Competition: Name Helen’s House!
Blogger Helen is moving house and keen to find a name for her new abode. All ideas welcome, but she’s especially keen to find a “Marian” name. Being of simple mind, I suggested “Marian House” but – although I’m sure she’s added it to her list – I don’t think it quite cut the mustard.
So, over to you lot.
Can YOU find the perfect name for Helen’s new house?
Note, the blogger who submits the winning entry will be flown to the Vatican where a private meeting with Pope Francis will take place. If the winning blogger can get HIM to change HIS name (preferably to Pius XIII) then said winning blogger will also be flown back home!
Bloggers may submit more than one suggested name. In fact, bloggers may submit as many as they wish. All will be given serious consideration. So, let the competition begin!
Comments (58)
I suggest Maryland
How about:
Domus Aurea – latin for “House of Gold”, which is a title given to Our Lady in the Litany of Loreto.
or
Koressos – after Mount Koressos in Turkey, where the Marian shrine “House of the Virgin Mary” is situated. (Catholics and Muslims visit it). The church has never ruled on the authenticity of the Shrine, which was discovered via descriptions from the visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich.
or
Mariawald – after Mariawald Abbey, in Germany. Its a trappist monastery, which is still extant. “Wald” is German for “Forest” and so this might be especially apt if there are lots of trees nearby!
Fatima = a name from the Arabic that means “beautiful”
Lourdes = in Spanish the name “Lourdes” is a reference to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Pilar = derives from the miraculous pillar of Our Lady in the Basilica in Zaragoza, Spain
Loreto = means “laurel grove” – a town near Ancona, Italy where the Holy House now resides
Carmel = means “God’s vineyard”
Massabielle… if it is not too pretentious! Rather depends on the size and location of the house.
Pope Francis will never agree to an audience with Helen if she doesn’t name her new house according to one of his PR themes. So how about:
Domus Laetitia
Domus Misericordia
Domus Sustainabilus
Domus Divorced and Re-married
House of Surprises…
RCA Victor, House of Surprise, I love it! Haha. I’m not sure what the neighbours might think though………….
Rosarium (Latin for Rosary)
What about – Quito ?
Just don’t call it the house of the rising sun!!
Seriously, as long as the house gets blessed there’s no real need to name it. If I was to choose a name that suits best, I would say Loreto is the one to go for.
Memorare.
That’s the bairns in bed!
Thank you all so much for the suggestions. I’m spoiled for choice! Now who’s going to win that trip to see Papa Francis?
Gulp!!
LOL!
Athanasius, the house has to have a name as it’s on its own in the middle of nowhere!
Elizabeth, now there’s an idea, Massabielle. It will be quite large and high up on a rock in the hills! That’s definitely one to think about. My original thought was: Rosario, but I also like Loretto after I’ve Googled its history.
Helen,
Hang on there – if you choose Loretto, we’ll have to send both Wurdesmythe and Athanasius to Rome to meet with the Pope…
Massabielle is beautiful and it would only cost us one plane ticket, hotel, etc. “Mr” Elizabeth would have to pay his own way 😀
On the other hand, Wurdesmythe could engage Papa Francis in chat,USA style, while Athanasius confuses him with Glasgow slang along the lines of “yer changin’ yer name tae Pius ThURRRRRTeenth, whither ye like it or no… hiv ye goat that, noo?” Confusion, gobbledegook plus menancing look, might just do the trick.
Yes, on second thoughts, could be worth the double expense…
Let me think about that… I’ve thought about that, so yip, Loretto may be the one – over to thee!
Full disclosure: WurdeSmythe has a healthy dose of Scottish blood running through his veins…
Never mind the Scottish blood, could Wurdesmythe swing the broad Glasgow accent and menacing look! LOL!
Editor
That’s perfectly ok, just send Wurdesmythe. I’ll live with the disappointment!
Helen,
Why on earth are you moving to a house in the middle of nowhere? You’re not turning into a hermit, are you?
> just send Wurdesmythe. I’ll live with the disappointment!
Daft.
Wurdesmythe
No, I just have this overwhelmingly generous nature. I couldn’t possibly deprive you of an audience with Pope Francis. Ok, I’m daft!
Massabielle means “ancient rock”
Wurdesmythe,
Does Helen LOOK “ancient”? Be fair!
> Does Helen LOOK “ancient”?
Her thumbnail looks like Norma Jeane Mortenson.
You almost caught me out there – but for a vague memory that Marilyn Monroe was born Norma … I’d have been doing battle now! Clever clogs!
Yes, and better still it means “masse vielle” or “old mass”! Now I know it means old mass of rock but nevertheless it is interesting that it means “mass” at all and “rock” as in the Rock of Peter. I’m liking it more and more!
Athanasius, we are farmers and live on our own land. We are just building a new house as the old one is old, cold and gloomy.
Helen
Ah! Now it makes perfect sense. I thought for a minute you had decided to leave the rat race and become a cave dweller, so to speak. Sorry about that.
I’m going to suggest another one – what about Mater Dei ?
I would render it as: Villa Mater Dei.
“Portiuncula”, a little portion, from Assisi.
Steven,
We’ve been focusing on Marian names since Helen has set her heart on naming her new house in honour of Our Lady.
When she first emailed me to ask for my own ideas, I suggested “Patricia” … (no prizes for guessing why) and she turned me down flat. So, I doubt if Portiuncula will cut the mustard!
You know what they say – if at first you don’t succeed, forget it – but I say, try again!
It was a long shot, but I was trying to get on the Pope’s good side before pitching that whole Pius XIII name change thing.
Love it!
The Grotto
Villa Mater Ecclesia.
You could be ultra pious and humble and call your house ‘Refugium peccatorum’. Only kidding!😁
We’ve decided on 3 names to choose from:
Loretto
Massabielle
Mater Dei.
I’ll let bloggers know the lucky winner when we decide. Thanks to everyone for all the effort.
Nail-biting time!
I bet you will choose Massabielle… Elizabeth, start packing!
Depending on type of house, I would suggest the following:-
1. ROSARY COTTAGE
2. ROSARY VILLA
3. FATIMA HOUSE
4. MARIAN PLACE
Stay blessed and be a blessing to others.
N O T I C E . . .
I’m working on closing the older threads which are supposed to be (but never are, really) closed at the end of each month, but I’ll leave this one open a bit longer, until Helen tells us whether or not she has made a decision. In the meantime, feel free to keep the suggestions flowing. You never know, one of these days I might be able to afford a house that is so far out of town (any town!) that I may need to choose a name as well. One lives (and dreams) in hope… 😀
Our new house is nearly ready and we are torn between two names, Loreto and St. Joseph.
We had a really hard time arranging finances and trying to get dates to coincide etc., etc. It seemed an impossible situation and, taking advice from this blog, we decided to pray to St.Joseph. We also placed his statue upside down in the garden as directed, and started a novena. On the last day of the novena, everything just slotted miraculously into place. It was truly astounding and against all the odds. A bank manager even offered a loan extension at 1% for 12 months! I couldn’t even BEGIN to explain the wonder of it all. Anyway, the upshot of it all is we (especially my husband) think we should honour St. Joseph by naming our house after Him.
What do bloggers think?
Helen,
That’s a fantastic story – and for what it’s worth, my opinion is that you either name your house after St Joseph, or resolve never to ask him for any help ever again, at any time in the future – EVER! I’d also be tempted to run for cover, but then I don’t imagine that St Joseph will be half as vengeful as moi!
Helen,
You just HAVE to call your house after St Joseph. What a marvellous story. He really is a powerful saint.
I agree – Helen just has to name her house after St Joseph – especially after putting his statue upside down in the garden, as I said below in another post.
It’s not something I would do, although I don’t have a house to sell, and maybe would try it if all else failed, LOL!
Helen
I’m not in the least surprised to read your story, it’s typical of the unfailing help St. Joseph provides to all who invoke him. He never lets us down.
I think it is incumbent upon you now to name the house in his honour. You could opt for the Italian method if you like, calling the house Casa Giuseppe or Casa Santa Giuseppe. Alternatively, you could use the Latin Sanctae Josephus or Domus Sanctae Josephus. Casa and Domus are just the Italian and Latin words for house. But I guess you knew that already!
I thought I would share with bloggers, the whole saga of the miracle I summarised above.
We had a house to sell which, due to its size and price, had stuck on the market for over 2 years. We had already commissioned our new house and were required to pay for it by stages of construction. Now we had enough savings to pay for the first 2 stages and after that, we would be relying on a very cheap long standing overdraft loan of £100.000 which was due to be repaid by 31 October, 2017. Even with this amount there was still a shortfall of over £80.000.
The new house was due for completion in October by which time we would need to find another large sum to finish the payments. Therefore, we HAD TO SELL OUR HOUSE BY THEN in order to have the necessary cash. Desperation was setting in as house contracts take time EVEN after a buyer is found. We started a novena to St. Joseph and buried a statue of him upside down and facing our present house, in the garden.
On day nine several things happened:
1. The bank told us we could have an unlimited very low loan for as long as needed.
2. Two friends came forward and offered to lend the necessary funds.
3. A complicated and very large offer which we had received for the house suddenly simplified with no strings attached, the prospective buyer suddenly waiving all rights to numerous faults they had perceived being fixed by us.
4. The icing on the cake was all this was to happen on 31 October!
The whole affair was miraculous (as I’m sure bloggers here will agree.)
Hello again, bloggers. I can’t find the St. Joseph thingy on this thread so can only surmise that one of you sent it to me privately. Thank you and here it is for everybody’s edification!
http://www.prayers-for-special-help.com/prayer-to-sell-house.html
Helen,
That’s interesting to read, but I don’t really get the point of the statue being buried upside down. Reading the article, it seems to suggest that it’s a kind of punishment, that St Joseph will stay like that until he does what he’s told! Here’s the final paragraph of the prayer:
Saint Joseph, I am going to place you in a difficult position with your head in darkness and you will suffer as our Lord suffered, until this [house/property] is sold. Then, Saint Joseph, I swear before the cross and God Almighty, that I will redeem you and you will receive my gratitude and a place of honour in my home. Amen
It does come across as blackmail or punishment, and I’m not sure that’s a theologically sound position (excuse the pun!)
Have I misunderstood?
Editor,
That is indeed a strange prayer. How can any of us mortals “redeem” St. Joseph? Not to mention the absence of gratitude unless the favor is granted!
RCA Victor,
Indeed! Yet, the fact of the matter is, the prayer worked! With bells on, so to speak (ungrammatically!)
I’m now going to change my MO – instead of pleading with the saints to help me, I’m going to threaten them… only kidding, saints! Only kidding!
In the interests of fairness, however, I think the meaning of “redeem” in the prayer is that the statue will be restored to its rightful position. It’s not meant to be taken as literally “redeeming” St Joseph himself.
Helen,
Your story is totally amazing and it is obvious that your prayers have been answered so I would go with “St Joseph” – definitely.
I have to say, though, that I agree with Editor about the upside down statue. It says plenty about St Joseph’s famous humility when he answered your prayer after that threat! LOL!
I stress, I would absolutely call my house after St Joseph if I had such an obvious answer to my prayers (and blackmail! LOL!)
Michaela,
Agreed – the house HAS to be named after St Joseph.
Helen,
When will you tell us your decision about the name? We’re all watching and waiting…
I agree that the prayer is strange – I’ve never head of turning a statue upside down in the garden before – poor St Joseph!
I also agree though that if it works, don’t knock it!
Last but not least, I agree that the house has to be named St Joseph. I wouldn’t have the neck to call it anything else after that answer to prayer, LOL!
I’m not at all sure I like that idea of putting the statue of St Joseph upside down in the garden as a sort of punishment. That’s the first I’ve heard of that “devotion” – LOL!
It does seem to have worked, right enough, but I can’t say it appeals to me.
Sorry to say, I have to add my voice to those who are not too keen on turning St Joseph’s statue upside down in the garden and more or less threatening him if he doesn’t answer the prayer request the right way! LOL!
It certainly worked this time, OK, so good for you, Helen. As Nicky says, I really don’t see how you would have the nerve to name that house anything else but St Joseph’s!
When will you tell us your decision?
Helen,
I echo Laura’s question – when will you tell us what you have decided to name your house? HAS to be St Joseph’s – surely?
This thread has been open since February so we need to get a move on before it’s closed. C’mon – there can’t be any doubt not about the name of the new house… Please confirm it for us, and we can then announce the winner – that is, the FIRST blogger to suggest St Joseph…
Two Minutes Later…
I’ve just checked the thread and NOBODY suggested St Joseph until YOU said you were torn between Loreto and St Joseph!
So, maybe you really ARE still torn – me, I just would not have the audacity to call the house anything but St Joseph’s after all that palaver in the garden and then the miracle. No way!
I feel quite ashamed now that I didn’t suggest St Joseph – for obvious reasons!
Haha, sorry to keep you all waiting but it is school holidays. Yes, St. Joseph it is! I couldn’t decide whether or not to put an apostrophe “s” but my husband says it sounds daft. St. Joseph’s “what”? he asked.
In hindsight I see what you all mean about threats but I never even gave that a thought! He obviously didn’t mind! Anyway, he’s now sitting on my kitchen table (right way up!) awaiting the house move.
Thanks to everybody for all the suggestions.
WOW! That’s great, Helen.
Well, since so many suggested St Joseph AFTER your miracle, I don’t think they count, so it falls to me, moi, to (sigh) go over to Rome to see Papa Francis, all on my own… I’ll book travel and hotel without delay. Tough work, but somebody’s gotta do it 😀
I’ll now close this thread, with sincere thanks to everyone who contributed (to the naming competition, not to my travel and accommodation fund – that money comes out of my Walter Mitty Fund…)
Thank you all! Hail, St Joseph!
Comments are closed.