What is the Holy Name Society?
The Holy Name Society is a Confraternity of the Catholic Church. Our primary purpose is to promote love, honor, and respect for the HOLY NAME OF JESUS. We believe that whenever the name of JESUS is spoken, a prayer is made to implore God’s saving power. God has given each of us the word of Jesus to do wonders for Him, ourselves, and our world. The Society’s members represent Catholic values and keep them alive by living according to the Holy Name Pledge.
What We Do
Members of the Holy Name Society – both individually and collectively in our parish – are called to build the kingdom of God by performing corporal and spiritual Works of Mercy. These works can be categorized into three main areas: Spiritual, Service, and Social.
> SPIRITUAL
- Promote devotion to and respect for the most Holy Names of God and Jesus;
- Encourage frequent reception of the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Eucharist;
- Participate in daily Mass attendance, prayer, liturgies, and spiritual reading;
- Participate in Eucharistic Adoration;
- Encourage and participate in spiritual conferences, weekend retreats and days of recollection;
> SERVICE
- Visit the sick and the dying, and helps the elderly and physically disabled;
- Provide financial support for Seminarians and Catholic Education Students
- Coordinate community blood drives;
- Provide servers, lectors, cantors, ushers and choir members for the sacred liturgy;
- Support Catholic School Education and Scholarship Programs;
- Manage Our Lady of the Fields Cemetery;
- Fight for the respect and dignity of human life;
- Support parish youth activities;
> SOCIAL
- Hold monthly HNS meetings
- Coordinate and work at parish festivals and fundraisers;
- Sponsor parish social events including Movie Nights, Annual Spaghetti Dinner, Pancake Breakfast, and Shrove Tuesday Meal;
- Host annual Baltimore Ravens Ticket Raffle
- Coordinate offsite trips to faith-based events (ie: Sight & Sound Theatre in Lancaster, PA and the National Bible Museum in Washington, DC)
How Can I Become a Member of the Holy Name Society?
Membership in the Holy Name Society is open to all Catholics, men and women, lay, clergy, and religious over the age of 18. They must be firm believers in all that the Catholic Church believes and teaches and put these teachings into practice in their daily lives.
Step 1: Make the Holy Name Pledge
Step 2: Fill out this Application Form.
Step 3: Attend the next Holy Name meeting and submit your completed Application Form to the Holy Name Society Membership Coordinator
The Holy Name Society meets the 2nd Sunday of every month at 9AM in the parish hall (immediately after the 8AM Mass). Contact a Holy Name Society Member for the next meeting date.
History
The Holy Name Society traces its roots to the Council of Lyons in the year 1274 when Pope Gregory X convened a special council of Bishops in Lyons, France to address the Albigensian Heresy. The Church formally recognized the Confraternity of the most Holy Names of God in 1571 when Pope Pius V gave the Dominican Order sole jurisdiction over this society.
The first Holy Name Societies were introduced in the US in the early 1800s. Thousands of members inducted from 1900 to 1914. From 1914 until 1960, Societies and membership continued to grow. Great acts of public devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus were carried out by members of the Holy Name Society during these formative years of the Society.
Our Lady of the Fields Holy Name Society transitioned from St Mary’s Annapolis when Our Lady of the Fields became a parish in 1965. Since then, the Society and its members have received numerous Archdiocesan Holy Name Union awards: Society of the Year, Member of the Year, Project of The Year, and convention Honoree. The Society also received the National Association of Holy Name Societies Keystone Award as outstanding Society of the year for the US. One of our members served as president of the National Association of Holy Name Society. He and another have served as president of the Baltimore Archdiocesan Holy Name Union.
We are devoted to serving Our Lady of the Fields parish as We Do All In HIS Name.
2023-2024 Holy Name Society Officers
President: Bill Schummer
Vice President: Terry Anderson
Secretary: Paul Phillips
Treasurer: Steve Davis
Marshall: Ken Hennigan
