Confirmation

 

Through the sacrament of confirmation, God strengthens our souls like the Holy Spirit strengthened the disciples of Jesus on Pentecost. They then went out and preached the gospel fearlessly. Through confirmation, Catholics are strengthened to meet the spiritual challenges in your life. Although, in the West, Confirmation is usually received as a teenager, several years after making First Communion, the Catholic Church considers it the second of the three Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism being the first and Communion the third). Confirmation is regarded as the perfection of Baptism, because, as the introduction to the Rite of Confirmation states: by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed. The Form of the Sacrament of Confirmation

Many people think of the laying on of hands, which signifies the descent of the Holy Spirit, as the central act in the Sacrament of Confirmation. The essential element, however, is the anointing of the confirmand (the person being confirmed) with chrism (an aromatic oil that has been consecrated by a bishop), accompanied by the words “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit. This seal is a consecration, representing the safeguarding by the Holy Spirit of the graces conferred on the Christian at Baptism.

Eligibility for Confirmation

Even in the West, priests can be authorized by their bishops to perform confirmations, and adult converts are routinely baptized and confirmed by priests. All those who have been baptized are eligible to be confirmed, and, while the Western Church suggests receiving the sacrament after reaching the “age of reason” (around seven years old), it can be received at any time. (A child in danger of death should receive Confirmation.)

A confirmand must be in a state of grace. If the sacrament is not received immediately after Baptism, the confirmand should participate in the Sacrament of Confession before Confirmation.

 

The Effects of the Sacrament of Confirmation

The Sacrament of Confirmation confers special graces of the Holy Spirit upon the person being confirmed; just as such graces were granted to the Apostles on Pentecost. Like Baptism, therefore, it can only be performed once, and Confirmation increases and deepens all of the graces granted at Baptism.

 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church lists five effects of Confirmation:

 

  • It roots us more deeply in the divine filiations [as sons of God] which makes us cry, “Abba! Father!”
  • It unites us more firmly to Christ
  • It increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us
  • It renders our bond with the Church more perfect
  • It gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross.

Because Confirmation perfects our baptism, we are obliged to receive it “in due time.” Any Catholic who did not receive Confirmation at baptism or as part of his religious education during grade school or high school should contact the mission director and arrange to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Confirmation Classes are held on Sundays at 4 PM, after mass during the catechism school year.

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are

  1. Wisdom
  2. Understanding
  3. Counsel
  4. Fortitude (or courage)
  5. Knowledge
  6. Piety
  7. Fear of the Lord.

The twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit are

  1. Charity (or love)
  2. Joy
  3. Peace
  4. Patience
  5. Benignity (or kindness)
  6. Goodness
  7. Longanimity (or long suffering)
  8. Mildness
  9. Faith
  10. Modesty
  11. Continency
  12. Chastity

Please contact the mission director or one of the council members for more information.

 

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

Genesis 2:24