I am yet to be confirmed, and will be in RCIA. I am still wondering about a Patron Saint. Though I am drawn towards St. Padre Pio. I do not know why though. Our lives are completely different.
A person may select a patron saint for a number of reasons. I will list five examples, but there could be more.
1) Namesake: With cradle Catholics this is usually intentional (i.e., a baby boy could be named “Francis” after St. Francis of Assisi). But there is nothing wrong with, say, a convert named Elizabeth to select a particular St. Elizabeth (such as the mother of St. John the Baptist, or St. Elizabeth of Sweden, etc.) to be her patron saint.
2) Birthday Saint: The person’s birthday is also a saint’s feast day, and that saint is chosen to be the patron saint.
3) Baptism Saint: The person was baptized on a particular saint’s feast day, and that saint is chosen to be the patron saint.
4) Vocation Saint: Many vocations & careers have a patron saint associated with them. For example, St. Thomas More is the patron saint of lawyers, and St. Ann is the patron saint of mothers.
5) Saint by Association: Some saints are known because of the afflictions they either suffered themselves, or they once ministered and cared for people with such afflictions. For example, St. Peregrine is the patron saint of cancer patients (he once had cancer himself and was miraculously cured of it). St. Maximilian Kolbe is the patron saint of people suffering from drug abuse (although he was not an addict himself, he was killed by the Nazis with a lethal injection).
6) The Saint Chooses You: I have heard it said that sometimes we choose saints, and sometimes they choose us. The fact that you feel drawn to St. Pio of of Pietrelcina (a.k.a., Padre Pio) may well be an indication of him choosing you. In life St. Pio had many people he looked after as his spiritual sons and daughters, and said that he would continue this kind of ministry in heaven. I think this is something that you should spend time discerning. Include St. Pio in your prayer life, ask the Holy Spirit for direction in choosing a patron saint, and read up on the life of St. Pio. Ignatius Press, for example, has a number of books, audio books and DVDs about him, as you can see in this link:
Ignatius Press’ Padre Pio Items.
It is worth mentioning that his feast day is coming up: September 23, so maybe you could do something special on that day, such as going to Mass and maybe even praying a novena to St. Pio in the nine days leading up to September 23. Below I will link one such novena, and it is worth noting that you can pray this whenever you want (i.e., it doesn’t have to be leading up to his feast day).
Novena Prayer to St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)
As a side note, you don’t have to take the name of your patron saint as your confirmation name. Also, taking a confirmation name is usually an optional thing in many dioceses, and some dioceses prefer that this practice only be used if someone happened to have a birth name that was contrary to Christian virtue (such as a guy named Evil or maybe a woman named Jezebel). Your pastor will let you know more about this sort of thing.
