The Feast of St. Ignatius
As is tradition in our home, we celebrate our name days, just as much, if not more so, as a birthday or holiday. Special treats and/or activties are picked out by the child of honor and shared with the family. They enjoy a special day with incense burned and the icon of their patron proudly displayed on the center table. They are given special prayers and reminders of who they are named after. If they are older, we ask them to teach their siblings about the special qualities of their saint. The children learn that their patrons, although imperfect, with “warts and all” demonstrate ways of attaining their final goal in this life. Saints are real life examples, like my grandmother who prayed incessantly for me when she was alive (which is a very interesting story for another post… hopefully soon), of a way to live the “good life”.
Friday, July 31st, was the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Just as we celebrate with our living children, we went to the cemetery to smile with the child we lost. I explained to my daughter that she “had to go with me” to the cemetery again, because if she were no longer living, she could be darn sure we’d be there with her on her name day.
So, we said some prayers and chatted a little while, enjoying the beautiful, sunny weather that day.
Ignatius’ grave has been nicely decorated. Thank you to all who have sent something! There are the original roses the children and I put there over a month ago, but now there are a couple vases with dehydrated flowers that still smell very pretty, a Chicago White Sox teddy bear, and some now deflated balloons which say “Happy Birthday!” and “I love you”. Thank you, thank you whoever you are – although I don’t know who sent these, I am hoping you might read my blog & thus, you’ll receive our gratitude.
