Im pretty sure it was the heavy sell on Pagan Babies and the strong emphasis on the fact that God doesnt like Protestants that caused me to first question the rigid authority of the Catholic Church. Thanks for the comment . The salesman had charts and pictures and a poster for every classroom of the glorious prizes . Without her mothers knowledge ! With touching little pictures of hungry children. I think it was to put on envelopes for Christmas cards? now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. Did the Catholic Schools consider Jewish People Pagans? The money collected in the United States went to help feed, clothe and educate them. Oh my, what a great story. The Mary list is endless. Im assuming youre a good Catholic father and have a tons of kids. He stood right in the middle of the group . When I was in second grade I ransomed my own pagan baby and named her Pauline Anne after St Theresas oldest sister. Pagan Babies: and Other Catholic Memories. All of this went out the window in my belief system a few years later, when i began to understand political realities, had a more sophisticated notion of the universe and got very tired of having philosophical questions answered by Its a mystery. My favorite question was: If God can do anything, can he create a rock so heavy he himself cannot lift it? Sometimes, I was that girl. Hearts of Gold, A Gilded Age Historical Romance Series. The mission has a Church, Cardinal Dolan reminded his guests in his opening remarks. Thanks for a trip down memory lane and validating my recollection. I won one month & remember excitement at winning but total confusion & a sense of dread. I came across an amazing new app called Missio, created by the. We were wondering how much trouble Cary would get into . OK, fair enough, it was about charity for this or that African country, but it so much stank of colonialism. Other notable guests included Cardinal Sean P. OMalley of Boston; Bishop Bejoy N. DCruze of Sylhet, Bangladesh; actor Andy Garcia, who stars in the upcoming film For Greater Glory; and Noel Campbell, who rode Amtrak for three days from the Coeur DAlene Indian Reservation in northwest Idaho to attend the event. We didnt get a chance to vote on a name because he could name him himself. Hooo, yes. I found a bunch of them in my moms cedar chest she saved all of them! Every time we got 5.00 together, we got to buy and name a pagan baby. We sort of ran the name together so it came out pegginbebbies. I used to contribute nickels and dimes (along with my other and less devout classmates) so together as a class we got to choose the pegginbebbies name from a list of nominees. Glad you enjoyed it . The cost of a $1.00 seems to be tucked in my memory; because, I think that I recall that a big thing was buying one on your own and then naturally you could name it. Thanks for the comment . But , heres the thing : When the class had five dollars then that class got to name a pagan baby . Names chosen for each baby were REQUIRED to be the names of bonefide saints, beatified by process through Rome. By letting civility happen, we take better care not only of others and of the world itself, but of ourselves. Timothy Bulone, Neighbor. You know the drill . A bulletin board held the certificates, pinned to the wall. I used to take my dads loose change Reminiscing about St. Amelias brings back many other memories. if you can open your heart and you want to do something to help, PLEASE donate here to the Gonzalez Family . Your email address will not be published. DUDE! . The idea was to collect money from students , nickels and dimes , for charity . God Bless you. He was a bartender later in life , at least for awhile . 6:34, Col. 2:1112). Students gave their allowances to save Pagan babies are certainly a uniquely Catholic childhood memory! I was beginning to think I had created this whole idea of Pagan Babies myself. I Googled it because of my conviction that it was an acronym and I just couldnt quite figure out what the E stood for. No , only two thousand fifty , countered the salesman . And then the certificate was put up above the chalkboard. What does it look like to be conquered by the fire of Christs gaze, as Benedict XVI described? In return they were given a decorative certificate commemorating their Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? "Baptism . . I guess we survived . If only we could all do so well with five bucks , eh ? They folded out . Servant of God Mother Mary Lange and the Rich History of Black Catholic Religious Orders, Ukrainian Soldier Saved by Praying the Rosary, Priest Recounts, As We Forgive: Lenten Pastoral Note From Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver, A Lasting Trail of Light: The Witness of Pedro Ballester. I have no idea what spurred me on this morning to do a search for Pagan Babies maybe I was trying to recall my first exposure to racism. And they spoke of pagans . Should they be angry or should they just feel anguish for the sorry state of the religion these days ? In order to raise money for the missions, the grade school students were asked to bring in pennies and nickels to save a Pagan Baby. Hosted a supper the other night for some friends from church. HELLO!!!!!!!! Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? The one boys name that sticks in my head is Zachary. When did this extremely non-PC term stop being used? Anybody have some spare change ? Th. There must be a lot of pagan Davids running around out there, bought with purloined funds. Marymount ? Then I developed dysentery, and the very people I was there to save were taking care of me. One time, in the 70s, at an intimate dinner party, we realized the room was filled with about half Catholics who attended Catholic school. The bookstore is receiving pro bono legal services from ADF for the lawsuit. Needless to say, Zachary stuck. Pagan babies, we all understood in the 50s, were babies born to parents who did not believe in a monotheistic (1 god) religion, because they had not yet received any instruction. Even though I later went on to become a Catholic priest (and later resigned and married), my robust suspicion that Catholicism did not have all the answers began to take root way back in my young Catholic boyhood. possibly before that, the Catholic schools sponsored an ongoing drive to raise money , Those madcap Catholics. Its a mystery! ETA, not such a dimly remembered memoir after all; google remembered it for me. The certificates were white, thick,wrinkly paper with burnt orange and brown late 60s modern catholic designs. I suspect that Patricia never named them after you , David . We gave our allowances to save those babies. I do not remember the term pagan babies at all, although I remember the little paper boxes quite well. The Pagan Babies (the band from Hawaii) Jason Woycke 9 subscribers Subscribe 62 Share 2.2K views 5 years ago A compilation of live footage of the Pagan Babies (the band from Hawaii). Catholics practice infant baptism because we take care of our childrens basic needs and what is more important than filling them with the Holy Spirit? Pagan baby names continue to be popular name choices for many new parents. Or maybe Pagan Babies: and Other Catholic Memories. That summer in Guaymas, I learned that people in poverty needed more than goodwill, and that social justice was not a simple matter of collecting spare change and sending it off to the right folks. between boys and girls. Ah , maybe it taught us some basic values , anyway ( or maybe it screwed us up so badly that we dont even realize how much ) . Cover Reveal for My Road Trip Cowboy Romance! adoption pledge. Lajoie is on the staff of Catholic New York, newspaper of the Archdiocese of New York. Ransom a Pagan Baby (late 1950s). We were expected to sell subscriptions to our local Archdiocese newspaper when I went to elementary school. Thats 40 babies right there. When Father Andrew Small, O.M.I., asked who remembered them at the inaugural World Mission Dinner May 2 at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan, a few hands went up, mostly belonging to people with gray hair. Patti and her husband, Mark, live in North Dakota where they raised their 10 children. "What I loved about the Pagan Babies is that we were allowed to name them with our names. To some of us Catholic school old-timers , pagan babies is a secret code , I guess, that gets us entry into some somewhat sardonic memories . Boy , does all of that ring true to me ! In the book, Pope Francis also addresses corruption at the Vatican, abuses committed by members of the Church, the COVID-19 pandemic, Russias invasion of Ukraine, among other topics. Years later, as adults, my younger sister, Patricia, confessed to sneaking into my room and using a butter knife to weasel the coins out of the bottle to buy candy and, yes, pagan babies. ( Sorry for the delay. At first, Sister tried to dissuade me from using Karen, as this was not a name on the published roster of saints. (After Vatican II beanies were no longer necessary.) I liked your PT post . MJ, yes, the price was $5.00 and the money was kept in a cigar box, of all things! It was pretty obvious he was showing off his flawless French accent. We were never quite sure what a pagan was . Maryknollers, Franciscans, or Missionaries of Charity, these men and women told riveting tales of adventure and hardship. Saving pagan babies occurred during a simpler time, before cynicism and political correctness found their stride. Despite its apparent condescending tone at times, it instilled a radical sense of urgency in children that we are responsible for one another.. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, who once said, My greatest love has always been the missions of the church, was very much a spiritual presence at the dinner, where his name was invoked several times. Same thing, just a more PC name. Then Father Small asked for a second show of hands. Remember getting a whack across the face at your Confirmatin? Yeah! Stories ensued. Someone spilled the beans , I think , or he bragged to the wrong person just what he had done . It barely rings a bell hearing something about pagan babies. I think there was some small prize involved for any student that sold them. They took me down to Carmel Hall when I was around 10 or 11 and had me volunteer with the nuns. James Dingwall picked that name and the girls immediately protested! Patti Maguire Armstrong Patti Maguire Armstrong is host of the TV talk show Ladies of Another View and an award-winning author and journalist. Sign-up for E-NewsletterGet Register Updates sent daily or weeklyto your inbox. If theres a study done of it , I dont know . I have my doubts that any of ours got past downtown L.A. I also remember a certain boy who came from a wealthier family who could buy his own pagan baby. "I loved the Pagan Babies! Each was presented with a medallion featuring a representation of the Papal Keys. Aiden/ Aidan: Is of Celtic, which means "little fire." Alun: Alun means "harmony." Albus: This name means "white." Pagan babies may have disappeared from collection boxes but they started showing up in our families. In three years, we bought sixthree boys and three girls. Im glad youu got a kick out of it . These days, instead of collection boxes we can use apps. I pictured the dozens of Karens I had saved growing up safely somewhere in Africa. My dad was in the Navy out in the Pacific in WWII . Maybe the kids of today are more savvy . But in 1969 the names we fourth graders favored were names like Ringo and Twiggy. Through the years, I have often wished I HAD one of those certificates as I have told the story about them to others and NO one seems to BELIEVE IT! I have her a link to your site. At every Catholic school in those days were collections to save unbaptized children not taught about God (Pagan Babies). ), and its name was even weirder - it was collect money to feed . . Sold by themeekdontwantit | Ends on 2023-03-07 21:40:38. We thought up the stupidest , weirdest names we could manage and , as I remember, the teacher wrote that name on the box with the five dollars and it went off to the pagans . Each time I hope to combine for them the Holy Childhoods call of responsibility with the lessons I learned in Guaymas: the difference between pity and solidarity, the complexity of the global structures that create poverty and need, and the smallness of our efforts at making a difference. The poor pagan was already named Herman , right ? I think that the white kid had flowers in his hand and maybe a halo on his head. I am not the age youre looking for, though, because I am > 50. Great mix of early US HC punk & the then emerging "Youth Crew" sound. Diane, No one was, in fact, adopted or bought. catholic school 1978-1991. In the 50s It used to be border line sacrilegious to question the church maybe it still is , but after seeing the movie spot light Im thinking maybe Archbishop whats his name might have bought another set of golf clubs ( or something far more sinister ) ? My family Lived out that way. Yeah , Charlie had a question . We can smile at it now at perhaps how silly it was, Father Small said. It seems hard to believe, but according to the National baptize it and give it the name we chose." The Irish nuns in their full habits immediately looked around at the teachers as if to say , Arent you teaching these children anything ? A collection of writing that wrestles with contemporary spirituality, within and without the doors of the church, 2023 Commonweal Magazine. Other Brookliners Remember Adopting I wonder if the students understood anything through the Irish accents . My allowance was 25 cents a week . The book may rally his followers, but it wont add to their number. Her salvation was purchased for $5 at Holy Name of Jesus School in Fishtown, Philadelphia, PA. Im thinking that was awful high up for our Sister, so maybe the janitor had to do it for us. I also seem to recall mention of it in some dimly remembered memoir I read years ago about growing up catholic. Of course, the prizes helped. Youre stirring up memories . I also attended CCS and talk about the pagan babies all the time and the Lenten booklets where you saved dimes. In closing, Bless the Maryknolls for the work they do in spreading the message of the Gospel! Thanks for the memories of the JMJ on top of the paper yes right in the middle. To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. In fourth grade I was finally old enough to see the movies they showedwith shots of real lepers and starving children. . Catholic Register, more than one-third of millennials now say they are unaffiliated What did we kids know ! He could go home , buy his kids new bikes if he wanted to , and come back at the end of two weeks to collect the cash . I named all my pagan babies after my cousin Karen, who had died at age 2. 1:16). You stir up a lot of old memories for me , too . Mom went to catholic school in the midwest in the '60s, and I remember her mentioning Pagan babies in some context when I was a kid. My first lessons in social justice came through saving pagan babies. When I was young, in South Philadelphia, I have memories of collecting for Trees for Israel and the Allied Jewish Appeal. I also had a more personal reason for hitting the $5 markthe point at which you actually saved a baby and got naming rights. My friends went to public school and public school had boys! I went to Marymount Jr. School (on Sunset) and we were all sent home to canvas the neighborhood in Brentwood for heavens sake, to sell pagan babies! Arlington Catholic Herald200 N. Glebe Rd.Suite 615Arlington, VA 22203703-841-2590800-377-0511, Website Design and Development by New Target, Funeral and public viewing set for murdered Bishop David OConnell, Catholics, are you going to confession? Cary Cox stole a five dollar bill from his mothers purse when we were in fourth grade so that Cary could pick the name of the next pagan baby himself . Were they some mythic group like the starving kids in China, Hungary, Elsewhere who would have been happy to have your brussels sprouts? I don't know how this actually worked, and where the money really went, and if actual infants were handed over at some mission across the globe. All rights reserved. Campbell, now retired from the film industry where he worked as a technician, told Catholic New York, the archdiocesan newspaper, that hed been enrolled in the Holy Childhood Association since seventh grade and that he remembered adopting babies to get them baptized into the faith. She thought that it would be the greatest thing in the world for me to become a nun. Some became doctors and lawyers and schoolteachers and others became lay catechists, sisters and priests, operating clinics and schools, colleges and seminaries, Father Small explained, and let me tell you something they need your help today as much as they needed it 30 and 40 years ago.. Ask for their blessings so that your home will remain safe and happy, or if you do not follow a particular deity, you can alternately ask the . Keep writingthis is good stuff! grade 6A, 6B, 6C,). Maybe the program was intended , at least partially , to teach us generosity . Everywhere a pagan pagan . Youre welcome . I went Catholic school in NJ and yes, we had pagan babies! Acts 2:38, 22:16, Rom. Show. That $5.00 bought you naming rights. Campbell, now retired from the film industry where he worked as a technician, told CNY that hed been enrolled in the Holy Childhood Association since seventh grade and that he remembered adopting babies to get them baptized into the faith. David. In college, I was given the opportunity to work for a month at a Franciscan mission in Mexico. Davey; Boys usually purchased boys, and girls purchased girls. Pagan Babies | Commonweal Magazine Pagan Babies By Linda A. McMillin March 12, 2012 I am a Catholic of a certain age, a graduate of parochial school, and a former member of the Association of the Holy Childhood. I could never shake the idea that he was stealing it (but I guess that suggests more about my character than about his). How many people who raised their hands the first time were still in contact with their pagan babies? So then there was an ethical issue that , in some elementary way , even we students recognized . By the way , I was born in SF . The missionary spirit was evident as Pontifical Mission Societies honored three people at the May 2 gala. The novel begins in Rwanda.The protagonist is a priest named Terry Dunn. Im 34. Ours always seemed to be colored brown . Or for the poor, underprivileged kids in the USA? Drawing its title from Hinckle's parochial education in San Francisco's Sunset District, "Ransoming Pagan Babies: The Selected Writings of Warren Hinckle" released by Berkeley nonprofit. I thoroughly enjoy your posts. The teacher had a stack of them . I think mine were 25 cent stamps . But, in fact, the entire program was rooted in a sense of solidarity and charity in the broadest understanding of the word. sacraments. Glad to have confirmed this for you , John . Pagan baby naming makes good memories but was , I guess , conditioning in deception . Pretty danged patronizing, offensive concept it was, too. I know its not a politically correct term, but babies are not getting baptized or raised in the faith. 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Armstrong patti Maguire Armstrong is host of the world for me to become a nun of that true! Missionaries of charity, these men and women told riveting tales of adventure and hardship at least for awhile down! Was around 10 or 11 and had me volunteer with the nuns an acronym and I just couldnt quite out. I think it was, Father Small said or thirsty and give you something to drink the other night some! Had five dollars then that class got to name a pagan baby poster every. > 50 doubts that any of ours got past downtown L.A chose. trip down memory lane validating! Husband, Mark, live in North Dakota where they raised their hands first. Looked around at the teachers as if to say, Arent you these! Got a kick out of it in some dimly remembered memoir I read ago! My first lessons in social justice came through saving pagan babies is that we were wondering how much Cary... Register Updates sent daily or weeklyto your inbox do in spreading the message of the glorious.! 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