How to celebrate name days in the classroom
Celebrate Catholic identity by connecting with patron saints
St. Nicholas Day has always been an important day for me. Shouldn’t everyone’s "name day" be a big deal? I asked school liturgist Kathleen M. Basi to give us some suggestions for making that happen. Take a look at these great ideas! -NW
Names are important. Say a name and an image instantly comes to mind. St. Thérèse - flowers. St. Francis - animals. Mother Teresa - blue and white veil gleaming amid the squalor of impoverished Calcutta. A name identifies us as a member of a family; it is the means by which we address one another and by which we respond. A name is the first and most basic part of our identity.
In Catholic culture, names are traditionally connected with saints. First churches, then children, were named after them. Saints serve as intercessors and role models. They connect us to the community of believers throughout the ages. They offer us an opportunity to fuse our identity in the world with our identity as children of the kingdom. The days and weeks leading up to All Saints Day offer us a built-in opportunity to study these holy men and women and dedicate ourselves to following their example.
Choosing a patron saint
In modern times, many children are not named after a particular saint but do have a saint’s name. Give your learners the opportunity to read about all those who share their name. In some cases - Nicholas or Mary, for instance - one particular person leaps to mind. But there are a number of St.Nicks and St. Marys. Have your learners read about all the saints connected with their name and choose a patron from among them.
Some children, of course, have no canonized namesake at all. But perhaps their middle name is a saint’s name. If not, let them choose a saint, perhaps one with a similar or related name. For instance, "Britney" is derived from "Bretagne," a region of France, and there is a St. Bretannion. Another possibility is to have the student adopt the saint whose feast day falls on his or her birthday.
There are many Web sites devoted to saints and saint biographies. A few good ones are:
catholic.org/saints: organized alphabetically, by feast day, patron causes, and more. Includes extensive biographical information.
americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/byname.asp: limited to well-known saints and offers less extensive biographies.
catholic-forum.com/saints/patron02.htm: an enormous alphabetical list with biographical highlights.
Once they have chosen a saint, have your learners introduce their patron to the class. Keep it brief - your goal is not to prepare an exhaustive biography, but rather to pique young Catholics’ interest in the great men and women who came before us. Have them share a couple of interesting facts about their saint. Is he or she patron of a cause or group? Why? Ask them to share one thing they admire about this saint and one way they can be more like him or her. This brief report forms the basis for a triptych project (see sidebar).
Note: Be cautious about saint stories; many of the most beloved legends are just that - legends. Instead, encourage learners to look for interesting, but historical, nuggets. For instance: Before he became patron of Ireland, St. Patrick was a young Roman man who was captured and sold into slavery in Ireland.
Celebrating as a class
Finally, wrap up the saint "season" with a classroom celebration.
Begin by singing "Sing with All the Saints in Glory" or "When the Saints Go Marching."
Read Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14.
Have the class form a circle. Give each person a small, unlit candle, if safety policies allow. Go around the circle using the following dialogue, adapted by Miriam Malone, SNJM, for use with Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults:
Teacher: "Student’s name), you have been called by name. You shall be called God’s delight, because your God rejoices in you!"
Class: "Alleluia!"
Following the dialogue, light the student’s candle or give him or her a religious symbol, such as a crucifix or a medal of their patron saint.
Finish by singing the Litany of Saints.
Individual name day celebrations
During the remainder of the year, honor each student’s name day as it comes around. Let the honoree lead the line or hold some other position of honor in the classroom for the day. If you choose not to celebrate the preceding ritual as a class, perhaps the dialogue and religious symbol can be used at this time.
Marking our learners’ name days reminds us that we do not travel our Christian journey alone, but as a community of believers that extends from heaven to the very classrooms in which we live and learn. RTJ
In Catholic culture, names are traditionally connected with saints. First churches, then children, were named after them. Saints serve as intercessors and role models. They connect us to the community of believers throughout the ages. They offer us an opportunity to fuse our identity in the world with our identity as children of the kingdom. The days and weeks leading up to All Saints Day offer us a built-in opportunity to study these holy men and women and dedicate ourselves to following their example.
Choosing a patron saint
In modern times, many children are not named after a particular saint but do have a saint’s name. Give your learners the opportunity to read about all those who share their name. In some cases - Nicholas or Mary, for instance - one particular person leaps to mind. But there are a number of St.Nicks and St. Marys. Have your learners read about all the saints connected with their name and choose a patron from among them.
Some children, of course, have no canonized namesake at all. But perhaps their middle name is a saint’s name. If not, let them choose a saint, perhaps one with a similar or related name. For instance, "Britney" is derived from "Bretagne," a region of France, and there is a St. Bretannion. Another possibility is to have the student adopt the saint whose feast day falls on his or her birthday.
There are many Web sites devoted to saints and saint biographies. A few good ones are:
catholic.org/saints: organized alphabetically, by feast day, patron causes, and more. Includes extensive biographical information.
americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/byname.asp: limited to well-known saints and offers less extensive biographies.
catholic-forum.com/saints/patron02.htm: an enormous alphabetical list with biographical highlights.
Once they have chosen a saint, have your learners introduce their patron to the class. Keep it brief - your goal is not to prepare an exhaustive biography, but rather to pique young Catholics’ interest in the great men and women who came before us. Have them share a couple of interesting facts about their saint. Is he or she patron of a cause or group? Why? Ask them to share one thing they admire about this saint and one way they can be more like him or her. This brief report forms the basis for a triptych project (see sidebar).
Note: Be cautious about saint stories; many of the most beloved legends are just that - legends. Instead, encourage learners to look for interesting, but historical, nuggets. For instance: Before he became patron of Ireland, St. Patrick was a young Roman man who was captured and sold into slavery in Ireland.
Celebrating as a class
Finally, wrap up the saint "season" with a classroom celebration.
Begin by singing "Sing with All the Saints in Glory" or "When the Saints Go Marching."
Read Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14.
Have the class form a circle. Give each person a small, unlit candle, if safety policies allow. Go around the circle using the following dialogue, adapted by Miriam Malone, SNJM, for use with Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults:
Teacher: "Student’s name), you have been called by name. You shall be called God’s delight, because your God rejoices in you!"
Class: "Alleluia!"
Following the dialogue, light the student’s candle or give him or her a religious symbol, such as a crucifix or a medal of their patron saint.
Finish by singing the Litany of Saints.
Individual name day celebrations
During the remainder of the year, honor each student’s name day as it comes around. Let the honoree lead the line or hold some other position of honor in the classroom for the day. If you choose not to celebrate the preceding ritual as a class, perhaps the dialogue and religious symbol can be used at this time.
Marking our learners’ name days reminds us that we do not travel our Christian journey alone, but as a community of believers that extends from heaven to the very classrooms in which we live and learn. RTJ
| Kathleen M. Basi has been a liturgy director for parishes and schools for nine years. She and her husband codirect their parish contemporary music group. Her e-mail address is kokopeli74@yahoo.com. |
|