Confirmation...Saint Name?

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Being_Brave

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I’ve been reading the CCC and attending Mass for almost 5 months.
I’ve been on this site for just about as long, getting ALL my questions answered so far.
I am validly baptised Baptist, and am a Candidate in RCIA.
RCIA just started (3weeks ago), and they’re great at explaining things to me, but I have a question that hasn’t come up in class yet.

I’d heard of choosing a Saint, and vaguely heard something about taking that name as part of yours at Confirmation? I know that the Saint will intercede for you, and that it generally happens that the Saint seemingly picks you. Just recently I read that your Saint should be the same gender as you…which brings me to my problem:

I am terribly fond of Saint Augustine of Hippo, but I’m not a guy. I’ve read about a lot of female Saints, but none of them affect me like Saint Augustine. My life story isn’t exactly like his, but it really stands out to me because I’m kind of the black sheep in my family in that the rest of them live…well, more like he did. He seems to put things in a matter-of-fact way, and uses humor and common sense to get his point across. I can be reading a random book and like a quote, and it turns out Saint Augustine is the one that said it. (It’s happend many times, reading the newspaper, novels, magazines…)

My first few jobs were in mental and behavioral health, working with drug and alcohol rehabilitation and then with teenagers with behavioral and psychological disorders. My family history reads like a textbook on those subjects. When I was younger my family nicknamed me “the Warden” because I was the one keeping them in check. Now I work in law enforcement so I think it’s funny that it showed in my personality way back then. Also,being blessed as a middle child, I learned how to mediate and how to use humor and common sense to keep conversations at a simmer, so I really admire that about him.

I will talk to my Priest and DRE about this, but I’d like to know a little about it before going into the conversation blind…

What’s the basic process of Confirmation from a Candidate?
Do I really pick a Saint, or is that for Cradle Catholics?
Do I have to choose a female?
Any female suggestions? (I don’t favor Saint Dymphna)
 
You can choose, as I understand it, a saint or blessed.
You can go here: catholic.org/saints/female.php to help you choose. I think, from what you said, there are: St. Mary Magdalene, St. Theresa of Liseaux, St. Claire.

PS: My confirmation saint is/was St. Augustine! 🙂
 
You can choose a male or female saint. In my RCIA we had a woman choose St. Michael the archangel as her confirmation saint. I say pick the saint that you feel called to use and don’t worry if it is a male or female saint.
 
mswood said:
You can choose a male or female saint. In my RCIA we had a woman choose St. Michael the archangel as her confirmation saint. I say pick the saint that you feel called to use and don’t worry if it is a male or female saint.
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I don’t know, because as an angel, St. Michael has no gender. However, my RCIA director told my class we had to pick a saint who was of our gender.
 
anyone else have this experience?

Whem I was baptized (and all my siblings) I was only given one name besides my surname. My parents allowed me to choose my middle name at Confirmation. Is this uncommon?
 
A female friend of mine recently chose Francis as her confirmation name. I initially thought she chose Frances, but she selected the male form. At first I found the decision a little odd, but now I see it as laudable devotion to a particular saint. Note, also, that Italians use the name “Maria” for a male child’s middle name - for example, Pope Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Maria Montini). Of course, Mary is no ordinary saint, but the precedent exists for males using traditional female names and vice versa.

I would of course talk to your pastor & RCIA director, but your request seems reasonable in light of your particular devotion.
 
ZDHayden said:
I don’t know, because as an angel, St. Michael has no gender. However, my RCIA director told my class we had to pick a saint who was of our gender.
Click to expand...
We had another female that also chose a male saint (I don’t remember which one), I don’t think there is any official church rule that women have to choose female saints and men have to choose male saints. Most people probably do choose a saint that is the same gender as themselves, but requiring you to choose that way is a preference of your RCIA leader, if you feel strongly about using a saint of a different gender and the RCIA leader refuses to allow it I would consider discussing it with your parish priest and allow him to make the final decision.
 
Being_Brave said:
I’ve been reading the CCC and attending Mass for almost 5 months.
I’ve been on this site for just about as long, getting ALL my questions answered so far.
I am validly baptised Baptist, and am a Candidate in RCIA.
RCIA just started (3weeks ago), and they’re great at explaining things to me, but I have a question that hasn’t come up in class yet.

I’d heard of choosing a Saint, and vaguely heard something about taking that name as part of yours at Confirmation? I know that the Saint will intercede for you, and that it generally happens that the Saint seemingly picks you. Just recently I read that your Saint should be the same gender as you…which brings me to my problem:

I am terribly fond of Saint Augustine of Hippo, but I’m not a guy. I’ve read about a lot of female Saints, but none of them affect me like Saint Augustine. My life story isn’t exactly like his, but it really stands out to me because I’m kind of the black sheep in my family in that the rest of them live…well, more like he did. He seems to put things in a matter-of-fact way, and uses humor and common sense to get his point across. I can be reading a random book and like a quote, and it turns out Saint Augustine is the one that said it. (It’s happend many times, reading the newspaper, novels, magazines…)

My first few jobs were in mental and behavioral health, working with drug and alcohol rehabilitation and then with teenagers with behavioral and psychological disorders. My family history reads like a textbook on those subjects. When I was younger my family nicknamed me “the Warden” because I was the one keeping them in check. Now I work in law enforcement so I think it’s funny that it showed in my personality way back then. Also,being blessed as a middle child, I learned how to mediate and how to use humor and common sense to keep conversations at a simmer, so I really admire that about him.

I will talk to my Priest and DRE about this, but I’d like to know a little about it before going into the conversation blind…

What’s the basic process of Confirmation from a Candidate?
Do I really pick a Saint, or is that for Cradle Catholics?
Do I have to choose a female?
Any female suggestions? (I don’t favor Saint Dymphna)
Click to expand...
Picking a “Confirmation saint” is completely optional. It’s not part of the Sacrament, so no need to get overly worried about.
 
Are we allowed to pick Mary, after our blessed Mother for our confirmation name?
 
We can pick what ever name we want either male or female. Here is another saint index that you may like. You can look alphabetical or by topics. Topics may help you pick one by your personality.

saints.sqpn.com/
 
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