Confirmation Questions

[JasonLee]

Hello everyone!

I’ve been looking over a few posts on confirmation names and patron saints, but I haven’t found a good answer to a question I have. I’m hoping that maybe someone could help me out.

I’m currently going through the RCIA program, it is still early on in it, but I’m already thinking ahead towards confirmation. I’ve gone through a few books that my instructor has given me, and when it comes to confirmation there is usually a little snippet about confirmation names.

Now, when discussing the sacrament of confirmation in our last meeting I brought this up with my instructor and she said that basically you’re confirmed by your given name, mine is Jason. I’m confused and I believe I confused her more.

Does this mean that I do not pick a confirmation name? If so, what exactly is it?

From what I’ve read on here it seems like the confirmation name is related to or is your patron saint is that correct?

I feel like I am being drawn towards two saints in particular. My plan is for my confirmation name to be one saint and have the other as my patron saint. I just want to make sure this is okay or if I need to rethink this. Thanks in advance.

~ Jason

 

[Phemie]

Choosing a Confirmation name is not a universal practice – I’d never even heard about it until about 9 years ago, when I was 46. It never came up in my own preparation (back in the early 60s), nor that of my brothers (mid to late 60s) or my first two children (late 80s). It simply wasn’t done in the area where I lived. I have never heard of it for those going through RCIA.

 

[Halos1n2Horns]

twelve years ago i also went thru RCIA and received my confirmation name , But i was told you didnt have to have one close to your name, But they do ask you if you would like to , However mines not, I chose my saint on the day of my baptism. But then again at that time they didnt have a saint under my real name, So this was a good choice for me.

I would ask your teachers If your not happy with your own name as in a patron saint, ( if there is one) If you could choose what ever saint you wish to have, My son is kind of after his name, but then again his name isnt a saint either we chose one out of book.

So I would say it’s really up to you as to who you would like as a saint? usually Its used under ur confirmation, and in novenas to what ever saint you choose, and most choose a saint to be there role model, for being closer to Christ. But I dont know anyone who actually uses there saint ( except maybe priest, or bishops etc.) on a daily basis.

Good luck and may the Peace of the heavenly king always be with you on your journey.

Halos

 

[jmcrae]

Your Confirmation name (which goes on your Certificate of Confirmation as a middle name) is the same name as the name of your Patron Saint. So, for example, my Patron Saint is St. Teresa of Avila, so my Confirmation name as given on my Certificate of Confirmation is Teresa, and I use that name as one of my middle names.

 

[SpaceNeedle]

Your Confirmation name (which goes on your Certificate of Confirmation as a middle name) is the same name as the name of your Patron Saint. So, for example, my Patron Saint is St. Teresa of Avila, so my Confirmation name as given on my Certificate of Confirmation is Teresa, and I use that name as one of my middle names.

Same story for me.

If a Saint resonates with you, I think you should “just do it”. Your sponsor will be asked your name at the moment you are confirmed, and they can reply with the name of your choosing. I think taking a confirmation name is pretty special, myself.

 

[MarieVeronica]

I was Confirmed in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles… in the 1970’s. When we were Confirmed… we were told to study the lives of the saints, and choose one… whose virtue we would try to imitate. I chose St. Veronica… because I admired her courage and her compassionate love for the suffering Jesus.

At that time… the Bishop came to the parish for the Sacrament of Confirmation. It was a very big deal. All the young men wore a shirt and tie. The young ladies, a white gown with a red hair ribbon. All of us approached the Bishop, who did the Confirmation… and asked each, individually… what name we had chosen. I don’t recall our sponsors speaking for us.

I don’t remember anyone ever telling me that we would be confirmed under our “own name” or telling us to choose a name which is close to our baptismal name.

But I guess every diocese does it differently?

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Selecting a confirmation name/patron saint is optional. If you would like to choose one, go ahead. If you prefer not to, that’s fine too.

In my experience with both RCIA and adult confirmation classes, I’ve had two people choose patron saints. They were a married couple and took their research on the various saints quite seriously. Everyone else has chosen to be confirmed with their baptismal names.

 

[PJM]

Hello everyone!

I’ve been looking over a few posts on confirmation names and patron saints, but I haven’t found a good answer to a question I have. I’m hoping that maybe someone could help me out.

I’m currently going through the RCIA program, it is still early on in it, but I’m already thinking ahead towards confirmation. I’ve gone through a few books that my instructor has given me, and when it comes to confirmation there is usually a little snippet about confirmation names.

Now, when discussing the sacrament of confirmation in our last meeting I brought this up with my instructor and she said that basically you’re confirmed by your given name, mine is Jason. I’m confused and I believe I confused her more.

Does this mean that I do not pick a confirmation name? If so, what exactly is it?

From what I’ve read on here it seems like the confirmation name is related to or is your patron saint is that correct?

I feel like I am being drawn towards two saints in particular. My plan is for my confirmation name to be one saint and have the other as my patron saint. I just want to make sure this is okay or if I need to rethink this. Thanks in advance.

~ Jason

Hi Jason,

I have been teaching our Faith fro about fifteen years, and just completed my third year in RCIA.

You do get to choose a SAINTS name, and usually one of the same gender.

Here is a fun project for you.

search www.newadvent.org They have alpabetical listing of Saints and a brief bio’s on them. Have fun my friend.

Take your lesson seriously

Love and prayers,
Pat

 

[Tatiana]

Jason, thanks so much for starting this thread–I have some of the same questions!

I was born and raised a Protestant, but at age 20 I converted to Catholicism. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, while I was formally received into the Church (I was baptized as a Protestant at the age of 9), I missed being confirmed.

Well, the years keep passing and I still haven’t been confirmed.

I do want to be confirmed, tho, and I am going crazy trying to choose a name. My parents named me “Patricia Ann”–well, obviously I could choose St. Ann, mother of Our Lady, as a patron. I can’t really get interested in any St. Patricia, but I do like St. Patrick! Still—I’m not sure either of those would “count” as patron saints since my parents were Protestant and just chose names they liked (believe it or not, lol) without any thought as to saints!

And when I get confirmed, I would like to pick a different name anyway. One that I get to choose, this time!!

So–a couple of questions:

Does the confirmation saint have to be of my own gender (female)? If not, would I use the male form of the saint’s name or a feminine version of it??

My other question: As you might have noted from my signature I am a huge fan of Julian of Norwich.

I would dearly love to have Julian as my confirmation saint, but…it seems that she is not, officially, a saint. Which is something I will never understand, because I find her writings to be incredibly comforting and inspiring.

So does that mean that I have to cross Julian of Norwich off my list and pick someone else–even tho I really really really want her???

Thanks for any and all advice!

 

[nomie]

I was born and raised a Protestant, but at age 20 I converted to Catholicism. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, while I was formally received into the Church (I was baptized as a Protestant at the age of 9), I missed being confirmed.

Sorry to get off topic but I was wondering how an adult can be formally received into the Catholic church without confirmation? Not trying to be rude but honestly wondering.

On topic, at RCIA I was told if you pick a saint, “your” saint could be either gender although most people seem to pick one that shares their gender.

 

[jmcrae]

was born and raised a Protestant, but at age 20 I converted to Catholicism. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, while I was formally received into the Church (I was baptized as a Protestant at the age of 9), I missed being confirmed.

I am guessing you came into the Church under the old form, with Confession, Conditional Baptism, and First Holy Communion, to then enter the Guild of St. Paul, and then after several Guild meetings, to be Confirmed the next time the Bishop comes to the parish - and likely they switched over to the RCIA model at some point in between there, and you got lost in the gap when they abolished the Guild of St. Paul, but forgot to tell you what was going on.

Does the confirmation saint have to be of my own gender (female)? If not, would I use the male form of the saint’s name or a feminine version of it??

You can use any Saint name you want. I had several boys in my Confirmation class this year choose female Saints, and they went with the female spellings (I don’t even know what the male spellings of “Teresa” and “Barbara” would be) - and several of the girls chose St. Francis, without changing the spelling to “Frances”.

 

[nomie]

AHHH…Thanks jmcrea. I always learn something new here.

 

[Tatiana]

Sorry to get off topic but I was wondering how an adult can be formally received into the Catholic church without confirmation? Not trying to be rude but honestly wondering.

On topic, at RCIA I was told if you pick a saint, “your” saint could be either gender although most people seem to pick one that shares their gender.

Hi, Nomie, no, your question is not rude at all!!

I began RCIA at age 19 (as you know, instruction in the Faith takes several months!). I was receiving instructions at a Catholic Church about 36 miles from my home, since I live in a area which doesn’t have a lot of Catholics!

At that time I was also attending a local branch of our state university, so I just drove back and forth daily for classes, while still living at home with my parents.

The disruption in my instructions was my fault (if you want to put it that way)! I had decided to change majors, and I could not get the major I wanted at the local university branch. Instead I would have to move to the main campus, about 50 miles away, which meant leaving home and moving into a college dormitory. This was just too far away to attend further RCIA classes at the original church.

I did take some further instruction from a very sweet Franciscan priest on the main college campus. Unfortunately, my change in major did not work out (classes I needed already filled up, etc) and I must admit, I was extremely shy and had a very hard time making friends on campus. I got very very homesick, so within a few months I transferred back to the local campus and moved back home with my (long-suffering! ) parents.

I did resume instructions with the original church, but obviously by this time I had fallen behind my original fellow RCIA members. They were received into the Church, baptized (if they had never received baptism before), made their First Confession, participated in their First Holy Communion, and were confirmed by the local Bishop during the next Easter Celebration.

So I had to wait several more months before my instructor felt that I was ready for Reception into the Church. During the next Sunday Mass after he made this decision, Monsignor LeFrois (a wonderful priest! ) listened to my First Confession (a harrowing ordeal lol!), took me and my sponsor, Linda, up to the altar and led us and the congregation in the renewal of our baptismal vows (I did not receive baptism since I had received a ‘valid’ baptism as a child), and he formally received me into the Church and I partook of my first Holy Communion.

I think the reason that I was not confirmed at that time is that (1) it was not during Easter Season and (2) the Bishop could not attend.

Sorry for being so long-winded, I hope I haven’t bored anyone into a stupor!!

Anyway, I keep thinking that I need to be confirmed, but as the Queen of Procrastinators I keep putting it off.

And thanks so much for the very helpful answers!

And happy to know that if I want I can choose the name of a male saint–there are several I very much admire!

Still one more question: I know that Julian of Norwich was never canonized as a saint, and that she was never even properly beatified (altho she is often called “Blessed Julian”). Still, I have several books containing “Saints’ Names”, and she is included in almost all of them. So I am totally confused!!

Would Julian of Norwich be acceptable as a confirmation “saint”? Or will I have to begin looking elsewhere???

Thanks so much for your help! :hug1: