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Friday, October 31, 2008

Not Yet Confirmed

Dear Sister Mary Martha I'm having a hard time finding my confirmation name. Do you have any suggestions? I'm thinking one of the doctrines of the church. What's your opinion. My mother stalks your blog and was soooo happy when you commented on hers.

Hello to your mother!

I'm not sure one of the doctrines of the church works as a confirmation name. "Hello, I'm Catherine Anne Assumption of Our Lady Into Heaven Sweeney." Sorry, I couldn't resist. I know you meant one of the Doctors of the Church.

As a girl, you only have three Doctors of the Church from which to choose. There are only three women Doctors of the Church and they only have two names. You have to choose between Catherine and Therese, although you have a choice of Theresas and how to spell Teresa.

Those are some great choices: St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Theresa the Little Flower and St. Teresa Avila. Any one of them would be spectacular! It's not like some mistake can be made.


You know who I would love to see you go with? St. Ignatius of Antioch. What a guy! For one thing, all the art work with him in it is just fantastic because he is always being eaten or he's about to be eaten by a lion, since he was indeed eaten by lions. That is so very dynamic.

St. Ignatius was exactly the type of person you should be, as you become a soldier of Christ. Like you, he never met Christ while Jesus was walking around on earth. Ignatius had to rely of what St. Peter said about Jesus for all his information.

So do we, in the sense that we have to listen to Peter's successor, the Pope, for our information.

Oh, St. Ignatius of Antioch, we have so much in common!

After St. Ignatius listened to everything St. Peter had to say, St. Ignatius did just what he was supposed to do, which was to spread the Word. Unfortunately for him, but very fortunately for us, St. Ignatius was hauled off to jail. It was fortunate for us because being hauled off to jail was an exceptionally long trip and the whole time he was being dragged away, St. Ignatius wrote letters about what was going on and giving encouragement to his readers.

Did I mention he was a bishop? He was a bishop.

Sadly, St. Ignatius was torn to pieces by lions as entertainment for the masses. We hope this never happens to you, but you could end up on American Idol.

We never hear much about hoping for a martyr's death anymore these days, do we? We talked about it constantly when I was little girl going to Catholic schools. It's a wonderful thing to die a martyr's death, because it means you go straight to heaven. Other than that, there is nothing too wonderful about it, not to mention that we strive for a day when there is no need for anyone to die as a martyr ever again.

I digress.

My point here is that St. Ignatius if the perfect example of a soldier of Christ, which is what you are about to become. A card carrying member of the Church Militant by your own choice.

Is there a girl version of the name Ignatius? You know what I mean? Like Thomasina? Or Josephine? I certainly had a nun or two with the name St. Ignatius, but then nuns have boy names all the time. Or they used to, back in the day when they took a whole new name. Some still do.

I'm not sure I've been much help. Perhaps if we knew a little more about you, we could find the perfect Confirmation saint. You can still comb through all the boy Doctors of the Church and use a girl version of one of their names. Let us know if you need more help. I'm sure our readers will have some suggestions.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about Ignatia then?

insubstantial said...

i would NEVER write in ink in a book!
but a little ink on myself never hurts. What do you think of tattoos?

Anonymous said...

There is a girl version of the name Ignatius.

Venerable Ignacia del EspĂ­ritu Santo is an excellent example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Ignacia_del_Espiritu_Santo

Anonymous said...

Talking about martyrs. There was an instance at a school where two boys decided to shoot anyone that believed in God. They asked a girl if she believed in God, if she did they would shoot her and if she said no they would leave her alone. The girl said yes and she was shot in the head, wouldn't that make her a martyr?

Catherine Lucia said...

Anonymous, I think you are referring to Rachel Joy Scott at Columbine. The two boys shot anyone they saw, not just Christians. They shot Rachel and THEN asked her if she believed in God--she said yes, they shot her again. It's not quite as you put it. I don't think she would necessarily be considered a martyr because she was killed out of hatred for humanity NOT hatred for Christianity. A powerful witness but not a martyr.

As for the Confirmation name, feel free to use a boy's name, too. It doesn't even have to be a girl version. I know so many female 'Michael the Archangel's and even my own sister is going to be a 'Bl. Pier Giorgio'. Really, it's okay! :-) So don't feel like you have to be 'Ignacia' or 'Michaela' or 'Vincentia' or whatever. Just take on the name of the life you admire and feel no need to adapt it to you--unless you want to.

Laura said...

I would choose 3 or 4 personality characteristics you would like associated with your name and then google as such.
"Saint who was self-less, service-oriented, forgiving, and funny."
See what happens.

Anonymous said...

HELP! I am trying to find information about a couple of obscure saints for a 3rd grade CCD class--we are building a book utilizing each child's name (Thanks be to God we have no Montanas or Tiffanys in the class). But we do have two little girls named Nicole and Camille. We googled the names and have found a medal for St. Nicole (NOT St. Nicholas because that would be for a boy--3rd grade reasoning!) and it states that she is the patron saint of lost family members--but I cannot find any other info about her. Also I'm not sure there is a St. Camille. Any advice/guidance from you would be helpful!

Anonymous said...

Previous blog- the mom whose son is having ear surgery. I have Meinere's disease. It's in the ear, I have never found a specific saint for ears. As a mom I ask St. Gerard for help often. For healing St. Raphael is excellent. St. Anthony is great too. As always the Holy Mother and Jesus Himself -can't go wrong there.
Personally I am far more fearful of losing my eyesight than the hearing loss I have, which will get worse. There are new hearing aid systems too.
Pray faithfully and fearlessly, God Bless.

Anonymous said...

How about St. Gianna Molla? She is not a "Doctor of the Church", but she was a proper medical doctor, and a fine example of an ethical, courageous modern woman, mother and wife. I would be proud to carry her name!

Pax from Susan

Catherine Lucia said...

Lesley--

There is a parish municipality in Quebec called 'Saint-Camille-de-Lellis,' which implies that there is actually a St. Camille. However, Camille is just the French form of Camilla. There is actually a St. Camilla, though--an Italian hermitess.

Hope that helps!

Anonymous said...

So Sister... nothing to do with this post but-who are ya voting for? :)

-June

PraiseDivineMercy said...

On St. Nicole, here's what I found: http://saints.sqpn.com/saintn54.htm
http://books.google.com/books?id=rnr_YADaQn4C&pg=PA105&dq=%22st.+nicole%22
http://monasticmatrix.org/monasticon/?function=detail&id=1484
She was an 8th century Benedictine abbess of Alemeneches Abbey in France. A search of "Alemeneches" reveals that the abbeys in that area were status symbols among the nobles, which caused various troubles including its destruction in the 10th century. It was refounded in 1066.

St. Katherine Drexel was canonized for curing a girl born deaf

eastmoormom said...

Sr...ok, this is my daughter..and yes...i was filled with the sin of pride when you commented on our blog.
our oldest daughter (the one who is searching for a Confirmation name) is 1st. a fantastic responsible and empathetic child. (of course this could just be the whole first child thing). 2nd. likes to see things in a black or white to decide right from wrong and is now learning how the world sometimes looks grey and we have to make our own informed choices. 3rd. she is absolutely resolute in her mission to be a great Catholic. (very cool indeed). 4th she is a swimmer and a volleyball player. and lastly...she has figured out that only through our challenges do we find our faith!
i know she is anxious to hear what you et al have to suggest.
sincerely...a stalker.

Jane said...

Lesley and Catherine Lucia--

Camille is the French form of the Latin male name Camillus. St. Camillus de Lellis lived from 1550-1614. He was an Italian monk, and founded a religious order now known as the Camillians. They ministered to wounded soldiers and plague victims. He is one of the patron saints of nurses.

There is also a St. Camilla, who was a 5th-century hermitess.

Another renaissance saint is Blessed Baptista Varani, whose baptismal name was Camilla. She was a Poor Clare nun and a mystic, and considered an accomplished scholar.

Hope this helps!

Anonymous said...

Looks like this comment section answered a previous question. St Katherine Drexel cured deafness?!
She's a new saint to me. Could be just the one the mom with the son having surgery needs.

Anonymous said...

O my gosh my mom beat me to comment but thank you so much sister Mary Martha. I really like the idea of Ignacia!!!!!!!!!

Gail said...

Another thought for consideration is to find out if your birthday is a day which commemorates a certain saint. Mine, for example, is the feast day for St. Clare, though sadly I did not know this until long after I went through confirmation.

Anonymous said...

why not St. Monica????

Anonymous said...

Hey Sister, I love your blog!
You have some great humour. Keep up the good work.

A friend in Christ

P.s. please check out this site www.lepanto2008.org
Our country needs so many prayers.

Anonymous said...

Yes, a girl does not necessarily have to have a girl confirmation name. My confirmation name saint is St. Louis de Montfort, and his confirmation name--Mary. :). So that's why they call him St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort. (Must be the longest saint name ever. :P)

Anonymous said...

By the way, Sister, I would loooove a post on St. Louis de Montfor! <3

Catherine Lucia said...

Dang, Matthew. I thought Blessed Maria Clementine Anuarite Nengapeta had it in the bag.

PraiseDivineMercy said...

Here's more on St. Katherine Drexel. http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Drexel__St_Katharine.html

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the suggestions for my son who had ear surgery. I'm the Dad BTW.

He has to have another one in 9 months. This one just got got rid of a cyst and some decayed bones.

I will take your suggestions and pray over the next 9 months!

God Bless You!

Anonymous said...

Hey Sister. I wanted to get in a nun's prayers (because it seems somehow more effective :P) for a classmate of mine. Mindy Cooper got hit by a drunk driver while she was walking and she broke her back and now has pneumonia in both lungs. She is in a medically induced coma and could certainly use prayers from you or anyone else reading this. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

i need to write a report on a saint and i picked saint nicole but i cant find any information on her! can you please send me any websites that have at least a page of information on her!