NWR: Catholic ladies share your confirmation stories

I received my confirmation when I was 18. It was a huge ceremony with other adults receiving their confirmation.

My SIL was baptized, had her first communion and received her confirmation a few years ago during Easter mass. She asked me to be her Godmother and I was so nervous because halfway through Easter mass, her priest had us come up to the altar so she could receive all her sacraments. The church was packed with parishioners and I was so scared about tripping while walking up to the altar.

I have this book that lays out the catechism of the Catholic Church (pretty much all you info is in there!) in layman's terms lol. I'll have to find the book for you!

@SimpleSeamstress, that is so interesting I never even thought to look it up. They were still doing it in Mexico but that was over 25 years ago.

@simpleseamstress found it!

@nicole 2400 seats? That's massive! They have a pretty good attendance in Visalia! That's great!

We have a church in Oakland that still does the full Latin Rite. I wonder if those churches that were still slapping were still doing the Latin mass.

This is such a great thread! SS, I'm glad you're so excited.

I was confirmed as a junior in high school - my upbringing was sort of Catholic, sort of Baptist, and at the time I wasn't sure if I would still be Catholic when I went to college. I was fortunate to make good friends in college and was at a great Newman Center (of which I'm on the Board of Directors now) and it was really the first time I started to become knowledgeable about my faith. I kind of wish I could do some of this over now that I take it more seriously! My husband is actually a convert from later in life - he was confirmed at age 29, 10 years ago this Easter.

I attend the traditional Latin Mass and I think I've seen the light slapping thing before, when it was an adult Confirmation.

Joe and I were confirmed at our elementary school in Detroit in the 60s

It was a cold snowy February night and we had to cross the street from the school to the church in order of height. I was short so always in front. We had to leave our coats and process up the aisle.

On the way back out, we were to grab the first coat on the pile. Somewhere there is a pic of me in a huge coat with the tallest girl wearing my weenie one.

I'm a Southern Baptist just lurking... I've learned so much about Catholicism just from this thread. :-)

@Christina Thanks! I will check that book out. There is so much to learn and explore it is overwhelming at times!

@Tina did you get slapped? haha

Oh and here is the dress I ordered. I was having the hardest time finding a modest white dress that would also fit me (I'll be 4 months pregnant at Easter). I ended up ordering from a Bridal shop that caters to LDS women. Here's hoping it fits!

I was confirmed at 18. I didn't want to do it, but my mother made me so I would have the option of getting married in the Catholic church. The last day I attended church was my confirmation. Needless to say I will not be getting married in the Catholic church.

@SimpleSeamstress I think it's great that you are getting confirmed into a faith that you have chosen as an adult. Congrats on expecting!

Congrats! I got confirmed in 6th grade. I went to catholic school. We were forced to wear and all white dress.

Kinda dull but that's what they required.

I was years ago in 7th grade, but the name I took was Bernadette.

Beautiful dress! I must have missed that you were expecting! Congrats

@SimpleSeamstress Have you ever been to an Easter Vigil Mass? (Sorry, I don't know how long you've been converting) It was always my favorite mass of the year. Yes, it's long, but I always thought it was the most meaningful and educational about the Catholic faith in general.

S&P, 6th grade must be standard for the Archdiocese of Phila. because that's when mine was too. I had the same white gown too. I probably wore my uniform underneath because I think we had to??

My confirmation name is Laura and I fought to have it. It was the only one of my great grandmothers that passed before I was born. Since there's no St. Laura, they weren't going to let me use it, but they finally allowed me to use it under St. Lawrence. All I remember is that he was burned alive and I made a bad ass fiery cover for my project on him.

@CA I actually haven't been to an Easter Vigil service in the Catholic Church. Prior to this I was very active in my Episcopal Church which is liturgically very similar. So it will be interesting to see the similarities and differences. Holy Week was always my favorite time in my church. My favorites being Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday) where we would wash each other's feet. Then the Good Friday service would break my heart every time. I'm looking forward to it all!

That is so exciting! Congratulations on your confirmation!! Easter Vigil is a really beautiful mass.

I was confirmed at 19 after going through RCIA. My sister was my sponsor. We were baptized in the church as babies but were not raised Catholic (in fact we grew up around a lot of anti-Catholic family members and values, we were actually very critical and hostile toward the church before converting) BUT after my sister was confirmed, everyone else in the household (except my oldest sister) slowly came back to the church. My mom now teaches middle school faith formation and my dad sings in the choir on Sundays, and my sister works as director of religious education.

At my confirmation I wore a floral print white dress and a white sweater. I know a lot of people like to wear white or lighter colors for this special occasion. For some reason the priest didn't say the Saint name I picked when confirming me or write it on my confirmation certificate so I don't officially have one :-(

I am so excited for you! Who are you choosing as a confirmation Saint? What led to your conversion? My FH is thinking of converting too. Sending prayers your way :-)

P.S.

Your dress is beautiful! Perfect for the vigil. And you mentioned Oakland... Oakland, CA? I live near there, across the bay!

@Amanda I love your story. I am encouraging my husband to come back to the Church, he was confirmed as a teen but then fell away. He also has a lot of fall away Catholics that are negative about the Church in his family. I actually live in Alameda!

My story is that I was born and raised in an Episcopalian family. Baptized at 4 months old. We were very active in our church, children's choir etc. and then my mom decided she didn't want to go to church anymore when I was 10 years old. My family didn't any home devotional practices at home such as praying together or reading the bible together. From my adolescence until 25 years old I was very much living of the world. I defined my values by my political stances and wasn't sure if I fully believed in Jesus, although I would sporadically pray (when I needed something). My heart opened up to Jesus when I was 25 and started dating my husband. He had been involved since high school in a non-denominational Christian church and spoke about his personal relationship with Jesus a lot. I was really moved by his witness and felt a major conversion in my heart to give him my life. We started seeking out a church together (he had moved to my city for his Master's). There were things I really liked and learned while attending a non-denominational church, however, there were things that I was struggling with and I didn't feel very supported when I had doubts. After a while I fell away from that path and eventually ended up at the Episcopal Church of my childhood. Returning as an adult I learned the reason behind why we maintained very old liturgical customs. I fell in love with living through the liturgical year. I had been raised with quite a bit of prejudices and misunderstandings with the Catholic Church and never thought that I would ever want to become Catholic. However, the Holy Spirit soften my heart gradually in little ways. When researching how to celebrate Advent at home I came across a lot of Catholic mom blogs. In time I started listening to Catholic radio during my commute and started to get interested in practices and devotions such as the rosary which the Anglican Church cast. At the same time there were theological stances in the Episcopal Church that I was noticing and starting to feel uncomfortable with. I was learning about the Catholic faith while still attending my Episcopal Church for almost a year until finally making the leap and reaching out to the RCIA teacher at my local Catholic Church. It has been hard leaving a church that I loved on many levels but I have really felt at home with the Catholic Church.

Congratulations! I was confirmed as an adult as well, my parents weren't too strict about it when I was young but I did do my first my communion when I was 12. Anywho for my conformation I wore a pearl colored spring dress. I did it in May so it was appropriate. My bible study teacher told us anything white, off white or light pastel color was just fine. Hope it helps!