Confirmation is one of the seven sacraments through which Catholics pass in the process
of their religious upbringing.
According to Catholic doctrine, in this sacrament they are sealed with the gift of the Holy
Spirit and are strengthened in their Christian life.
Description The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the
Spirit of holy fear in God's presence.
Guard what you have received.
God our Father has marked you with his sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has
placed his pledge, the Spirit, in your heart.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church sees as a scriptural basis for Confirmation as
a sacrament distinct from Baptism the account in the Acts of the Apostles 8:14-17:
Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they
sent them Peter and John, who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the
Holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in
the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
Western Church In the Latin Rite, the sacrament is to be
conferred on the faithful at about the age of discretion, unless the Episcopal Conference
has decided on a different age, or there is danger of death or, in the judgement of the
minister, a grave reason suggests otherwise.
Even in those countries where the episcopal conference has set a later age as normal,
a bishop may not refuse to confer the sacrament on younger children who request it, provided
they are baptized, have the use of reason, are suitably instructed and are properly disposed
and able to renew the baptismal promises.
The sacrament is customarily conferred only on people old enough to understand it, and
the ordinary minister of Confirmation is a bishop.
Only for a serious reason may the diocesan bishop delegate a priest to administer the
sacrament.
However, a priest may confer the sacrament when he baptizes someone who is no longer
an infant or admits a person already baptized to full communion with the Catholic Church,
or if the person to be confirmed is in danger of death.
Priests typically administer the sacrament during the Easter Vigil Mass to adults becoming
members of the Catholic Church.
It is the conclusion of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults program.
Priests customarily ask for and are granted permission for this occasion..
Age for Confirmation
In the early Church, through the Middle Ages, confirmation was closely linked with baptism
and it was often performed on infants before their first birthday.
Like baptism, confirmation was an act for which the parents were held responsible.
Two synods held in England during the thirteenth century differed over whether confirmation
had to be administered within one year after birth, or within three years.
Confirmation became a much more important rite when concerns about understanding and
faith grew, in particular following the Reformation.
After the Fourth Lateran Council, Communion, which continued to be given only after Confirmation,
was to be administered only on reaching the age of reason.
Some time after the 13th century, the age of Confirmation and Communion began to be
delayed further, from seven, to twelve and to fifteen.
The 1917 Code of Canon Law, while recommending that Confirmation be delayed until about seven
years of age, allowed it be given at an earlier age.
Only on 30 June 1932 was official permission given to change the traditional order of the
three sacraments of Christian initiation: the Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments
then allowed, where necessary, that Confirmation be administered after first Holy Communion.
This novelty, originally seen as exceptional, became more and more the accepted practice.
Thus, in the mid-20th century, Confirmation began to be seen as an occasion for professing
personal commitment to the faith on the part of someone approaching adulthood.
However, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1308 warns: "Although Confirmation is sometimes
called the 'sacrament of Christian maturity,' we must not confuse adult faith with the adult
age of natural growth, nor forget that the baptismal grace is a grace of free, unmerited
election and does not need 'ratification' to become effective."
On the canonical age for confirmation in the Latin or Western Catholic Church, the present
Code of Canon Law, which maintains unaltered the rule in the 1917 Code, lays down that
the sacrament is to be conferred on the faithful at about the age of discretion, unless the
episcopal conference has decided on a different age, or there is a danger of death or, in
the judgement of the minister, a grave reason suggests otherwise.
The Code prescribes the age of discretion also for the sacraments of Penance and first
Holy Communion.
Since the Second Vatican Council, the setting of a later age, e.g. mid-teens in the United
States, early teens in Ireland and Britain, has been abandoned in some places in favour
of restoring the traditional order of the three sacraments of Christian initiation,
Even where a later age has been set, a bishop may not refuse to confer the sacrament on
younger children who request it, provided they are baptized, have the use of reason,
are suitably instructed and are properly disposed and able to renew the baptismal promises.
Imagery Although Confirmation is sometimes called
the "sacrament of Christian maturity," we must not confuse adult faith with the adult
age of natural growth, nor forget that the baptismal grace is a grace of free, unmerited
election and does not need "ratification" to become effective.
St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us of this: Age of body does not determine age of soul.
Even in childhood man can attain spiritual maturity: as the book of Wisdom says: For
old age is not honored for length of time, or measured by number of years.
Many children, through the strength of the Holy Spirit they have received, have bravely
fought for Christ even to the shedding of their blood.
The "soldier of Christ" imagery, remains valid but is downplayed if seen as part of the once
common idea of Confirmation as a "sacrament of maturity", was used as far back as 350,
by St Cyril of Jerusalem.
In this connection, the touch on the cheek that the bishop gave while saying "Pax tecum"
to the person he had just confirmed was interpreted in the Roman Pontifical as a slap, a reminder
to be brave in spreading and defending the faith: "Deinde leviter eum in maxilla caedit,
dicens: Pax tecum".
When, in application of the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy,
the Confirmation rite was revised in 1971, mention of this gesture was omitted.
However, the French and Italian translations, indication that the bishop should accompany
the words "Peace be with you" with "a friendly gesture" or "the sign of peace", explicitly
allow a gesture such as the touch on the cheek, to which they restore its original meaning.
This is in accord with the Introduction to the Rite of Confirmation, 17, which indicates
that the episcopal conference may decide "to introduce a different manner for the minister
to give the sign of peace after the anointing, either to each individual or to all the newly
confirmed together."
See also Sacraments of Initiation
Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit References
External links The Rite of Confirmation Resource Site
1285-1321.
Catechism of the Catholic Church