It is traditional to choose a Confirmation patron saint before receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. When you are confirmed, the bishop will call you by this saint’s name.
Choose a saint whom you admire, whose life you would like to imitate, and/or whom you feel connected to. Using the resources below, take some time to study the lives of at least a few different saints before making your final decision—Pray about it. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in this decision.
After you have chosen your patron saint,
- write an essay,
- create a slideshow,
- or make a poster.
Your project should answering the questions below.
Questions to Answer
The questions are broken into four suggested paragraphs to help you (if you are choosing to write an essay).
The sub-questions are meant to guide you in your answer to the bolded question, but you do not have to answer them all.
Paragraph 1: Introduction
- Which saint did you choose as your Confirmation saint?
- Be specific with your saint’s name. For example, St. John could refer to St. John the Apostle, St. John Bosco, St. John of God, etc.
- Is your saint known by any other name?
- What are three reasons why you chose this saint as your Confirmation saint?
- What do you like about this saint?
- How do you connect to this saint?
Paragraph 2: Early Life
- When and where was he/she born?
- What was their family like?
- Who were his/her parents?
- How many siblings did he/she have?
- Was his/her family poor or rich, religious or not religious?
- What sort of impact did his/her family have on him/her?
- What was his/her childhood like?
- Did anything significant happen to him/her as a child?
- What was his/her personality like as a child?
- What were his/her interests?
- What kind of education did he/she receive, if any?
- Did he/she go to school?
- Was he/she a good student or a poor student?
- Did he/she attend a university?
Paragraph 3: Striving for Holiness
- Was he/she religious from a young age, or did he/she have a conversion experience?
- What in his/her life affected his/her relationship with God?
- How did his/her relationship with God change over the course of his/her life?
- What was his/her vocation?
- Was he/she a married person, a single person, a priest, a monk/nun, or a brother/sister?
- How did he/she serve God?
- How did he/she show his/her love for God and his/her neighbor?
- Did they have a job?
- What is this saint best remembered for?
- What talents did he/she have?
- Did he/she perform miracles and/or exhibit any supernatural powers?
- Did he/she receive the stigmata?
- What great deeds did he/she accomplish?
Paragraph 4: Death and Sainthood
- When, where, and how did he/she die?
- How old was he/she when he/she died?
- Was he/she martyred for the faith?
- Did he/she die of natural causes?
- Did he/she die from sickness?
- How did people react to his/her death?
- Did people immediately consider him/her to be a saint?
- When is this saint’s feast day celebrated?
- What is this saint the patron of?
Questions for Angels (St. Michael, St. Gabriel, & St. Raphael)
If you are choosing one of the archangels (St. Michael, St. Gabriel, or St. Raphael) as your confirmation saint, answer the following questions instead.
The questions are broken into four suggested paragraphs to help you (if you are choosing to write an essay).
The sub-questions are meant to guide you in your answer to the bolded question, but you do not have to answer them all.
Paragraph 1: Introduction
- Which angel did you choose as your confirmation saint?
- St. Michael, St. Gabriel, or St. Raphael?
- What are three reasons why you chose this angel as your confirmation saint?
- What do you like about this saint?
- How do you connect to this saint?
Paragraph 2: Angels in General
- What is an angel?
- What is the difference between a human being and an angel?
- What do angels do?
- What does it mean that this angel is an archangel?
- In Catholic tradition, what are the nine choirs of angels?
- How are archangels different from the rest of the choirs of angels?
- How many archangels are there?
- Why are the good angels considered saints?
- In contrast, what are the fallen angels called?
- How did the fallen angels fall from grace?
Paragraph 3: Information about St. Michael, St. Gabriel, or St. Raphael
- What is the meaning of this angel’s name?
- In which book(s) of the Bible does this angel appear, and what does he do?
- What is the story of his appearance? How is he significant to this story?
- How does he impact the lives of the people he interacts with?
Paragraph 4: Sainthood
- When is this saint’s feast day celebrated?
- Do people do anything special to celebrate this day?
- What is this saint the patron of?