Confirmation

 

Confirmation Preparation

Fr Steve gives Confirmation classes upon reasonable request. We aim to have a visit from a bishop each year. Below is a description of the sacrament of Confirmation.

Confirmation is the Perfection of Baptism:

Although, in the West, Confirmation is usually received as a teenager, several years after making First Communion, the 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, by the sacrament of Confirmation, the baptised 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 "Strengthen, LORD, your servant with your Holy Spirit.  Empower and sustain them for your service" This seal of the Holy Spirit seal is a consecration, representing the safeguarding by the Holy Spirit of the graces conferred on the Christian at Baptism.

The Minister of the Sacrament of Confirmation:

The original minister of Confirmation is the bishop. Each bishop is a successor to the apostles, upon whom the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost—the first Confirmation. The Acts of the Apostles mentions the apostles imparting the Holy Spirit to believers by the laying on of hands (see, for example, Acts 8:15-17 and Acts 19:6).The Church has always stressed this connection of confirmation, through the bishop, to the ministry of the apostles.

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.

Here are five effects of Confirmation:

• it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation [as children 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.