Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich was born “Teresa Demjanovich” in Bayonne, NJ USA on March 26, 1901. I always wondered how her birth name, Teresa, connected to Miriam Teresa, the name she took when she was received into the novitiate of the Sisters of Charity.

Her biography, An American Teresa, explains exactly:

Miriam was chosen for Mary, the Mother of God. The book specifically says: “Miriam was for Mary, her Beloved’s Mother.”

Teresa was chosen for two reasons: her devotion to Saint Teresa of Avila, and for Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus.

Her birth name, also Teresa, was chosen by her parents after BMT’s Uncle’s wife (aka Aunt) who was baptized “Teresa” and was BMT’s godmother.

BMT “felt from an early age” that Saint Teresa of Avila had “taken [BMT] to herself.”

Another super interesting thing: BMT took those names on May 17, 1925, the same day of the Little Flower’s canonization as Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. BMT was particularly happy that day because her brother Father Charles Demajonvich got to serve the Community Mass and BMT got to serve that mass in her capacity as a religious.

I just found that to be a fun bit of BMT trivia.
+ jp