Saint name at Confirmation

[GrowingFaith]

I was baptized and confirmed on Wednesday. I had picked out a patron saint’s name and was waiting for the priest to ask, but he never did. Is this unusual? Isn’t that part of the confirmation, or is it optional? I’m part of the Diocese of Dallas, if that makes a difference. And, the only reason I ask here is because I’m impatient, it’s late, and my priest is probably asleep!

 

[Usige]

First, congratulations on your baptism, confirmation and marriage.

Secondly, no, it’s not unusual as choosing a confirmation name is 100% optional. Depending on the diocese or parish a confirmation name might not even be recorded in the confirmation register since it isn’t part of your sacramental record, strictly speaking. I have never seen the confirmation name included on a baptismal certificate with notations.

In the case of baptism and confirmation in the same mass it makes sense not to take a new name. Since confirmation completes baptism it seems a little odd to be baptized as X and then confirmed as Y 15 minutes later.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Perhaps the priest just didn’t want you to say “Longinus” in public…

Fear not, but choose one anyway!

 

[pianistclare]

I was baptized and confirmed on Wednesday. I had picked out a patron saint’s name and was waiting for the priest to ask, but he never did. Is this unusual? Isn’t that part of the confirmation, or is it optional? I’m part of the Diocese of Dallas, if that makes a difference. And, the only reason I ask here is because I’m impatient, it’s late, and my priest is probably asleep!

They don’t ever ask around here.
Generally the Confirmandi are wearing a nametag with the Saint name on it, and the Archbishop says “Francis (or whatever) be sealed with the Holy Spirit”.

Sometimes he will ask various questions, like “why did you select this person to sponsor you?” “What can you tell me about this saint?”

When the priest Confirms at the Easter Vigil, he merely uses the name as well.

 

[Lily_Bernans]

I didn’t know how common it was to choose a name or not choose a name. I had to choose one, and the bishop asked me what it was when I was confirmed. I had always assumed that was how all dioceses operated, but I see it’s not. I’m kind of surprised. Choosing a name, honoring that saint, was so nice. But things are done differently in different places.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

It’s totally optional. Choosing a confirmation name is the custom in some places and not the custom in others.

If you have a devotion to a certain saint, continue and nourish that devotion. We all need friends in heaven!

 

[Joe_5859]

Choosing a patron saint name for Confirmation is in the realm of personal piety. It is not mentioned in Canon Law. It is not mentioned in the Missal or in the Rite of Confirmation. Therefore, if the celebrant is simply following the words as written in the liturgical books, nothing will be brought up with regards to the patron saints of those receiving Confirmation.

It’s a pretty widespread custom, though, at least in the U.S. Most people assume it is a required part of the sacrament, but it is not. I’d never pass up the opportunity to choose a patron saint, though.

 

[steve_b]

I was baptized and confirmed on Wednesday. I had picked out a patron saint’s name and was waiting for the priest to ask, but he never did. Is this unusual? Isn’t that part of the confirmation, or is it optional? I’m part of the Diocese of Dallas, if that makes a difference. And, the only reason I ask here is because I’m impatient, it’s late, and my priest is probably asleep!

Re: names

Why are we supposed to name our children after saints?

Why do we have to pick saints’ names for our children’s baptism?

Christian Names

What happened to confirmation names?

If someone isn’t Christened as an infant with a saints name already, then Confirmation is a good place to do it.

I was baptized with a saint’s name AND I also took a saint’s name for confirmation that I also wanted to emulate in my life.

 

[peter26]

Apparently its recorded somewhere in the Ordinariate. I chose St John Paul II when I converted and was confirmed just over a month ago. So I have two popes as my patron saints, Peter for my baptism as an infant and John Paul II for my confirmation.

 

[Lily_Bernans]

Choosing a patron saint name for Confirmation is in the realm of personal piety. It is not mentioned in Canon Law. It is not mentioned in the Missal or in the Rite of Confirmation. Therefore, if the celebrant is simply following the words as written in the liturgical books, nothing will be brought up with regards to the patron saints of those receiving Confirmation.

It’s a pretty widespread custom, though, at least in the U.S. Most people assume it is a required part of the sacrament, but it is not. I’d never pass up the opportunity to choose a patron saint, though.

Thanks for the information.

It’s not even required to have a sponsor. I had a sponsor and chose a saint’s name, and I enjoyed both. It was a very moving ceremony for me. Of course, I was young, but I could still appreciate its beauty.

 

[Faith1960]

I didn’t know how common it was to choose a name or not choose a name. I had to choose one, and the bishop asked me what it was when I was confirmed. I had always assumed that was how all dioceses operated, but I see it’s not. I’m kind of surprised. Choosing a name, honoring that saint, was so nice. But things are done differently in different places.

Mine is Theresa but I don’t really remember my Confirmation others than the excitement of getting another name. Oh, and my Sponsor.

 

[adrift]

Thanks for the information.

It’s not even required to have a sponsor. I had a sponsor and chose a saint’s name, and I enjoyed both. It was a very moving ceremony for me. Of course, I was young, but I could still appreciate its beauty.

Can. 892 Insofar as possible, there is to be a sponsor for the person to be confirmed; the sponsor is to take care that the confirmed person behaves as a true witness of Christ and faithfully fulfills the obligations inherent in this sacrament.

 

[Phemie]

Can. 892 Insofar as possible, there is to be a sponsor for the person to be confirmed; the sponsor is to take care that the confirmed person behaves as a true witness of Christ and faithfully fulfills the obligations inherent in this sacrament.

I was confirmed over 50 years ago and while I still remember a lot from the preparation I remember no mention of a sponsor. Reading through the registers pre-1920 it appears that, in our parish at least, one woman was named as sponsor for all the female confirmands and one man for all the male confirmands.

As for taking a new name at Confirmation, I’d never heard of this practice until I moved here 18 years ago and got involved in sacramental preparation. My brothers and I never had to do this, nor did my goddaughter for whom I was also the Confirmation sponsor, nor did any of my children who were confirmed within the last 20 years. I really only became aware of the practice when one mother had a fit when the diocesan director of catechesis said it was not something we did any more. She’d apparently not given her daughter the name she’d favored at Baptism, keeping it instead for her Confirmation name.

I must say, though, that the formatted registers I’ve dealt with in my years as parish secretary almost all included a section for the Confirmation name. That fact alone tells me that it is a common practice but, based on the entries I saw, not something that was really stressed in our parish or diocese since only a handful of confirmands chose another name.

Then again, nobody I know now is familiar with the tradition of “Solemn Communion.” This celebration was common in Francophone parishes in Canada when kids were around the age of 13 back in the days when Confirmation was still being conferred at the age of reason. Solemn Communion was preceded by more intensive catechesis by the priest, rather than the teachers in the schools. The tradition of Solemn Communion apparently originated in France after Pope Pius X lowered the age at which children could receive Communion.

As far as I can remember it disappeared around the time Confirmation started being conferred in early adolescence. I know that the year I was supposed to do it (mid to late 60s) I told my parents I wasn’t ready – truth be told I wasn’t ready to spend my May evenings at the church for instruction – and by the next year Solemn Communion had dropped off the parish radar and was never mentioned again. Nobody born in the 60s has likely heard of this practice unless they have an older sibling who’s gone through the ceremony.

 

[adrift]

I was confirmed over 50 years ago and while I still remember a lot from the preparation I remember no mention of a sponsor. Reading through the registers pre-1920 it appears that, in our parish at least, one woman was named as sponsor for all the female confirmands and one man for all the male confirmands. …

.

How very interesting. I have never heard of Solemn Communion. I was confirmed 55 years ago. Today it is encouraged that the confirmation sponsor be the same as the baptismal sponsor. The same for the name. However, it was customary, perhaps its a states thing?, to choose another name. My father a convert in 1936 had a confirmation name as did all my older siblings and class mates. My children also chose a saints name to emulate. I remember the Bishop calling me by my chosen confirmation name. It upset me because he used the Latinized equivalent and I thought he gave me the wrong name
But back to Solemn Communion, was it the same as first communion? How did it differ from a first communion other than what you have already written?

 

[Horton]

I’ve worked with the RCIA program in two parishes and both had the confirmandi choose saint names for confirmation. When I was confirmed after RCIA I chose a saint name.

 

[Phemie]

But back to Solemn Communion, was it the same as first communion? How did it differ from a first communion other than what you have already written?

I did some research when I realized that no one around here had ever heard of Solemn Communion and what I found was that before Pope St. Pius X issued his decree *Quam singulari *(1910) First Communion was usually in the teen years and was the culmination of initiation and a really big ceremony in French parishes, ceremonies first created by a priest named Adrien Bourdoise, and promoted by St. Vincent de Paul, during the early 17th century. When the age of First Communion was reduced to around 7 in 1910, in France First Communion became more of a family occasion and not the big celebration it had been (no group First Communion). Confirmation would happen around the same time.

The Church in France maintained the big group ceremony around the age of 12 and called it “Solemn Communion”. In 1935 the Congregation of Catholic Bishops of France added a renewal of Baptismal Promises to the ceremony to differentiate it even more from First Communion which they called “Petite Communion” (Little Communion). Eventually “Solemn Communion” was replaced by what they called “Profession of Faith” where people did a formal renewal of their Baptismal Promises. Today it’s all been replaced by Confirmation in late adolescence.

In France, First Communion and, after 1910, Solemn Communion was the time at which orphans were deemed to have become adults and left the orphanage. It was also viewed as the end of formal religious education (not unlike the way Confirmation is viewed today).

 

[Lily_Bernans]

I did some research when I realized that no one around here had ever heard of Solemn Communion and what I found was that before Pope St. Pius X issued his decree *Quam singulari *(1910) First Communion was usually in the teen years and was the culmination of initiation and a really big ceremony in French parishes, ceremonies first created by a priest named Adrien Bourdoise, and promoted by St. Vincent de Paul, during the early 17th century. When the age of First Communion was reduced to around 7 in 1910, in France First Communion became more of a family occasion and not the big celebration it had been (no group First Communion). Confirmation would happen around the same time.

The Church in France maintained the big group ceremony around the age of 12 and called it “Solemn Communion”. In 1935 the Congregation of Catholic Bishops of France added a renewal of Baptismal Promises to the ceremony to differentiate it even more from First Communion which they called “Petite Communion” (Little Communion). Eventually “Solemn Communion” was replaced by what they called “Profession of Faith” where people did a formal renewal of their Baptismal Promises. Today it’s all been replaced by Confirmation in late adolescence.

In France, First Communion and, after 1910, Solemn Communion was the time at which orphans were deemed to have become adults and left the orphanage. It was also viewed as the end of formal religious education (not unlike the way Confirmation is viewed today).

Thank you. That’s very interesting. I didn’t know it and I grew up in France!

 

[adrift]

I did some research when I realized that no one around here had ever heard of Solemn Communion and what I found was that before Pope St. Pius X issued his decree *Quam singulari *(1910) First Communion was usually in the teen years and was the culmination of initiation and a really big ceremony in French parishes, ceremonies first created by a priest named Adrien Bourdoise, and promoted by St. Vincent de Paul, during the early 17th century. When the age of First Communion was reduced to around 7 in 1910, in France First Communion became more of a family occasion and not the big celebration it had been (no group First Communion). Confirmation would happen around the same time.

The Church in France maintained the big group ceremony around the age of 12 and called it “Solemn Communion”. In 1935 the Congregation of Catholic Bishops of France added a renewal of Baptismal Promises to the ceremony to differentiate it even more from First Communion which they called “Petite Communion” (Little Communion). Eventually “Solemn Communion” was replaced by what they called “Profession of Faith” where people did a formal renewal of their Baptismal Promises. Today it’s all been replaced by Confirmation in late adolescence.

In France, First Communion and, after 1910, Solemn Communion was the time at which orphans were deemed to have become adults and left the orphanage. It was also viewed as the end of formal religious education (not unlike the way Confirmation is viewed today).

Thank you for such an interesting account.