The Fun Parts of Motherhood: Naming Babies and More

Dr. Martha Lucas has an interesting story about how she was named. This and much more from her on being a baby in her Catholic Daughters of Catholic Mothers book about life as a Catholic woman in the 60s, 70, and beyond.

They named me after Saint Martha, the patron saint of housewives, servants, and cooks. Catholics turn to her when dealing with chronic stress and doubt. Martha was a worker, keeping everybody fed and dressed in clean clothes, while her sister Mary had chosen “the good portion.” What’s meant by this old saying is that Mary was concerned with more spiritual things. She was the sister who spent countless hours conversing with Jesus almost to the exclusion of practical and domestic matters that were more suitable burdens for Martha.

During my birth, my mother suffered through a very long and hard labor—I obviously didn’t want to come out. A priest even gave her the last rites. My mother and father decided that if she lived and the child lived, and it was a girl, the child would be named Martha. A boy would be named John Jr., which was already a given. Well, it was me… Martha Lucas. It’s the name they gave me and the name I’ve kept. Admittedly, I’ve changed it due to marriage even though the man to whom I am married now has the opinion, “why would you take my name? I don’t own you. You are not my property.”