Why choose saint name for confirmation?

sarah_anne_628 · #1 Mar 26, '08, 7:39 pm

Ok, so maybe this is a little after the fact...but why do we choose a saint name for our confirmation? I was just curious.

I had some trouble picking mine, but I eventually chose Elizabeth Ann Seton because she was kind of a pioneer of religious education (something I am a huge advocate of) in this country (US) and started one of the first charities serving the poor and widows.

Mintaka · #2 Mar 26, '08, 7:46 pm

When something big is done by God in the Old Testament, He often changes the person's name as a sign. So in Catholic tradition, there are many life-changing situations when a person takes on a new name in addition or in place of the old one.Confirmation is one of them.

If Confirmation were to move back to being part of all Baptisms, including infant ones, the name would probably not be any different than the baptismal one, or would be likely to be that of the person's sponsor.

Kayleigh · #3 Mar 26, '08, 8:01 pm

I am happy to have taken on the name of St. Therese

I know, I am not answering the question.

JCismywingman · #4 Mar 26, '08, 8:02 pm

When i asked my Godma and Granny, this is what they told me, so according to them

At baptism my baptism name was taken after my Godma's which she hopes I'll one day emulate her.

At confirmation I picked my own confirmation name - but granny was sure to remind me to pick a saint's name, so i picked one dear to my heart and well i was bias cos it's granny's name, but our patron saints are different

So i guess either you pick some one whom you feel you can relate to , or would like to be like them?

I know some people pick their patron saints according to their birthdates/baptism dates/confirmation dates

Eg. If one of your dates were sept 29 and you were a boy, you could possibly choose St Michael the Archangel

thomasf · #5 Mar 26, '08, 9:02 pm

If I remember right, we didn't have to take a saint's name, we had to have a 'confirmation' name. I picked my real name anyway because I've got two saint's names for my first and middle name. Thomas Francis.

JCismywingman · #6 Mar 26, '08, 9:08 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomasf

If I remember right, we didn't have to take a saint's name, we had to have a 'confirmation' name. I picked my real name anyway because I've got two saint's names for my first and middle name. Thomas Francis.

if i'm not wrong, u can pick any name, but most people would go for a saints' or after some one who they respect rather than some thing like 'madonna' (no offence to her)

benedictgal · #7 Mar 26, '08, 9:09 pm

I was confirmed at the age of 12. The nuns told us to choose a saint because that person would not only be our patron, but, our friend for life. A lot of the girls chose Guadalupe, Mary, Therese and Lourdes. I went against the grain and decided to hunt down my own patroness. After reading what seemed like endless pages of lives of saints, I came upon someone who was my age (at the time) when she was martyred: St. Agnes. Of course, at the age of 12, I read the "sanitized version" of her life (veiled mention of the confinement to a house of prostitution and gauzy explanation as to why her hair grew--I appreciated the full story later in life). I chose St. Agnes as my patron.

When my turn came to approach the bishop, I told him that I had chosen Agnes. He smiled (after a plethora of Mary's, Maria's, Guadalupe's and Lourdes' it was nice to hear a totally different name). I then got picked to answer the toughest question of all: what does transubstantiation mean? I gave the bishop a lengthy answer (my dad caught on tape) and he said I was right.

Ever since then, I have observed my patron's feast day every year. While I am disappointed that I hadn't lived up to her moral fortitude, I still implore her protection and her intercession. I suppose we've been "friends" now for some 28 years.

sarah_anne_628 · #8 Mar 26, '08, 10:04 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mintaka

When something big is done by God in the Old Testament, He often changes the person's name as a sign. So in Catholic tradition, there are many life-changing situations when a person takes on a new name in addition or in place of the old one.Confirmation is one of them.

If Confirmation were to move back to being part of all Baptisms, including infant ones, the name would probably not be any different than the baptismal one, or would be likely to be that of the person's sponsor.

This makes sense. But we were told it HAD to be a saint...I wanted to choose Hannah because of her struggles with infertility and her faith that God would bless her. They wouldn't let me.

And when God changed the names of certain people...he didn't make the names to be after a specific person...usally for what the name means (like Rock or Struggles with God). So I was just curious why my certificate says "Elizabeth Ann Seton" instead of just "Elizabeth" (and why I couldn't choose Hannah).

I am not trying to be argumentative...I am just trying to understand this portion of Confirmation...which I probably should have done BEFORE Confirmation...but things were rather hectic and rushed.

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

JCismywingman · #9 Mar 27, '08, 2:27 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarah_anne_628

This makes sense. But we were told it HAD to be a saint...I wanted to choose Hannah because of her struggles with infertility and her faith that God would bless her. They wouldn't let me.

And when God changed the names of certain people...he didn't make the names to be after a specific person...usally for what the name means (like Rock or Struggles with God). So I was just curious why my certificate says "Elizabeth Ann Seton" instead of just "Elizabeth" (and why I couldn't choose Hannah).

I am not trying to be argumentative...I am just trying to understand this portion of Confirmation...which I probably should have done BEFORE Confirmation...but things were rather hectic and rushed.

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

Probably a man-made rule at your church? I've never heard that it HAS to be a saints name

I know people who didn't pick a saints name for baptism or confirmation!

My mom's name has a hyphenated saint in it, but the first part isn't a saint's name..

Seatuck · #10 Mar 27, '08, 4:11 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCismywingman

Probably a man-made rule at your church? I've never heard that it HAS to be a saints name

I know people who didn't pick a saints name for baptism or confirmation!

My mom's name has a hyphenated saint in it, but the first part isn't a saint's name..

It's a long standing church tradition that it be a Saint. It's tradition that the baptismal name be in keeping with Christianity as well. The idea is that we pick a Saint whom we know is already in heaven who can be our inspiration , friend and helper .This is not some newfangled man made rule.

Good explanation from the old Catholic Encyclopedia.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10673c.htm

Phemie · #11 Mar 27, '08, 4:35 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seatuck

It's a long standing church tradition that it be a Saint. It's tradition that the baptismal name be in keeping with Christianity as well. The idea is that we pick a Saint whom we know is already in heaven who can be our inspiration , friend and helper .This is not some newfangled man made rule.

Good explanation from the old Catholic Encyclopedia.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10673c.htm

For baptism we are only required to pick a name that has no anti-Catholic/Christian connotation (IOW, you can call your kid Bambi or Clarke but not Mohammed). There is no Church requirement to pick a confirmation name, that is strictly a parish/diocese requirement. Some dioceses suggest that you pick your baptismal name. After all, "I have called you by name" refers to the name given at baptism.

Cracker Mom · #12 Mar 27, '08, 5:08 am

I think it's a lovely & meaningful tradition to be able to pick a saint's name for yourself at Confirmation.
I've heard the explanation at our parish that it is better to just use your baptismal names because of the connection between the two sacraments. However I think that the connection is still made when we choose a special saint and advocate in Heaven just as our parents did for us at Baptism. Or perhaps I should say"hopefully" as our parents did for us at Baptism. There are alot of Catholic kids out there named after celebrities or soap opera characters these days.
My youngest son already had 3 saints names given to him at Baptism so I didn't fuss when our CCD director tried to steer parents away from choosing a saint's name for Confirmation. But there may have been children who needed or wanted a saint's name. I didn't really believe the explanation either that this was a recommendation coming down from Rome & haven't heard anyone else who has knowledge of Church teaching discouraging the practise of Confirmation names. If anyone reading this has other info. please let me know.

Chatter163 · #13 Mar 27, '08, 5:38 am

And the name changes did not only occur in the old testament. Saul became Paul and Simon became Peter in the new testament.

ForMary · #14 Mar 27, '08, 5:59 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarah_anne_628

Ok, so maybe this is a little after the fact...but why do we choose a saint name for our confirmation? I was just curious.

I had some trouble picking mine, but I eventually chose Elizabeth Ann Seton because she was kind of a pioneer of religious education (something I am a huge advocate of) in this country (US) and started one of the first charities serving the poor and widows.

We were told (and keep in mind this was before the invention of fire) that we were to choose a saint that we wanted to emulate to remind us of that persons qualities and especially if there was one that shared traits that we already saw in ourselves, or wanted to.

Regardless of the name that is chosen, it seems in many/most/all cases, a Saint will be found for which that name was spun off of or is closest to.

catherineajt · #15 Mar 27, '08, 6:08 am

Like the others, I was told that it was in order to have a personal Saint to contemplate upon, somebody whose qualities you hoped to emulate. I chose Joan of Arc when I was confirmed in the Catholic Church. If I had been older and done more research, i would have probably chose Saint Catherine of Alexandria--since my given name is a derivation of Catherine, and she is the patron saint of librarians and scholars.

My mother in law took St Barbara for her confirmation sake, which I did not know until recently, when we returned to the Catholic Church and started attending St Barbara's Byzantine Chapel. My mother in law said it HAD to be a sign. We sure didn't know Barbara was her saint!