime thoughts of that virginal heart, which were uttered by her most holy lips, seeing that the tongues of all the angles fail therein! What greater treasure is there than that divine love wherewith the heart of the Virgin was afire? All: Thanks be to God. Hymn: HEART OF MARY, HEART ALL PURE. {Musical notation cannot be displayed in ASCII text.} 1. Heart of Mary, Heart all pure, Sinless Heart of Mary! Heart most tender, refuge sure, Spotless Heart of Mary! Chosen vessel undefiled, Lily chalice holy! Through the merits of thy Child, Make us pure and holy. 2. Temple of the Trinity, Throne of God all holy, Ark of His divinity, Tabernacle holy! Cradle of the Word divine, Show us Christ our Brother, Heart of Mary, mystic shrine, show thyself our Mother. 3. Source of Christ's most precious blood, Virgin Heart of Mary! Cleanse us in that saving flood, Victim Heart of Mary! May thy love our hearts refine, Bless our consecration; May our hearts be one with thine, Making reparation. Mother: Let us pray. Almighty, everlasting God, who prepared a worthy dwelling-place for the Holy Spirit in the heart of the Virgin Mary, grant us this grace, that keeping the feast of her Immaculate Heart, we may have strength to live according to Your Heart's desire. Through Christ our Lord. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Dessert and decorations. For a child keeping this nameday, shimmering vanilla ice cream and firm pineapple jello in equal parts, blended together and refrozen in a heart-shaped mold, give mother an easy dessert to prepare. The heart-shaped cake (see Heart Cake) lends itself to today's symbolism. THE BIRTHDAY OF OUR LADY September 8 Nameday of Maria Lily and Lillian. Father: From a homily of St. Augustine: Dearly beloved: the much-desired feast of Blessed Mary ever Virgin has come; so let the earth made bright by her birth rejoice with exceeding great joy. For she is the wild rose on the lowland plain from whom bloomed the precious Lily of the valley. Now let Mary play upon musical instruments and let timbrels reverberate under the fleet fingers of this young Mother. Let joyous choirs sing together harmoniously and let sweet songs be blended together now with one melody and now with another. Hear how our timbrel player has sung. For she has said: "My soul magnifies the Lord because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid. For behold, all generations shall call me blessed, because He who is mighty has done great things to me." All: This is the birthday of the glorious Virgin Mary, sprung from the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Juda, of the renowned family of David. Father: Let us pray. O Lord, grant to Your servants the gift of Your heavenly grace, that as the childbearing of the Blessed Virgin was the beginning of salvation, so the joyful feast of her birthday may bring us an increase of peace. Through Christ our Lord. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Hymn: Any of the Marian hymns on the preceding pages. Dessert and decorations. The first fancy nameday cake in our house was decorated by our youngsters. A cake decorating set had been given to us, but it seemed too complicated to use. Somehow the children had caught the mystery of holiness in so great a feast which the Church celebrates with praise and thanksgiving, for the birthday of Blessed Mary announces joy and the near approach of salvation to a sin-lost world. The rose petal cake (see Rose Petal Coconut Cake) is appropriate today. It ought to be a pure white cake, and the reason for its whiteness should be explained to children so that they will relate it to Mary's sanctity. Another choice might be the dessert with musical notation (see Musical Cake) to symbolize the homily read in today's prayers. THE HOLY NAME OF MARY September 12 The feast of the Holy Name of Mary began in Spain, spread through the Church, and now is kept on this day as an act of thanksgiving for the defeat of the Turks in 1683 by John Sobieski, King of Poland. Today we celebrate the glory of the Virgin's name. The name of Mary is derived from Maria and Mariam, later forms of Miryam, which was Our Lady's name in Hebrew. Various etymologies have been proposed, for example, "wished-for child," "bitterness," the "sea," "star," etc. The marked sense of Mary's unique dignity is shown in the New Testament Greek texts where her name has the Old Testament form Mariam, not Maria as do the other Marys of Scripture. The Irish, too, have this custom: the Mother of God is Muire, a name reserved for her alone and never given in baptism. Instead, Moira, Maura, or Maire, from which are derived Moreen and Maureen, are used. For this feastday the family prayers for Stella Maris, Estelle, Astrid, Astra, Muriel or Mary follow: Father: From a homily of St. Bernard: "And the Virgin's name was Mary." Let us say a few words about this name. Most fittingly Mother Mary is likened to a star, for as a star sends forth its rays without any loss to itself, so she brought forth her Son without any loss to her virginity. Mother Mary is a brilliant and splendid star, of necessity set above this great and vast sea, shining with merit and shedding light by her example. All: Thanks be to God. Father: Let us pray. Grant, we pray, almighty God, that Your faithful people who enjoy the protection of Your most holy Mother Mary and delight in her name may by her dear intercession be delivered from all ills on earth and be made worthy to attain everlasting bliss in heaven. Through Christ our Lord. All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns! Hymn: HAIL, THOU STAR OF OCEAN (see The Annunciation). Dessert. Today's nameday cake may be decorated with chocolate stars (see Confessors' Light Chocolate Cake; Chocolate Symbols for Cake Decoration) or even gold gummed ones. It may be baked in a star-shaped tin (from your local houseware store) or in the six-pointed star of David tin, which is ideal for the nameday of Mary the "noble star which rose out of Jacob," and for the saints of the Bible (available from MS, see Abbreviations). A Bavarian cream dessert molded in a star tin or a bowl makes an interesting and refreshing late-summer feastday delicacy. RASPBERRY BAVARIAN CREAM raspberries lemon juice sugar heavy cream gelatine water Crush 1 quart of hulled raspberries, add 1 cup of sugar and let them stand for 30 minutes. Soak 2 teaspoons of gelatine in 3 tablespoons of water. Dissolve in 3 tablespoons of boiling water. Stir this into the berries and add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Cool the gelatine mixture. When it is about to set, fold in lightly 2 cups of whipped heavy cream. Pour the mixture into a wet mold. Chill until firm. Serve with a raspberry sauce made of 2 cups of raspberries, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1-1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice. Let these ingredients stand for 2 hours. Put them through a ricer or sieve.