[history_matters]

With the news from Slyfox of the entire Confirmation class taking the name Stephen ... it got me curious about the rest of us and why we chose the names we did.....

[nina0113]

I chose Martha, partly because I'm very home-oriented, and partly because, I sometimes let that interfere with "the better part".

[chatham]

I chose Michael because St. Michael is the defender of the faith.

We need St. Michael now more than ever to help put this mess the church is in back on track.

At Confirmation we became "Soldiers in the army of Christ to defend the Church from its enemies from within and without the church".

Assuming I learned and remembered my lessons correctly,so let's take Our Church back from the Infidels..

[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. : )

[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.

[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.

[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...

[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]

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.

[jrherreid]

I chose the name "John", for St. Jean-Marie Vianney. My first name is also John, so I had to wear a name tag that read "John John". It was a pretty awful ceremony--our confirmation class sang "Heal the World" by Michael Jackson (I had protested, asking if we could at least sing a song by someone who was some sort of Christian, and was laughed at), while I stood in silence. One of the girls in my class had taken the confirmation name "Tiffany", which was hilarious in a sad sort of way.

One of the other confirmations I attended had a boy who was taking the name "John". The bishop was a bit deaf and didn't hear what the name was to be, so the boy was confirmed "James".

[BlessedBeGod]

This will give you a great idea of the quality of my catechesis and the education I got at home.

Since my mother is Catholic and my father was Lutheran, there was NO discussion of God at home, for fear that one would insult the other.

So, when it came time for me to pick my name, I had no idea of the names of any saints. I asked my mother what her confirmation name was, and she said "Catherine." It sounded as good as any to me, so I chose Katherine -- for Katherine Hepburn ! LOL !

When I came back to the Church after being away for 25 years, I realized what a travesty my confirmation name was, and decided it would be Catherine -- for St. Catherine Laboure. Catherine of Siena seemed too far away, I really didn't know anything about any other Catherine, and I had just finished reading a biography of St. Catherine Laboure from TAN Books which had greatly impressed me. It also helped that I was interested in the Militae Immaculatae which uses the Miraculous Medal which Our Lady gave St. Catherine Laboure as their symbol.

(Bolded for the short version!)

[afraidfortherepublic]

St. Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, born about the middle of the third century and died about 330. She was of humble parentage, perhaps the daughter of an innkeeper. Nevertheless, she became the lawful wife of Constantius Chlorus. Her first and only son, Constantine, was born in the year 274.

Her son's influence caused her to embrace Christianity. It was said by a contemporary historian of the Church that she was such a devout servant of God, that one might believe her to have been a disciple of the Redeemer from her very childhood. Helena, from the time of her conversion, led an earnestly Christian life and influenced the wider spread of Christianity. Tradition links her name with the building of Christian churches in the cities of the West, where the imperial court resided, notably at Rome and Trier.

[afraidfortherepublic]

St. Stephen -- First Christian Martyr

One of the first deacons and the first Christian martyr; feast on 26 December. In the Acts of the Apostles the name of St. Stephen occurs for the first time on the occasion of the appointment of the first deacons (Acts, vi, 5).

Stephen was arrested and dragged before the Sanhedrin, where he was accused of saying that "Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place [the temple], and shall change the traditions which Moses delivered unto us" (vi, 12 14).

Stephen's answer (Acts, vii) was a long recital of the mercies of God towards Israel during its long history and of the ungratefulness by which, throughout, Israel repaid these mercies. This discourse contained many things unpleasant to Jewish ears; but the concluding indictment for having betrayed and murdered the Just One whose coming the Prophets had foretold, provoked the rage of an audience made up not of judges, but of foes.

When Stephen "looking up steadfastly to heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God", and said: "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God" (vii, 55), they ran violently upon him (vii, 56) and cast him out of the city to stone him to death.

Slyfox: it seems that Stephen is an appropriate name for all the young people in your latest confirmation class in your situation. It should be seen as an honor to the original St. Stephen, and to his namesake, that they chose it.

[dansangel]

Mary....for my godmother. She was a sweet and unselfish lady who suffered most of her short adult life with MS. I feel blessed that I made this decision, even at so young an age.

[Gophack]

I choose St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine. I was confirmed as an adult when I was pregnant with my first child. My sponsor suggested St. Monica because it was through her faith and constant prayers that her son, St. Augustine of Hippo, was converted to Christianity after leading a wild life. She is also one of the patron saints of mothers, and I was focused on motherhood because I was pregnant.

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

LOL you are a hacker that hacked all of our personal info. and to complete your database of us you are getting our confirmation names and REAL hair color.

LOL

[Thinkin' Gal]

Oh my, does that bring back memories. I was nervous that it would be rejected for not being an approved 'saint name'!!!

What was your Confirmation name?

Rachel

Why did you choose it?

Genesis 29:17 Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.