What is Confirmation? Confirmation is one of the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church, which confers the gifts of the Holy Spirit ( Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Counsel, Fortitude, Piety and Fear of the Lord) upon the recipient making the recipient a full member of the Catholic Church.
During this period we are made to choose a new name which is our confirmation name. It’s this name that the bishop will call us while anointing our head with the chrism oil.
Confirmation is usually the first time most of us Catholics get to choose our own name by ourselves.
Name has always been a significant part of Christian life. Even in the Bible, God gave some people he called to do work for him a new name e.g Abram was changed to Abraham, Simon was changed to Peter, Jacob was changed to Israel, Saul to Paul etc. Religious people also change their name when called to a new religious life e.g Pope, Monks Nuns etc. A new name always signifies a new call in life.
As a candidate of the sacrament of confirmation you have two options concerning the choice of a confirmation name.
- Is to stay with your present Baptismal name. This is applicable if your baptism name is that of a Catholic Saint and you already have a strong connection with the saint and choose to continue to grow in faith with your saint.
- Choosing a new name of Saint for your confirmation. This is when you decided to choose a new name of a saint that you admire or chosen to follow his or her footstep as your confirmation name.
Here’s what you need to have in mind while choosing a saint name.
Saints are human beings just like us, they were sinners who have repented and made a choice to live a good Christian life. They suffer all the trial and tribulations of this world, but amidst of all these, they maintained their strong relationship with God till they died and are now in heaven.
Choosing a Saints’ name means you know and admire this saint and also aspire to be like him or her. It means that you can relate to this saint and choose to follow his or her footstep in life and finally that you have chosen this saint to be your Patron saint that’s a saint that can intercede and guide your spiritual life.
Heb 6:10-12 says “10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.(A) 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope(B) for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate(C) those who through faith and patience(D) inherit what has been promised.(E)“.
How to choose a Saints’ name.
To choose a Saints name you have to first pray to the holy Spirit to guide you in choosing a perfect Saint name for you.
Pick up Saints book read about their lives, the trials and temptation they faced how they acquired victory over them. Their Impacts in life and their achievements in the Church, all these can be an inspiration to you. Apart from reading their books, you can also watch their movies to see how they lived their lives and lessons behind it.
Search for saints who you have the same hobbies and personality with to know if you can connect with them. Saints that you share same ideology and goals with E.g If you love music you can choose St Cecelia, if you love movies choose saint Genesius, if you are good in academics you can choose St Thomas Aquinas. etc.
You can search for a Saint by looking at the feast day of the day you were born. Every Saint has feast day, so you can look for saint whose feast day is exactly the day you were born.
Search for saints whom you share same virtue with like Bravery, Courage, Obedience, Charity etc. Example If you love charity choose saint Vincent de Paul, if you are brave choose St Sabastine.
After you have made your research, narrow your lists down and discuss with your Parents, Catechism teacher, Priests, Sponsor what attracted you to these saints you have listed down, let them help you make your final decision if you find it hard to do it yourself.
Finally Pray to the Saint you have Chosen to guide you through your Journey of life as a Christian and To be your Patron Saint to always pray for you and protect you.
