If anyone guesses the name we have chosen for a baby boy...I'll send you a present. You can have up to two choices, and the victor will not be announced until after we name the baby.
I am eager to see people's response to the name we chose. I really like it but most names I really like most people think are weird. Yes, we are pretty much planning on a boy based on my husband's sixth sense. We have to clarify over and over again, that it is NOT that we prefer a boy, this is just what we feel it is.
We are going to wait 7 days after the birth to announce the name.
No complaining...please :).
In Greece, this is traditionally when the priest will come to the home to bless the baby, and then the churching happens at 40 days. However, many people wait to name to baby until many months later at the baptism. So be glad we aren't waiting until then :).
I decided to look up in Scripture where these traditions come from today. The seventh day naming comes from Luke 1:57-60 and 2:21.
"Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they cam to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John."
Luke 2:21 "And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb."
An angel had already told Zacharius and Mary and Joseph respectively what to name their babies, but it wasn't until the eighth day that they announced it to the neighbors and kinsfolk. (I'm not sure why we do seven days, not eight?)
The Antiochian Orthodox Church in America doesn't require that you wait 40 days to church the baby. The reasoning behind this is that it is better for a mother to take her baby to church first to be blessed, than to be out an about shopping. I don't think I'll wait the 40 days but want to do a little more research on this tradition before I decide. Plus, maybe it will be a good excuse for me to avoid shopping for 40 days!
Luke 2:22-23 "And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him to the Lord (as it is writtn in the law of the Lord, "Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord") and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord")...
Hmmm...more questions this passage raises! I am thankful the Church helps us in determining how to fulfill the Law of Moses when we no longer follow so many of the details of the Mosaic law. According to the Mosaic law was it 40 days before the child was brought to the temple for purification?
One more thing...my husband received a "Welcome to the US" letter last week. He has an official green card now so we don't have to worry about employment sponsoring work visas for him. Horray! With immigration beign so difficult in the US these days, this is something to be very thankful for. The interview went great and personally, I think the fact that we are expecting a baby helped the whole process speed along very quickly.
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5 comments:
Interesting. So are you going to circumcise the baby boy on the 8th day, too?
No, we are chosing not to circumcise.
Our chosing to wait 7 days to name the baby is somewhat of a compromise between the American and Greek traditions. Plus, it corresponds with this Scriptural precedent and when our spiritual father told us the priest traditionally comes to bless the new baby.
In America we are asked to fill out the birth certificate soon after the birth. In Greece, the baby can be several months to even a year old (whenever the baptism happens) to be named. In the meantime the baby is just refered to as "baby" of so and so.
praise God and congrats on the green card!
I won't complain about not knowing baby's name till the 7th day.
I'm glad everything is coming together with needed baby items.
I've been watching your blog quietly off and on for a few months... I'm not sure if you would remember me well or at all, but I remember you from before I got married and left St. Michael to attend church with my hubby. We're now attending a Greek parish in NC, and we've only been attending there for a few months, so we're still figuring out the Greek customs surrounding a lot of things. My husband, fortunately, is an accomplished byzantine chanter and can read Greek phonetically, so that has helped our transition into the culture of the church.
I think your naming choice is a neat one, especially given its rooting in tradition.
I'm at 26 weeks now with our first, and we decided on a first name within a few days of finding out his gender in an ultrasound, which we both really wanted to do. By the way, our hunch was that ours is a boy, and if the ultrasound is correct, he is. :)
Our approach has been a bit different for a few reasons: a molar pregnancy last year left me really fearful and afraid to become attached, especially since this pregnancy has also had some complications, so anything that helps me bond with the baby is helpful. So, giving him a name has been a big help in that process. I often pray for him by name in my private prayers. Also, part of choosing the name meant thinking about patron saints, and my husband and I agreed pretty readily on the same patron, so we've been asking his intercessions as well in our family prayers right along with our patron saints. We've shared the name selectively, but it has started to get around. lol
We're leaning towards not circumcising our little guy as well. We haven't made a final decision yet, but I figure there is plenty of time for that.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Hi Nikki,
Yes, I do remember you and wish you continued health and grace for the pregnancy!
I hope the transition into a Greek parish hasn't been too difficult. Have people been friendly, I hope? I found with the Greeks you have to give them time, and them once bonds are established they are extremely strong...though having a Greek husband I am sure helps volumes.
Yes, I do think chosing a name ahead of time can promote bonding. Actually, we had been calling the baby by a certain name (in private) and had bought a book about the life of this saint. Ironically, for reasons I will post after the 8th day (ok...so it is the 8th not the 7th day), we changed our mind on the name of the baby. Who knows, at this rate, perhaps we will change our minds again :).
All the best, Elisa
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