At first I wasn’t going to take on a confirmation name, typically that of a saint of the Catholic Church. The reason was simple: I really don’t know much about the communion of saints and their lives well enough to knowledgeably select one as my patron.

When I revealed to a long time Catholic friend (it had been a while since we communicated) that I was going to be confirmed in a few days at the Easter Vigil he tossed out a few names at me to consider even though I never solicited any. He suggested Thomas Aquinas, St. Joseph and even Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. But the fourth one registered with me: Thomas More. That one was familiar…

I had recollected a quote from the book Rage Against God by Peter Hitchens which curiously I posted on this blog precisely a year ago on Sunday March 25 2012 (I was confirmed Saturday March 30 2013 almost a liturgical year later). Had you told me back then that I would become a  Roman Catholic in one years time I would have laughed in your face.

Here is that quote:

In their utter reverence for oaths, men of [Sir Thomas] More’s era were in my view as superior to us as the builder of Chartres Cathedral were to the builders of shopping malls. Our ancestors’ undisturbed faith gave them a far closer, healthier relation to the truth – and so to beauty – than we have.  Without a belief in God and the soul, where is the oath? Without the oath, where is the obligation or the pressure to fulfill it? Where is the law that even kings must obey? Where is Magna Carte, Habeas Corpus or the Bill of Rights, all of which arose out of attempts to rule by lawless tyranny? Where is the lifelong fidelity of husband and wife? Where is the safety of the innocent child growing in the womb? Where, in the end, is the safety of any of us from those currently bigger and stronger than we are?

I am confirmed with the name of Saint Thomas More.

Wild.