Do converts pick a patron saint/name?

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thequietsinger

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Please forgive me if I’ve posted this is in the wrong section.

I was looking over some threads a bit ago, and a thought occurred to me. When you convert to the Catholic Church, and are already baptized in another faith, are you able to pick a patron saint upon converting, or do you have to keep the name you were given at your baptism?

I’m sorry if this is a commonly posted question, and I appreciate your answers! Thanks!
 
thequietsinger said:
Please forgive me if I’ve posted this is in the wrong section.

I was looking over some threads a bit ago, and a thought occurred to me. When you convert to the Catholic Church, and are already baptized in another faith, are you able to pick a patron saint upon converting, or do you have to keep the name you were given at your baptism?

I’m sorry if this is a commonly posted question, and I appreciate your answers! Thanks!
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If you are going to be confirmed, then you pick a confirmation saint name. But I see it says that you are Orthodox, in which I assume you have already been confirmed, then I believe the name remains the same.
 
It’s kind of up to you. When my husband and I came into the church in 2004, I selected St. Bridgid of Ireland as mine. My husband decided since his given name was good enough for the Pope, it was good enough for him, so he didn’t. John Paul II was pope then. I think most people do choose someone as their Confirmation Saint, even when they are converts. My husband just…anticipated things a bit.
Kris
 
TRH1292 said:
If you are going to be confirmed, then you pick a confirmation saint name. But I see it says that you are Orthodox, in which I assume you have already been confirmed, then I believe the name remains the same.
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Yes, I have already been confirmed. I am just confused as to if I can choose a Catholic saint as my patron upon my conversion. :confused:
 
klm120861 said:
It’s kind of up to you. When my husband and I came into the church in 2004, I selected St. Bridgid of Ireland as mine. My husband decided since his given name was good enough for the Pope, it was good enough for him, so he didn’t. John Paul II was pope then. I think most people do choose someone as their Confirmation Saint, even when they are converts. My husband just…anticipated things a bit.
Kris
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It’s not required, but is recommended that you pick a patron saint on being confirmed. I also picked St. Brigid of Ireland.
 
I am in the process of conversion. I have chosen my patron to be Saint Dymphna, who is the patron Saint of those with neurological and mental disorders. I have Aspergers syndrome. I don’t choose that as a name, I am male, so I will have to ask my sponsor about all of this.

Great thread! I have been thinking about this very subject. 👍
 
thequietsinger said:
Please forgive me if I’ve posted this is in the wrong section.

I was looking over some threads a bit ago, and a thought occurred to me. When you convert to the Catholic Church, and are already baptized in another faith, are you able to pick a patron saint upon converting, or do you have to keep the name you were given at your baptism?

I’m sorry if this is a commonly posted question, and I appreciate your answers! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that one can choose a saint they are inspired by and pray to them anytime they want to. It doesn’t have to be an official custom.
 
Choosing a patron saint for confirmation is a custom in some places but not others.

Whether it is a custom in your parish or not, there’s nothing to stop you from having certain saints as particular friends or patrons. They can serve as role models and show you how to embrace different virtues. We can never have too many friends in heaven!
 
Brigid34 said:
It’s not required, but is recommended that you pick a patron saint on being confirmed. I also picked St. Brigid of Ireland.
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It is a quaint, rather old-school tradition (small T), that certainly is not required, but recommended? By who?
 
thequietsinger said:
Yes, I have already been confirmed. I am just confused as to if I can choose a Catholic saint as my patron upon my conversion. :confused:
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Then from my understanding, if you have already been both Baptized and Confirmed, that you do not choose a new name when joining the Church. My close friend is coming in from Eastern Orthodoxy, has already been confirmed, and is not choosing a new name because he has already been confirmed.

What you can do, however, is choose a Saint to dedicate and entrust yourself to on entry to the Church.

God Bless you for your faith.
 
I am a convert. I was Baptized and Confirmed this past Easter Vigil and I do not recall hearing in RCIA that I had to choose a patron saint or saint name. I did not choose one upon Baptism or Confirmation. But I share the name of one of Jesus’s Apostles, so I already have a saint name I guess. I spend a lot of time reading apologetics when I was converting, so I admit I still know little about the lives of most of the most popular saints. s\So I do not know who I would have chosen as a patron saint :o

I did miss at least one class before Baptism though. Maybe that happened to be the class that told us to choose a patron saint.
 
We were asked to choose a patron saint. However, even though we did and I think there is record of it somewhere(?) it was never used at Easter Vigil …or ever. Not sure if it was supposed to be or not, but we did.
 
So when and where is it used?? If it is your confirmation name, why not use it at Easter Vigil at time of Confirmation? Do you write this name down as a matter of record somewhere?
 
houseofsaul said:
So when and where is it used?? If it is your confirmation name, why not use it at Easter Vigil at time of Confirmation? Do you write this name down as a matter of record somewhere?
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It is for your own personal devotion.
 
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