Confirmation. To Take a Saint's Name or Not?

Confirmation Candidates often choose to use a saint's name as part of their Confirmation experience. In choosing a saint, we are choosing a special friend to intercede for us in heaven and whom we can model our lives like while here on earth. Someone is declared a saint by the Church when he/she has performed a heroic virtue during their life on earth, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors' (CCC 828 To be like a saint has the same value (or more) as trying to imitate an actor, musician, or athlete; a confirmation saint is someone cool who we want to be like! There are many examples of faithful martyrs within our Church to imitate even teenagers. St Agnes, a young teen in the 4th century, was martyred (killed) because she refused to denounce her faith. St Aloysius, in the 16th century, helped care for people who were sick with the plague, giving them care and love as they left this world. Having worked with the sick, the disease caused him to die soon after as a martyr. Both young saints bear witness to having love of God as their priority. It is important to remember that as members of the Church, we have never been alone, as St. Paul said, 'We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses' (Hebrews 12:1 These witnesses are the saints who continually intercede for us (CCC 956); your Confirmation saint is someone who you can talk to whenever you need them, and they will always have your back!