Confirmation

Sophomore Theology

Sophomore Theology

5 – Confirmation

“What was visible in our Savior has passed over into his mysteries”-- St. Leo the Great

Opening Prayer

Veni, Sancte SpiritusCome, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.

And kindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created

And you will renew the face of the earth.

Lord, by the light of the Holy Spirit,

You have taught the hearts of your faithful.

In the same Spirit help us to relish what is right

And always rejoice in your consolation.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.-- Handbook on Indulgences and Grants (1991)

Review

• Paschal Mystery• Economy of Salvation• Sacraments and

Sacramentals• Ex Opere Operato• What makes a sacrament

valid?• Sacramental “seal” or

“indelible mark”

• Sacrament of Baptism• What is it?• How is it celebrated?• Who can receive it?• Who can baptize?• Is it necessary?• What are the effects of

baptism?

Pope quiz…

• Q: Baptism in beer…is it valid?• A: “Since as we have learned from your report, it

sometimes happens because of the scarcity of water, that infants of your lands are baptized in beer, we reply to you in the tenor of those present that, since according to evangelical doctrine it is necessary “to be reborn from water and the Holy Spirit” [Jn 3:5] they are not to be considered rightly baptized who are baptized in beer.”

Pope Gregory IX, Letter to an

Archbishop in Norway, July 8, 1241,

Denzinger 447

Overview

• Sacrament of Confirmation

• Confirmation in Sacred Tradition

• Faith of the Early Fathers• Place of Confirmation in

God’s Plan• Why is it called

Confirmation?• What is the essential rite?

• What are the effects?• Who can receive this

sacrament?• Who is the minister?• Catechism, Vatican II,

and tradition • Necessity of

Confirmation• Sponsor or Godparents

Sacrament of Confirmation

• Sacrament in which, by the imposition of hands, anointing with oil and prayer, a baptized person is filled with the Holy Spirit…– For the STRENGTH to live a supernatural life in Christ

– For the COURAGE to outwardly confess the faith

• Remember…– Sacrament of “Champions”

– Champions have strength and courage

– To go and champion the faith to others

“He who is baptized is made a member of the Church, nevertheless he is not yet enrolled as a Christian soldier”

-- St. Thomas Aquinas

“He who is baptized is made a member of the Church, nevertheless he is not yet enrolled as a Christian soldier”

-- St. Thomas Aquinas

Champions of Christ

• According to St. Thomas Aquinas…– Confirmation gives the power and right to perform

actions which are necessary in the spiritual battle against the enemies of the faith

– St. Thomas distinguishes between the fighters of Christ (the confirmed) from the simple members of the Empire of Christ (baptized)

– Confirmation imposes an obligation to undertake the lay apostolate and it confers a capacity to carry out this obligation

Cf. Summa Theologica, III, 72, 5

Confirmation in Sacred Scripture

• Indirectly taught or implicit in Sacred Scripture

– Joel 2:28; Is 11:2; 44:3-5; 61:1; Ez 39:29; cf. Lk 4:16-22 - the prophets of the OT foretold the outpouring of the Holy Spirit over the whole of humanity as a characteristic of the Messianic era

– Jesus promised his apostles (Jn 14:16, 26; 16:7; Lk 24:49; Acts 1:5) and all the future faithful (Jn 7:38-39) the mission of the Holy Spirit

– On the feast of Pentecost Jesus fulfilled his word to the early Christian Church (Acts 2:4)

– Consequently, the apostles communicated the Holy Spirit by the outward rite of the imposition of hands on the baptized (Acts 8:14-18; 19:5-6; cf. 2 Cor 1:21-22; Eph 1:13-14; Heb 6:2)

Faith of the Early Fathers

• St. Theophilus of Antioch AD 185/191; Tertullian AD 200/206; St. Hippolytus of Rome, AD 204; St. Cornelius I of Rome, AD 251; St. Cyprian of Carthage, AD 254/255; St. Ephraim of Syria, AD 306-373; St. Cyril of Jerusalem, AD 350; etc.– Confirmation is a true sacrament– The remote matter of Confirmation is blessed oil (chrism or myron)– The proximate matter of Confirmation is the anointing made with chrism on the

forehead, in the form of a cross– The bishop is the ordinary minister of Confirmation– The priest is the extraordinary minister of Confirmation– There is an obligation, however less strict, of receiving Confirmation– The effect of Confirmation is the more abundant pouring out of the graces and gifts of

the Holy Spirit

William A. Jurgens, Faith of the Early Fathers, Vol. 3,

Doctrinal Index, p. 380

Place of Confirmation in God’s Plan

• In the Old Testament the prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on the awaited Messiah and on the entire messianic people. The whole life and mission of Jesus were carried out in total communion with the Holy Spirit. The apostles received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and proclaimed “the great works of God” (Acts 2:11). They gave the gift of the same Spirit to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands. Down through the centuries, the Church has continued to live by the Spirit and to impart him to her children.

[CCCC 265]

Why is it called “Confirmation?”

• It is called Chrismation (in the Eastern Churches: Anointing with holy myron or chrism) because the essential rite of the sacrament is anointing with chrism. It is called Confirmation because it confirms and strengthens baptismal grace.

[CCCC 266]

What is the essential rite?

• The essential rite of Confirmation is the anointing with Sacred Chrism (oil mixed with balsam and consecrated by the bishop), which is done by the laying on of the hand of the minister who pronounces the sacramental words proper to the rite. In the West this anointing is done on the forehead of the baptized with the words, “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit”. In the Eastern Churches of the Byzantine rite this anointing is also done on other parts of the body with the words, “The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit”

[CCCC 267].

What are the effects?

• The effect of Confirmation is a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit like that of Pentecost. This outpouring impresses on the soul an indelible character and produces a growth in the grace of Baptism. It roots the recipient more deeply in divine sonship, binds him more firmly to Christ and to the Church and reinvigorates the gifts of the Holy Spirit in his soul. It gives a special strength to witness to the Christian faith.

[CCCC 268]

Who can receive this sacrament?

• Only those already baptized can and should receive this sacrament which can be received only once. To receive Confirmation efficaciously the candidate must be in the state of grace.

[CCCC 269]

Who is the minister of Confirmation?

• The original minister of Confirmation is the bishop. In this way the link between the confirmed and the Church in her apostolic dimension is made manifest. When a priest confers this sacrament, as ordinarily happens in the East and in special cases in the West, the link with the bishop and with the Church is expressed by the priest who is the collaborator of the bishop and by the Sacred Chrism, consecrated by the bishop himself.

[CCCC 270]

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)

• Confirmation is necessary “for the completion of baptismal grace”

[CCC 1285; cf. Roman Ritual,

Rite of Confirmation (OC), Introduction 1]

• "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."90 ”

[CCC 1285, cf. Lumen Gentium, 11;

cf. OC, Introduction 2]

Vatican II, Lumen Gentium

• “They are more perfectly bound to the Church by the sacrament of Confirmation, and the Holy Spirit endows them with special strength so that they are more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith, both by word and by deed, as true witnesses of Christ (5*).”

[Dogmatic Constitution on the Church,

Lumen Gentium, no. 11]

Two traditions: East and West

• In the first centuries Confirmation generally comprised one single celebration with Baptism, forming with it a "double sacrament," according to the expression of St. Cyprian.

• Various reasons such as the increase in infant baptisms all through the year, the increase of rural parishes, and the growth of dioceses often prevented the bishop (the ordinary minister) from being present at all baptismal celebrations

• In the West the desire to reserve the completion of Baptism (Confirmation) to the bishop caused the temporal separation of the two sacraments.

Two traditions: East and West

• The East has kept them united, so that Confirmation is conferred by the priest who baptizes. But he can do so only with the "myron" consecrated by a bishop.

• The practice of the Eastern Churches gives greater emphasis to the unity of Christian initiation. That of the Latin Church more clearly expresses the communion of the new Christian with the bishop as guarantor and servant of the unity, catholicity and apostolicity of his Church, and hence the connection with the apostolic origins of Christ's Church

Necessity of Confirmation

• If follows from its institution by Christ that Confirmation is necessary to the Church in her totality– Conveys grace which strengthen and gives courage to the

faithful; indispensible in time of trial

• A baptized person, however, can achieve eternal salvation even without Confirmation (cf. Council of Trent, Denzinger 792)– Unlike baptism, Confirmation is not necessary as a “means,” but

is necessary insofar as it benefits the perfection of salvation (cf. Summa Theologica III, 72, 1; 72, 8, 4)

– The neglect of the sacrament from contempt, however, is a grievous sin (Ott 368, Denzinger 669)

Sponsor or Godparents

• St. Thomas Aquinas:– “…just as one newly born requires someone to teach him

things pertaining to ordinary conduct, according to Hebrews 12:9: "We have had fathers of our flesh, for instructors, and we obeyed [Vulgate: 'reverenced']" them; so they who are chosen for the fight need instructors by whom they are informed of things concerning the conduct of the battle, and hence in earthly wars, generals and captains are appointed to the command of the others. For this reason he also who receives this sacrament, has someone to stand for him, who, as it were, has to instruct him concerning the fight.”

Summa Theologica, III, 72, 10

Sponsor or Godparents• 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.

• A sponsor must: be designated by the one to be baptized…or in their absence by the pastor or minister and have the aptitude and intention of fulfilling this function

• have completed the sixteenth year of age

• Be a Confirmed Catholic who has received Eucharist and lead a life of faith in keeping with the function to be taken on

• Not be bound by canonical penalty

• Not be the father or mother of the one being confirmed

• It is desirable to choose as sponsor the one who undertook the same function in baptism.

Questions?

Backup slides

Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit

• What are the “seven gifts of the Holy Spirit”?• The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are:

– wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. (CCC 1831)

• What are the twelve “fruits of the Holy Spirit”?– The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit

forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: "charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.” (CCC 1832)

Pentecost

• A feast of the universal Church which commemorates the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, fifty days after the Resurrection of Christ, on the ancient Jewish festival called the "feast of weeks" or Pentecost (Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10).

• Jewish feast occurred “fifty days” after the offering of the barley sheaf during Passover– Also called “Feast of Harvest,” “Day of the First

Fruits,” “closing festival” or “closing season of the Passover”