Selecting a Patron Saint. Selecting a patron saint whose name to take as your own when you’re baptized is an important step in your catechumenate, and you can take a variety of approaches in choosing one that will represent you and your interests well. While technically all saints are fair game, to include pre-schism Western saints, Abp. Peter has expressed that you should try to pick something unlikely to draw undue attention to yourself, e.g., if you’ve been going by Tom all your life, “Barsanuphius” might be just a touch incongruous unless you’ve got an extremely strong connection to the saint. That being said, there are a few ways you can approach the decision. The first is to select a saint whose life you’re familiar with, feel a connection to, have studied at some length, and/or seek to emulate in your own journey through Orthodoxy. Another is to allow me, as your parish priest and spiritual father, to select one for you. Still another is to select a saint whose feast day falls on your birthday on either the Old or New Calendar, or whose feast is on the day you’re to be baptized or chrismated. In my own case, the letters of St. Ignatius took on a particular significance to me as I was discerning conversion and my priestly vocation, and so it was a pretty easy choice. Matushka retained her confirmation name from having grown up Roman Catholic, and so is technically Apollonia, though she may glare at you if you actually call her that. For my children, Job has always been my favorite book of the Bible, and Anna spoke to me as an important aspect of our Faith that is from Tradition but does not appear in Scripture (well - sorta - she’s kind of in Luke 2:36-38 but her being the mother of the Theotokos is extracanonical). Anyway, how you select your saint is a matter for much prayer and personal reflection. Keep in mind you may also change the gender of the name to fit if need-be, e.g., Seraphima for a lady or Marius for a man. As with any of this, if you have questions or concerns discerning this, please feel free to speak with me or your sponsor and we’ll help you in the right direction.
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