Confirmation
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The Sacrament of Confirmation
“And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim” (Acts 2:4)
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. (CCC1285)
Through this sacrament Christ imprints in our souls an indelible spiritual mark, a character that is sealed by the Holy Spirit which clothes us with the power from the high to be His witnesses. (CCC1304)
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Confirmation is meant to confirm in us what began at baptism. The grace that flows from receiving this sacrament is to be a source of spiritual strength for us, so that we are able to profess our faith and put it into practice in our daily lives.
The principal minister of Confirmation is the bishop, and the matter is the anointing with chrism, that is a mixture of olive oil and balsam, blessed by the bishop in a special rite held on Holy Thursday.
The effect of the Sacrament of Confirmation is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, identical to that which took place on the day of Pentecost. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit imprints an indelible mark on the soul of the Christian. Receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation makes us even more children of God and unites us even more closely to Christ and to his Church. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, we can become zealous witnesses of our faith.
Every year, hundreds of young people receive the sacrament of Confirmation in our parishes. How many of them are aware of the significance of this event? Every person who is confirmed must remember that he or she is obliged, as a true witness of Christ, to spread the faith in word and deed and to defend it.
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Confirmation AT ST. ANTHONY CHURCHTeensThe Sacrament of Confirmation is celebrated during the Easter season at St. Joseph Cathedral Basilica, every odd numbered year. Teens prepare for the sacrament through participation in youth ministry programs.AdultsAdults receive the Sacrament of Confirmation through the Rite of Christian Initiation. Candidates begin RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) preparation in September and continue through Lent. After completing preparation, catechumens are confirmed during the Easter Vigil.
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