I do hope I did not insult anyone by leaving out names....I do respect all of you for your knowledge of our Catholic faith. There are so many things I am not familiar with.

Is there some place where I can learn what all the initials mean after a person's name...usually a priest, or nun? For instance, the name of an author of a book on St. Therese, the little Flower...His name his Marc Foley, O.C.D. - then there is John Clarke, O.C.D.

Many times I see these initials after the name of a priest, brother, or nun and never know what they mean. I assume it is an abreviation for the order they belong to. How can I find out what they mean?

Secondly, what is a "Discalced Carmelite" priest mean? March Foley, O.C.D., author of "The Love That Keeps Us Sane" (a book about St. Therese, the Little Flower, and how she managed to stay sane in an imperfect world)

If anyone knows, the answers to these questions, I am sure it would be one of you experts. :) Thanks. MaryLu

-- MaryLu (mlc327@juno.com), May 28, 2002

Answers

Hi MaryLu,

According to Acronym finder:

OCD = Order of Discalced Carmelites (Catholic Order; The Secular Order of Carmel)

Here's the link.

Here's the Acronym Finder website.

Other abbreviations:

OP = Order of Preachers/Ordinis Praedicatorum (Dominicans) SJ = Society of Jesus (Jesuits) OSB= Ordinis Sancti Benedicti (order of St Benedict) OSF= Ordinis Sancti Francisci (of the order of St Francis)

2) "Discalced" means (literally) without shoes...I guess they wear sandals.

In Christ,

Mateo

-- (MattElFeo@netscape.net), May 28, 2002.

Oops... try #2:

Other abbreviations:

OP = Order of Preachers/Ordinis Praedicatorum (Dominicans)

SJ = Society of Jesus (Jesuits)

OSB= Ordinis Sancti Benedicti (order of St Benedict)

OSF= Ordinis Sancti Francisci (of the order of St Francis)

-- (MattElFeo@netscape.net), May 28, 2002.

Thank you Mateo, you are a real sweetheart! :) I will check out that link....

MaryLu

-- MaryLu (mlc327@juno.com), May 28, 2002.

Hi, Mary Lu.
I'm not an expert, but mainly just an amateur "detective," who sometimes knows how to look up answers!

If you ever have an abbreviation that you can't find at the sites linked for you by Mateo, you might want to try this article from the Catholic Encyclopedia. After you skip an opening section of text, you'll see some long lists of ecclesiastical abbreviations.
JFG

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), May 28, 2002.

MaryLu,

I am not an expert :) It was my quest, for God, that landed me at this stage. In fact it is a natural part of your Spiritual life. My answer to your question would be the same link recommended by J.F.Gecik on newadvent.org.

Peace

-- Xavier (xavier_david24@yahoo.com), May 29, 2002.

Hi John,

I thought a link like that existed, I just didn't know where! Thanks! Anyway, I hope my Acronym website link is interesting...it's related to the dictionary.com site.

Enjoy,

Mateo

-- (MattElFeo@netscape.net), May 29, 2002.

MaryLu,

You're very welcome. God bless you!

Mateo

-- (MattElFeo@netscape.net), May 29, 2002.