Premium Powerups . And so I traveled to Guaymas in the Sonoran desert expecting to accomplish great things. own pagan baby! Her salvation was purchased for $5 at Holy Name of Jesus School in Fishtown, Philadelphia, PA. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. I remember my Grandparents joking about it in the '70s. I still think of those days and have many wonderful memories. If they're actually disabled, they can file the application with the city to get a handicap spot installed. Right, but there must be some type of guidelines that must be met for that to happen. I attended Dominican High School (1966 to 1970) and actually it was in those years that I started my wayward path. In accepting his medallion, Cardinal McCarrick summed up the missionary spirit. I love the four Beatles pagan babies idea and the adultery thing ! The missionary spirit was evident as Pontifical Mission Societies honored three people at the May 2 gala. But they do a lot of things for children like provide food and clean water and mosquito nets. Band Name!! Any questions ? They took me down to Carmel Hall when I was around 10 or 11 and had me volunteer with the nuns. 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 ) ? I dont remember collecting money for them. Exorcist Responds to Sensationalized Russell Crowe Exorcism Film on Father Amorth, Ash Wednesday Breaks All the Rules of Modern ChurchThink, and More Great Links! The church doesnt have a mission. Or for the poor, underprivileged kids in the USA? I ended up with about five babies!" We were sitting on the floor anyway, but soon we were all (the Catholics) rolling on the floor laughing our heads off! Ill bet you remember those . We went to Blessed Sacrament Grade School in LaCrosse and pagan baby buying was fierce and rampant; Within grades, boy / girl and between grades. Everywhere a pagan pagan . I dont remember selling stamps , but a vague memory comes back to me about Christmas stamps . Possibly the nuns coerced the kids in those classes into giving more? It seemed like an honorable thing, he explained. Back in the 1950s and early-1960s, and possibly before that, the Catholic schools sponsored an ongoing drive to raise money for missions in foreign lands. https://www.ncregister.com/blog/where-did-all-the-pagan-babies-go. An interactive website will feature video interviews with some of the former pagan babies, now nuns, priests and catechists in their homelands. I still find myself wishing THOSE people had relatively lackluster and unsuccessful lives. Come back 60 years ago and well ask the teacher for one ; but now , I dont know . Those who would like to know what became of their pagan babies will soon get a chance to find out when Pontifical Mission Societies formally launches its Great Works Campaign in the coming months. Thanks for your input . You mean to tell me , he began , that we are supposed to sell a candy bar for a dollar that we could buy in the store for fifty cents - Sal S. They were befuddled . When five dollars was collected the box would go.somewhere ..and a new box would be folded out by the teacher . A collection of writing that wrestles with contemporary spirituality, within and without the doors of the church, 2023 Commonweal Magazine. The certificates had a picture of a white little toddler sitting down with little black toddlers. I did the saving bond thing , too . Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. Hopefully its from the old days. Im assuming youre a good Catholic father and have a tons of kids. Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled, 5.00 together, we got to buy and name a pagan baby. We'd all suggest names, and then vote for the one we liked best. Never knew it meant Justice under God though . The one boys name that sticks in my head is Zachary. So, does anybody remember the plastic prizes (not for pagan baby collections). Fierce competition existed between some of the nuns as to whose class had the most pagan babies. Charlie was in my class . I still have the ransom certificate to prove it. St. Paul noted that baptism replaces circumcision and circumcision was for infants. They were called pagan babies, certainly not the most sensitive appellation and one that would never be used today. Those who would like to know what became of their pagan babies will get a chance to find out when Pontifical Mission Societies formally launches its Great Works Campaign in the coming months. The idea was to collect money from students , nickels and dimes , for charity . Those memories come from a ways back . Hooo, yes. We sold The Tidings , which was the L.A. Archdiocese newspaper , and there were prizes . Thanks for the comment ! I knew immediately what you were referring to even though we never went to church & I went to public school. Pingback: A Poor Church For the Poor | Vox Nova, Pingback: Remembering a Different A-to-Z Challenge | No Facilities, This was too much fun. Despite its apparent condescending tone at times, it instilled a radical sense of urgency in children that we are responsible for one another.. But I dont remember her name." The novel begins in Rwanda.The protagonist is a priest named Terry Dunn. - Sharen D. The price of adoption was five dollars, and Resurrection This is hilarious, love this! On the other hand, the central charitable action of my generationsaving and naming pagan babieswas clearly a fiction (I mourn those African Karens), one that reinforced my American sense of exceptionalism and arrogance. Good luck. Thanks for your thoughtful comment . Regardless of whether pagan babies have become personal, we should still pray for and support the spread of the Catholic faith in foreign lands and in our own. I seriously want to start a band now, just so I can name us that. talking about!" There were just people who needed another shoulder on their plow. Seems like the boxes looked like animal crackers boxes . I think that the white kid had flowers in his hand and maybe a halo on his head. 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. Do you know if I could list my pagan baby on my tax return as a dependent? I think you had to be in Catholic school around 1960 or earlier to have been exposed to the term pagan babies. Id forgotten that the rest of it was to ransom them. I think the whole pagan babies thing was to give us something concrete to hold onto, plus those certificates that we got and plus, of course, naming rights all in the name of raising money for the Churchs missionary work. Like using Necco wafers to practice First Holy Communion. Thanks for your comment . Linda A. McMillin is a professor of history at Susquehanna University. The students were raring and ready to go sell the candy and get the prizes . Here is Sister Mary Michael Archangel giving medicine to the pagans . If memory serves, it shows a black child being led by a (white) boy and girl towards a (white) Jesus, while two (white*) nuns look on approvingly. This made my day. We were expected to sell subscriptions to our local Archdiocese newspaper when I went to elementary school. Anybody have some spare change ? monetization of National Catholic Register RSS feeds is strictly prohibited. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission ( CCC 1213), Scripture stresses the importance of this sacrament. I think mine were 25 cent stamps . I mentioned pagan babies and Im still not sure if they believed me. When I attended Corpus Christi Catholic School in the 1950s and 1960s there was a program we all called Pagan Babies . All good saints names . The campaign will celebrate the legacy of love and support the program offered, and recall the babies with whom American children once connected through the Holy Childhood Association. After about a year it didnt seem to grow as fast but I put it down to my own spending habits. If my parents would only let me go to public school, the church might have had another nun. Yeah . Well I am hurt that you would think I would steal your money to Buy and Name more pagan babies. I also had a more personal reason for hitting the $5 markthe point at which you actually saved a baby and got naming rights. Im glad youu got a kick out of it . http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1202140.htm, http://asksistermarymartha.blogspot.com/2006/08/announcing-pagan-baby-reunion.html. That reflects a certain dignified sincerity on your part , I think . When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? (Matthew 25: 37-38). They spoke for an hour and I think that every sentence they uttered had the word pagan in it . Bog bodies, secret passages, and amazing tombstones are all possibilities as well as the latest archaeological discovery. The whole Pagan Babies thing was a big deal every year and resulted in a lot of competition among the 50+ pupils in Sr. Madeline Sophies 2nd grade class. 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. Pope Benedicts Resignation: Debate Continues 10 Years On, Example of Their Lives: 6 American Black Catholics Are on the Road to Sainthood, Ex-Cardinal McCarrick Asks for Dismissal of Sex Abuse Case Against Him, Citing Dementia, Albany Diocese Bans Latin Masses Following New Guidance From the Vatican, What Have the Jesuits Done About Rupnik? I went to a Catholic grade school from 1984 to 1994 and have never heard the term. Were they some mythic group like the starving kids in China, Hungary, Elsewhere who would have been happy to have your brussels sprouts? I believe it helped me get through this crazy life :-)) Each was presented with a medallion featuring a representation of the Papal Keys. Its a mystery! Thanks for the memories of the JMJ on top of the paper yes right in the middle. Maybe the kids of today are more savvy . A kid in my class took a five dollar bill from his mother ( without her knowledge ) and a similar result happened . Pagan Babies is classic crime fiction from the master of suspense, New York Times bestselling author Elmore Leonard. Pagan Babies book. It sure wouldnt work on the savvy kids of today. He's probably still wondering, "How did I wind up with Youre an idiot that is exactly what happened at my grade-school as well. - Sharon S. The oldest nun asked : Any questions , children ? Aiden/ Aidan: Is of Celtic, which means "little fire." Alun: Alun means "harmony." Albus: This name means "white." A set or two of golf clubs may have been in there . Required fields are marked *. Remember getting a whack across the face at your Confirmatin? Yeah! Stories ensued. My first lessons in social justice came through saving pagan babies. Catholic Register, more than one-third of millennials now say they are unaffiliated David. Coins. . I just re-read your comment and am laughing about all that back then . Anyway , we never got pictures of our pagan babies . 1961 66. we collected for pagan babies, but we never got to name them, and there was no box that folded out. An interactive Web site will feature video interviews with some of the former pagan babies, now nuns, priests and catechists carrying on the Lords work in their homelands. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. You may be a pagan , but I think youre too late . I won one month & remember excitement at winning but total confusion & a sense of dread. A different time ; a different place . In addition we'd go and bless our herbs in the garden and around on Midsummer and then harvest them for John's night or the night before depending on the weather. I dont know what state you were in at the time, but I have lived in California for the last 60 years. I jumped at it. Needless to say, Zachary stuck. The concept, 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? A recent Pew Research Center study revealed that much of Christianity is significantly. The thing was a brown color . The bookstore is receiving pro bono legal services from ADF for the lawsuit. Steve, Thanks for the kind comment . The Irish nuns in their full habits immediately looked around at the teachers as if to say , Arent you teaching these children anything ? Their Pagan Babies: "Lord have mercy! Congratulations for moving on and helping children in other countries. Don't know why they are so eagerly upholding pagan traditions. 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 . Oh , well . We all knew what a pagan baby was a baby that was not baptized a Catholic, and not one in the US babies from Asia in particular. collections to save unbaptized children not taught about God (Pagan Babies). Charlie Bloomquist , of course , had a question . Someone nees to buy Charlie a shiny bike. Yesit must have been everywhere even Deer Lodge, Montana where I went to Catholic School. The rice they used was really good which I think defeated the purpose since a lot of kids looked forward to it, myself included. American Women Quarters 2023 Rolls and Bags - Bessie Coleman MULTI (D) (P) (S) $40.00 - $60.00 Shop Now 22EH American Eagle 2022 One Ounce Gold Uncirculated Coin West Point (W) $2,670.00 Add to Bag 17XA American Liberty One Ounce 225th Anniversary Gold Coin West Point (W) $2,765.00 Add to Bag Coin Sets Fogogo to mention JUG for bad behavior- Justice Under God, also at St. Ignatius College Prep JMJ was replaced with AMGD all for the glory of God. I had the vocation, the novenas were working! Remember what he said? These babies needed to be baptized, and so they needed missionaries, and the missionaries needed money. 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