[Facts] Re: Meaning of Elizabeth
in reply to a message by Cerrha
The Catholic Carmelite saint, Elizabeth of the Trinity, was told and always believed that her name, Elizabeth, meant 'house of God'. This was important to her, and played a significant part in her Trinity-centred spiritual life. Elizabeth was both her baptismal name and her name 'in Religion' - that is, the new name Carmelite nuns are given when they make their profession. In Elizabeth of the Trinity's day - she died in 1906 while still only in her twenties - it was unusual for a Sister to to be given her baptismal name as her religious name, and in this regard she was an exception. Today it might be less unusual, since the person receiving the new name often has more input into what she will be given, but I think it is still rare.