During my Confirmation, I kept looking up to the stain glass window above the alter with depicts Pentecost Sunday with the tongues of fire descending upon the Apostles and Mary in the upper-room. The lyrics of the song Set A Fire kept repeating in my head. It set my heart on fire and I don't think I've ever been that happy before in my life!!
"There's no place I'd rather be, No place I'd rather be, No place I'd rather be, Than here in your Love, Here in your love! So set a Fire Down in my Soul That I cant contain that I cant control! I want more of you God, I want more of you God!"Preparing and choosing a saint name.
Being homeschooled, I began my preparation a few years earlier than normal. In ninth grade I started attending retreats and confirmation meetings put on by St. Mary's parish and directed by the Directer of Religious Formation/Youth Minister. They were incredibly educational and I grew to understand the true meaning of Confirmation through these events much better than before.
Choosing a saint name for me was easy I guess you could say. Saint Clare kinda chose me. A year before my Confirmation I started praying that I would find a saint for my Confirmation. I was strongly thinking of picking St. Rose of Lima because I really liked her, but there was another plan I wasn't aware of yet. In the summer of 2012 I went to Ohio for the Steubenville Youth Conference. Right before I left, I kinda fell in love with the movie Frances and Clare of Assisi. While I was there, the name Clare kept popping up along with St. Clare of Assisi. From meeting people named Clare, to looking at saint medals in the gift shop and finding a St. Clare medal in nearly every saint medal box, and even staying in Clare hall on campus. So during Saturday night Benediction, I was praying and asking if I should pick St. Clare for my saint name. I was sitting between a priest and a friend of mine so when I felt a hand on my elbow, I thought little of it until I realized neither of them were touching me. There was no one there, but I could feel a hand holding me there giving me strength to stay on my knees. So I continued to pray, feeling the presents of God while gazing at the Monstrance. And I remembered a scene from the movie I mentioned above where Clare had crawled out of her bed on Christmas morning when she was very sick, and made her way to the Church nearby and was found by the rest of the Sisters in the convent with her standing near the alter beneath a blank San Damiano Crucifix, and holding a baby in her arms!
The next day, the last day in Ohio, I was looking around the gift shop for a present for my prayer partner when I was walking down the book aisle and the light from the sun hit my face through the window and it was sudden so it was blinding, and I stepped back and turned my face away from the light and when I did, I saw the light from the sun illuminated one book. The Legends of St. Clare of Assisi. So I grabbed it, picked out a present for my prayer partner, and bought the two items.
When I got home the next day, my mom told me that my sister and brother-in-law, who were expecting a baby in December, picked out a name for the baby if it was a girl. Lucy Claire! So I took that as the last sign and picked St. Clare for my Confirmation Saint! A few weeks later, we discovered that my sister was, in fact, going to have a girl! Lucy Claire was born and baptized a month before my Confirmation!
Lucy Claire!
God answers your prayers in a way you sometimes least expect it!
"Totally love Him, Who gave Himself totally for your love." - St. Clare of Assisi
