Theresa Marie Agnes Noble

As you can see from the title of this post, I have chosen my confirmation name: and second patron saint - St. Agnes.

In some countries it is traditional to choose a confirmation name. I am not sure why this is but I was talking about it with a fellow RCIA-er and I explained what it meant to me:

For me, confirmation is the adult renewal of our baptismal vows. By being confirmed, I am saying, "YES, I accept the religion that was handed down to me by my parents. It is true to me, not just because my parents taught it to me, but because I can feel in my heart that it is part of who I am and the path that I will take to grow closer to God." Not only do I accept my Catholic faith through confirmation but I consider it as a form of marriage, my marriage to the church. As an adult, I am choosing to make an eternal vow to be faithful to my God and to my church through good times and bad.

On the converse side, God is anointing me, he is choosing me to be sent among his people as a sign of His love. As a confirmed Christian, I have a responsibility to use the graces He has bestowed on me to show others His great and everlasting love.

As for the confirmation name - In baptism we are given a name by our parents, we do not choose to be baptized in a certain faith or named a specific name. In confirmation, we are choosing to continue to walk in our faith and we are choosing the name of a saint who we admire and would like to become our "second patron saint."

I had a hard time choosing a name - I feel St. Theresa of Lisieux and St. Teresa of Avila are pretty amazing patron saints. Really, what more could a girl ask for in terms of amazing role models?

So how did I choose a name?

I browsed through saint names on the internet hoping that something would inspire me. Then I happened upon several names of martyred girls from Roman times and I remembered that when I was a girl I admired these saints so much.

They were beautiful and young and could have chosen to give up their faith to be married to rich pagan men but instead they chose to die for Christ, in terrible and brutal ways. They were a symbol of courage and purity. Choosing one of their names would be symbolic of my return to the purity of my love for God that I had during my childhood. A return to a love that grows stronger and more courageous every day.

So why did I settle on Agnes? The name began to solidify as my choice when I found out that Mother Teresa was born Agnes. I love Mother Teresa more every day and I like the idea of my name calling upon her as another patron saint as well as St. Agnes herself, (I can use all the help I can get!)

Also, the other day Brother Anthony asked me what confirmation meant to me. When I was finished he said, "Confirmation is also a radical promise to God that you would die for Him, that your faith is important enough that you would become a martyr for Him."

That sealed the deal.