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DonnaNoble
Guest
I need help guiding my daughter though confirmation. It doesn’t help that I was given very little guidance myself when I was confirmed… to this day, I don’t know for certainty my own confirmation name because I picked St Francis of Assisi. I always felt a connection to him as a child but on the day of my confirmation rehearsal I was told I couldn’t pick a male saint, and they changed it right on the spot and picked something for me. I thought it was St. Alexandria, but there is no such saint (maybe it’s St. Catherine of Alexandria, I just don’t know).
Anyway, my daughter was just told “to pick a saint” via a mass email to all the candidate parents. She has five days to make her decision. They didn’t give much time and no guidance. Luckily, it’s something I’ve talked to her about on a few occasions, on and off, over the years. But I really don’t know how to guide her into picking a Saint. I told her St. Cecelia is the patron of musicians and she likes that (she plays several instruments all day long… other kids might play video games for house, she plays piano for hours). Is that appropriate? Picking a saint who is a patron because of some kind of personal connection? That’s what I did and they changed it on me. At least I know to tell my daughter to pick a female saint.
The other issue is she needs to do Acts of Mercy (2 corporal and 2 spiritual). Corporal is “easy” enough because you can proactively do these things: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc. In fact, we already volunteer at the Food Bank and one of the few answers I was given is that is considered feeding the hungry. But the Spiritual Acts are harder to do because most are reactionary. In order to forgive an offense, someone has to offend you. In order to bear wrongs patiently, someone has to wrong you. To counsel the doubtful, someone must confide their doubt to you. The only thing she can proactively do before the March deadline is pray for the living and dead. But what exactly does that cover? If we go to a cemetery and pray for the dead buried there, is that an Act of Mercy or do we have to participate in something more formal and organized like a funeral Mass?
I am sorry to have to ask this here, I’ve tried contacting several different people at my church in different ways and have gotten no answers. Tomorrow I plan on just stopping by the parish office, but I don’t hold out much hope that the church secretary will be able to help much. I just need some direction and guidance so I in turn can guide my daughter.
Thank you!
Anyway, my daughter was just told “to pick a saint” via a mass email to all the candidate parents. She has five days to make her decision. They didn’t give much time and no guidance. Luckily, it’s something I’ve talked to her about on a few occasions, on and off, over the years. But I really don’t know how to guide her into picking a Saint. I told her St. Cecelia is the patron of musicians and she likes that (she plays several instruments all day long… other kids might play video games for house, she plays piano for hours). Is that appropriate? Picking a saint who is a patron because of some kind of personal connection? That’s what I did and they changed it on me. At least I know to tell my daughter to pick a female saint.
The other issue is she needs to do Acts of Mercy (2 corporal and 2 spiritual). Corporal is “easy” enough because you can proactively do these things: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc. In fact, we already volunteer at the Food Bank and one of the few answers I was given is that is considered feeding the hungry. But the Spiritual Acts are harder to do because most are reactionary. In order to forgive an offense, someone has to offend you. In order to bear wrongs patiently, someone has to wrong you. To counsel the doubtful, someone must confide their doubt to you. The only thing she can proactively do before the March deadline is pray for the living and dead. But what exactly does that cover? If we go to a cemetery and pray for the dead buried there, is that an Act of Mercy or do we have to participate in something more formal and organized like a funeral Mass?
I am sorry to have to ask this here, I’ve tried contacting several different people at my church in different ways and have gotten no answers. Tomorrow I plan on just stopping by the parish office, but I don’t hold out much hope that the church secretary will be able to help much. I just need some direction and guidance so I in turn can guide my daughter.
Thank you!
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