Catholic - VANITY - Confirmation Names...

18 April 2002

[history_matters]

What was your Confirmation name?

Why did you choose it?

[eastsider]

I chose my father's name: Leonard. The nun initially told me that it wasn't a saint's name, but the priest who asked us our questions "confirmed" that it was. : )

[eastsider]

I still consider it as one of the most important days of my life.

[Petronski]

Gregory was to be my first name, but my father vetoed it as he felt it sounded too Russian. Instead, it became my confirmation name.

[AKA Elena]

I join those who chose St. Michael the Archangel as the "persona" to defend the Faith, as I became a soldier for Christ ... ergo Michelle.

Michael is the name of my Guardian Angel and I also went on to St. Michael's Girls High School.

We were steeped in the Lives of the Saints all through my schooling ... as we were in the Eucharist, and other now, less "popular" devotions, such as Benediction, the Rosary (nightly family affair at my house), Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and attendant Adoration, Formal Novenas with the parish participating and of course, Missions that lasted for weeks. We had "mandatory" attendance at the 9:00 Mass every Sunday and if we were out of town we had to bring a note from whichever priest celebrated Mass wherever we had gone.

In Pageants, we celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, had May Crownings of Mary, etc.

[glorygirl]

This was, of course, also my motivation, and I don't know why I changed my mind at the last moment. Veronica is apparently translated "true image", which is why, they say, she is a fake.

Still, I find it interesting there are so many devout Roman Catholics on Free Republic.

I also find this discussion very interesting. It probably has some deep psychological significance into our view of our own spirituality, or even personality.

[ELS]

Do parishes keep any kind of record of the confirmation names taken? ;-)

[katnip]

I chose St. Brigid.
A patron St. of Ireland, a remarkable woman and I share her birthday.

[katnip]

We had "mandatory" attendance at the 9:00 Mass every Sunday and if we were out of town we had to bring a note from whichever priest celebrated Mass wherever we had gone.

I had much the same upbringing.
All children attended 9:00 mass in the Auditorium.
The only time we actually got to go into the CHURCH was for Confession on Saturdays and our First Communion and Confirmation.
Nuns stood in the back with their "frog" clickers to let you know when to kneel,sit and stand and take attendance.
We also had "May Crowning" of Mary at our Parish.

[history_matters]

One more p i n g

To ELS: I assumed a record of our confirmation names was kept, ELS, but I do not know for certain. Maybe someone else has the definitive answer to that question.

[Aquinasfan]

I picked St. Francis because he was nice to animals. Hey, I was in the sixth grade!

Anyway, today I might have done things differently...

[glorygirl]

Ah yes, and "processions" another thing of the past.

[Aquinasfan]

I was going to use the name Veronica because I was born on what used to be St. Veronica's feast day. Then I found the church had sort of dropped her from the list of saints because there was no proof she ever existed, biblical or otherwise. So I picked the name Victoria, since it was close to Veronica. Then I found out there wasn't any St. Victoria, but it was too late.Oh well. Guess we'll have to credit St. Victor.

That's the exact same process that we went through in naming our second daughter! I also thougtht we'd have to credit St. Victor until I read the post below.

In retrospect, I wish we had chosen Veronica because I love the Shroud and I love the sound of the name. But Victoria is beautiful too.

St. Victoria Feastday: December 23

There is very little known about St. Victoria. With her sister Anatolia, she refused importunate suitors. Both were imprisoned and starved by their suitors but persisted in refusing marriage. Anatolia was converted to Christianity and converted many in Picenum before being denounced for her faith, for which she was tortured and executed at Thora on Lake Velino in Italy. When Victoria refused to sacrifice to pagan gods, she too was executed, perhaps at Tribulano. The guard was converted by their example and was also martyred. Their whole story is probably a pious myth, though they did actually live. Feast day is December 23rd.

Thanks! You made my day!

[Aquinasfan]

Rev 2:17: "... to those who prove victorious I will give ... a white stone - a stone with a new name written on it, known only to the man who receives it."

The white stone (the color of triumph and joy) symbolizes entry into the kingdom of heaven. The "new name" signifies the Christian's spiritual rebirth.

Thanks. Very cool.

[afraidfortherepublic]

As I wrote on another thread, my husband chose the name Carl so that his initials would be ABCD (that is from the mind of a 12 year old.) As a convert, I was confirmed as an adult. We were told by the Bishop to use names we already had (this would have been in 1961 or 1962), so I used my middle name, Ellyn, which means Helen. I had no choice, since my Baptismal name, Elizabeth, had already been used.

St. Helen of Sköfde, martyr in the first half of the twelfth century. Her feast is celebrated 31 July. Her life is ascribed to St. Brynolph, Bishop of Skara, in Sweden (d. 1317). She was of noble family and is generally believed to have been the daughter of the Jarl Guthorm. When her husband died she remained a widow and spent her life in works of charity and piety; the gates of her home were ever open to the needy and the church of Sköfde was almost entirely built at her expense.

Helen went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but on her return she was killed in 1160 (?) at Gothene by her husband's relatives. Her body was brought to Sköfde for burial, and many wonderful cures were wrought at her intercession.

Unfortunately, now most people think of St. Helen as a volcano in the state of WAshington!

[Askel5]

Faith: Stirring, not shaken.

Lol ...

[Domestic Church]

"Do parishes keep any kind of record of the confirmation names taken? ;-)"

I was told recently that parishes don't keep a record of First Communion....anyone know about this?

My confirmation name is a combo of Our Lady's name and Rachel...I haven't the foggiest idea if I understood the theme way back then ( but I do recall be chewed out for reading Scripture by my Mother.) It must have been promptings of the Holy Spirit.

[Aquinasfan]

St. Michael the Archangel

Patron of police officers also, picked him before I was a policeman. hmmm

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To: history_matters

Mine is Michael. After St. Michael the Archangel. It must be the militant in me. As an altar boy, I was always defending my faith with my protestant friends. I hoped someday through his intercession to be as great a defender as he.

And today you're a deacon, right? Hmm....

[Askel5]

Therese of Lisieux ... during summer vacations spent in Houston of my childhood, my grandmother used to park us with the Carmelite nuns who supported St. Thomas Seminary. We'd help out in the kitchen and the laundry, they taught us to sew scapulars, make tortillas, dance Mexican dances and speak a little Spanish. On special occasions, we'd get to spend the night ... stay up late playing cards together (I nearly died of shock the first time one of them doffed her veil and I realized nuns didn't have long hair!) and join them at lauds and morning Mass.

As an adult, turns out Teresa might have been the better choice, but the strong Carmelite thread and some strange coincidences of late will likely draw me into a Third Order obedience soon enough.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Another thing that comes to mind about the Saints. Last year to close the Jubilee year, our Archbishop held a weekend of study, celebration, and prayer for everyone in the Diocese. We went into Milwaukee for the last day (which happened to coincide with Halloween), and the experience was wonderful. The whole convention center had been turned over to the Catholics, and it was set up like a festival, or fair, with activities for all ages. One of the most delightful sights was the high schoolers who had dressed as their favorite Saints for the occasion (instead of the Halloween costumes you might have seen otherwise.) These 'kids', who ranged in age from 14-18, strolled around through the crowds, and everyone had to guess who they represented. Then the young people gave us a "holy card" with a picture and the life of that Saint on it and we could pose for pictures with them.

The Archbishop had arranged for an organization to distribute 2000 disposable cameras to the first 2000 families to arrive so we could take pictures of the activities, performances, and ourselves. These cameras were then turned in, and each roll was made into a calendar with our own pictures on it and returned to us by mail as a memonto for the coming year. I shall always treasure mine.

I remember numerous St. Michaels in angel wings, a VERY TALL St. Patrick in robe and mitre (that kid must have been 6'5" without his hat), an authentic looking Mother Elizabeth Seton, a St. Agnes, St. Lucy, and too many others to mention. The festivities wound up with a procession and a Mass that included every priest from the entire diocese. There were problable 6000 people there, and we all had a wonderful time. But the children dressed as Saints were the best part.

We sometimes take our Saints for granted, and this was a very nice way to remind us about all of them and the reasons they have been honored.