The Sacrament of Confirmation is offered to our School and Family Catechesis Program students in the 8th grade. If a young man and woman has passed the 8th grade, they will be enrolled in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults and will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation at the following Easter Vigil.
In the Acts of the Apostles we read of the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. While Baptism is the sacrament of new life, Confirmation gives birth to that life. Baptism initiates us into the Church and names us as children of God, whereas Confirmation calls us forth as God’s children and unites us more fully to the active messianic mission of Christ in the world.
After receiving the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Apostles went out and confirmed others, showing Confirmation to be an individual and separate sacrament: Peter and John at Samaria (Acts 8:5-6, 14-17) and Paul at Ephesus (Acts 19:5-6). Also the Holy Spirit came down on Jews and Gentiles alike in Caesarea, prior to their baptisms. Recognizing this as a confirmation by the Holy Spirit, Peter commanded that they be baptized (cf. Acts 10:47).
Receive the Holy Spirit
Preparation for the sacrament of Confirmation is offered from August until April. The Confirmation date varies according to the Archbishop’s availability as well as the celebration of the Easter Vigil.
At Confirmation, we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and confirm our baptismal promises. Greater awareness of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conferred through the anointing of chrism oil and the laying on of hands by the Bishop.
Confirmation perfects Baptismal grace; it is the sacrament that gives the Holy Spirit in order to root us more deeply in the divine filiation, incorporate us more firmly into Christ, strengthen our bond with the Church, associate us more closely with her mission, and help us bear witness to the Christian faith in words accompanied by deeds. (CCC 1316)
Through the Sacrament of Confirmation, we renew our baptismal promises and commit to living a life of maturity in the Christian faith. As we read in the Lumen Gentium (the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church) from the Second Vatican Council:
Bound more intimately to the Church by the sacrament of confirmation, [the baptized] are endowed by the Holy Spirit with special strength; hence they are more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith both by word and by deed as true witnesses of Christ. (no. 11)
TITLE II.
THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION (Cann. 879 – 896)
Can. 879 The sacrament of confirmation strengthens the baptized and obliges them more firmly to be witnesses of Christ by word and deed and to spread and defend the faith. It imprints a character, enriches by the gift of the Holy Spirit the baptized continuing on the path of Christian initiation, and binds them more perfectly to the Church.
CHAPTER IV.
SPONSORS
Can. 892 Insofar as possible, there is to be a sponsor for the person to be confirmed; the sponsor is to take care that the confirmed person behaves as a true witness of Christ and faithfully fulfills the obligations inherent in this sacrament.
Can. 893 §1. To perform the function of sponsor, a person must fulfill the conditions mentioned in can. 874.
§2. It is desirable to choose as sponsor the one who undertook the same function in baptism.
Sponsors for the Sacrament of Confirmation have the exact requirements as sponsors for the Sacrament of Baptism.
Can. 874 §1. To be permitted to take on the function of sponsor a person must:
1/ be designated by the one to be confirmed, by the parents or the person who takes their place, or in their absence by the pastor or minister and have the aptitude and intention of fulfilling this function;
2/ have completed the sixteenth year of age, unless the diocesan bishop has established another age, or the pastor or minister has granted an exception for a just cause;
3/ be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has already received the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist and who leads a life of faith in keeping with the function to be taken on;
4/ not be bound by any canonical penalty legitimately imposed or declared;
5/ not be the father or mother of the one to be confirmed.
Do you need more information?
Have questions about the Sacrament of Confirmation? Please contact Ms. Shelly Cronen, Family Catechesis at shellyc@ourlourdes.org, and/or Ms. Lynette Kessinger, Adult Formation at lynettek@ourlourdes.org.