Confirmation Name?

[Michelle_Arnold]

Monicathree:

Question: Any apologist, or anyone who would know…I was baptized Catholic, however, not raised in the faith, whatsoever, I converted I guess better said, reverted and received confirmation and communion as an adult in 2002. We were allowed, actually, told that we needed to pick our patron saint/confirmation name. I don’t know if I understood this correctly or not, but that is something that is discouraged. And if so, what does that mean for my classmates and me who were confirmed together, and even moreso my relationship to my patron saint.

As I mentioned, many areas still allow the custom of choosing a patron saint’s name as a confirmation name. If you were allowed (indeed, “told”) to pick a confirmation name, that was perfectly fine. The practice of confirmation names is a custom (i.e., not sacred Tradition), meaning that it can be changed according to time and place. The trend now is to encourage people to use their baptismal names rather than pick a new confirmation name, but either custom is acceptable. If the Vatican makes a decision on the matter, then the Vatican’s ruling would be the one to follow.

In any event, your relationship with your patron saint is a private devotion. Anyone can ask a particular saint to become his patron at any time (it’s simply been a custom for parents to do so for their children at baptism and for confirmandi to do so for themselves at confirmation); that relationship is not regulated by the Church. No need to worry; your relationship and your classmates’ relationships with your patron saints are secure.

 

[Veronica_Anne]

Brendan:

I would second St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton

other goods one would be
St. Frances Cabrini
St. Theresa of Calcutta

Um… it’s BLESSED Teresa of Calcutta because she has not yet been canonized as a saint.

ewtn.com/motherteresa/index.htm

 

[George789]

How about St. Maria Faustina (Helen Kowalska)? I believe she lived in a convent that took care of troubled young women.

 

[Lizard]

cholderby:

I wasn’t allowed to choose a confirmation name. (I guess adult converts can’t do that.)

Actually, members of our R.C.I.A. class were required to choose a confirmation name! (We also had to write a paper about our patron saint, and present it during one of our retreats.)

As for the original question, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Katherine Drexel immediately come to mind. A few less common choices might be:

Bl. Rose of Viterbo

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat

St. Angela Merici

P.S. You can also choose a male patron saint if you like. I chose St. Michael the Archangel, and I am female.

 

[system]

Lizard:

Actually, members of our R.C.I.A. class were required to choose a confirmation name! (We also had to write a paper about our patron saint, and present it during one of our retreats.)

What resources did your class use to research the saints? At my own confirmation many years ago, I’m sure I chose a confirmation name but I don’t remember what it was, and I’m quite sure we weren’t given any information to help us choose. It occurs to me that while I might know the names of perhaps 20 or 30 saints, I know nothing about any of them.

 

[madacz]

Beautiful, pious farm girl, one of six children of Luigi Goretti and Assunta Carlini. In 1896 the family moved to Ferriere di Conca. Soon after, Maria’s father died of malaria,
In 1902 at age twelve, Maria was attacked by 19-year-old farm-hand Alessandro Serenelli. He tried to rape the girl who fought, yelled that it was a sin, and that he would go to hell. He tried to choke her into submission, then stabbed her fourteen times. She survived in hospital for two days, forgave her attacker, asked God’s forgiveness of him, and died holding a crucifix and medal of Our Lady. Counted as a martyr.

While in prison for his crime, Allessandro had a vision of Maria. He saw a garden where a young girl, dressed in white, gathered lilies. She smiled, came near him, and encouraged him to accept an armful of the lilies. As he took them, each lily transformed into a still white flame. Maria then disappeared. This vision of Maria led to Alessandro’s conversion, and he later testified at her cause for beatification. Beatified 1947 Canonized 1950 the ceremony was attended by 250,000 including her mother, the only time a parent has witnessed her child’s canonization Patronage against impoverishment, against poverty, children children of Mary, girls, loss of parents, martyrs, rape victims, young people in general