What is a patron saint? A patron saint is “A saint or blessed who, since early Christian times, has been chosen as a special intercessor with God for a particular person, place, community, or organization.” (Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary pg. 410)
Why is a patron saint important? “The name is important because God knows each of us by name, that is, in our uniqueness as persons. In Baptism a Christian receives his or her own name in the Church. It should preferably be the name of a saint who might offer the baptized a model of sanctity and an assurance of his or her intercession before God.” (Compendium, 264) If we choose a different name for confirmation than our baptism name, then it should be a great model of holiness, an example for us to reach for.
When and why did the Church start this practice of patron saints? The Church has been doing this since the beginning of Her establishment. It started in the church when Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter. “The custom arose from the biblical fact that a change of personal name indicated a change in the person, e.g., Abram to Abraham, Simon to Peter, Saul to Paul; and from the practice of having churches built over the tombs of martyrs.” (Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary pg. 410) At our baptism and confirmation we take on the name of a saint or blessed as a special intercessor.
Who can have a patron saint? Really anyone can have a patron saint at anytime, but in specific cases a person gains a patron saint when they are brought into the body of Christ (i.e. Baptism and Confirmation).
When do I get a patron saint? Pretty much the same as the answer before, we can have a patron saint any time in our lives, but we take a patron saint at our baptism and confirmation.
Can I keep the same saint name that I received at Baptism for Confirmation? Yes, absolutely. At one time, confirmation was administered right after baptism. When this was done the person would keep the same name for both sacraments.
Can I only have one patron saint for confirmation? Yes. When we are being sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit we are sealed with our first name and our patron saint name. We should only choose one patron saint.
Does my patron saint have to be the same sex for confirmation? No. If a male wants to choose a female saint as their patron that is perfectly fine or vice versa.
Does the saint have to be canonized? No. As stated above, the patron saint can be a canonized saint or a blessed. Why? Because we believe that a blessed is in heaven, and has at least one miracle attributed to them. They are only one step away to Sainthood. We could be the person to help take a blessed and have them be canonized as a saint!
Am I stuck with just one patron saint for the rest of my life? If someone means they are “stuck” with only one saint for the rest of their lives and they cannot admire other saints and take them on as a personal patron then no, of course not. However, once we are confirmed with our patron saint then we cannot go back and change that name. But we can add other saints to our favorites list. Many times we have “playlists” for certain music that we love. So too we have saints playlists. We can ask for certain saints intercessions for a time, and then go to other saints. Our baptismal and confirmation name however will stay the same, and we should always ask for their intercession.
How do I choose the right patron saint? There is no one right answer for this question. Here are some suggestions: We recommend that whoever the saint is, we should feel a close personal relationship with them, and hopefully can grow even closer to them. There are two different ways of going about this; the first is to choose a saint that is similar to us or is the patron of what we love or hope to do in our lives. For example, if someone was to go into a music career they can look to St. Cecilia or St. Gregory the Great. If someone wants to be an athlete they look to St. Sebastian. The other way is to choose someone is the complete opposite of us. For example, if a person is a very outgoing personality, but loves the example of the quite and personal touch of St. John of the Cross, or if someone is shy or quite and loves the outgoing personality of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. Regardless, we should choose someone that will make us stretch and grow in our faith. It should be someone who will definitely challenge us to be saints too.
Here are some resources to look into when deciding on a patron saint:
www.catholic.org/saints
www.etwn.com/saintsHoly
www.sacred-texts.com/chr/lots/index.htm
www.daughtersofstpaul.com/saintday/index.html
There are also hundreds of books that can help choose the right patron saint for each person.