The practice of taking a religious name at Profession stopped in the 70’s. We stopped at the same time that the religious Orders stopped. We don’t become a Secular Franciscan in order to become a new person with a new identity.
Just so I would have something to back up what I am writing here, I put the question out on the Regional Ministers’ list serve so that all Regional Ministers across the country would see it and respond. Some of the Ministers asked what century I am living in and others said they never heard of taking a religious name. And here is the wonderful answer I received:
If we take a look at the past, a name change at Baptism was originally meant to give a person a Christian identity and name as opposed to a pagan name.
As Secular Franciscans, prior to Vatican II, we followed the custom of religious communities that gave a new name at the time of reception into the community. It signified the idea of dying to the old self and rising to life in Christ. This is no longer done in religious life. Taking into consideration that we are lay people; we are even less inclined to take a religious name.
Why is this no longer done?
At the time of the second Vatican Council, all religious were encouraged to go back to their roots: to look at Baptism as the foundational sacrament. We are given Christian names at Baptism. Therefore, we are being asked to be known in the community by our baptismal name.
Our Secular Franciscan profession intensifies our baptismal commitment. In Profession we make a public statement that we are going to live out our baptismal commitment for the good of the church.
Remember when we switched from SFO to OFS? Oh what moaning and groaning there was over that! It was done so that all Secular Franciscans worldwide are identified in the same way. Taking a name falls into the same category. It is not an accepted practice worldwide. Receiving a cord and taking a religious name at Profession were stopped more than 50 years ago.
By the same token, all formation comes from For Up To Now – or the FUN manual as we know it – and the Franciscan Journey. To deny the Inquirers and Candidates of what the rest of the world is learning is not acceptable. People end up being professed without knowing what every professed Secular Franciscan needs to know. Later, these same folks are voted onto Council and are so lost and find the position so hard because their formation was not done according to the Rule, the Constitutions, the Statutes and Guidelines.
There is work to be done. We have willingly joined an Order and to be able to keep order, we all must comply with our governing documents. These documents can keep Ongoing Formation well stocked for a couple years at least!
As we learn about where we are in our Secular Franciscan journey, we can step into the future of our Order with solid knowledge and practices.
