CONFIRMATION
What is Confirmation?
Confirmation is the Sacrament that completes Baptism; in it the gift of the Holy Spirit is bestowed upon us. Anyone who freely decides to live a life as God’s child and asks for God’s Spirit under the signs of the imposition of hands and anointing with Chrism receives the strength to witness to God’s love and might in word and deed. He is now a full-fledged, responsible member of the Catholic Church.
Who can be confirmed?
Any Catholic Christian who has received the Sacrament of Baptism and is in the “state of grace” can be admitted to Confirmation (to be “in the state of grace” means not to have committed any serious sin).
How to apply?
In the early autumn, a newsletter announcement invites young people from Year 10 upwards to join the preparation for Confirmation. For those ready to go ahead, Confirmation is celebrated in the summer term.
Adults who wish to be confirmed usually join the adult inquirers group.
What happens in Confirmation?
In Confirmation, the soul of a baptised Christian is imprinted with a permanent seal that can be received only once and marks this individual forever as a Christian. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the strength from above in which this individual puts the grace of his Baptism into practice through his life and acts as a “witness” for Christ.
To be confirmed means to make a “covenant” with God. The confirmand says, “Yes, I believe in you, my God; give me your Holy Spirit, so that I might belong entirely to you and never be separated from you and may witness to you throughout my whole life, body and soul, in my words and deeds, on good days and bad.”
And God says, “Yes, I believe in you, too, my child—and I will give you my Spirit, my very self. I will belong entirely to you. I will never separate myself from you, in this life or eternally in the next. I will be in your body and your soul, in your words and deeds. Even if you forget me, I will still be there—on good days and bad.”