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. 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.
Questions to Answer
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 his/her 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 to Answer for Angels (St. Michael, St. Gabriel, & St. Raphael)
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?