Talks on the Sacramentals, by Msgr Arthur Tonne - Ceremonies of Confirmation

"Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost." Acts of the Apostles, 8:18.

Before being elected head of the Catholic Church, Pope Pius IX was the bishop of Imola. One day he was in a great hurry to begin a long journey on some urgent business. As he was about to step into his carriage, a poorly dressed and weeping woman stopped him.

"Come quickly, Your Lordship," she cried. "My little boy is dying, and he has not yet been confirmed."

When the bishop learned that the lad had already gone to confession, had received Viaticum and Extreme Unction, he answered:

"I am sorry, little mother. I must make this journey at once. Don't worry. Your boy will go to heaven even if he has not been confirmed."

Clinging to the bishop's cloak, the woman persisted: "I know all that, my Lord. But for all eternity his soul will lack the beauty which Confirmation would give it. For all eternity he will go unadorned by the sign that marks the soldier of Christ."

The saintly bishop was convinced. He called for the holy chrism. His business, however urgent, must wait. Here was business for eternity.

That mother knew her religion. She knew the value and benefits of Confirmation. She knew that this sacrament gave a special mark and strength and beauty to the soul. All these she wanted for her son--here and hereafter.

The ceremonies of this wonderful sacrament are true sacramentals. They go back to the very time of Christ and the Apostles. We read of them in the Bible. We read of them in early Christian times. They are some of the most expressive in all liturgy.

1. The person to be confirmed must have already received Baptism, because Confirmation is to Baptism what growth is to birth. Just as one must be born before he can attain full growth, so one must have spiritual life before he can be strengthened and grow in that life.

2. There are two other important dispositions for the recipient of this sacrament:

a. He must be instructed in the principal truths of religion, especially on the nature of Confirmation.

b. He must be in the state of grace, because Confirmation is a sacrament of the living.

3. There are several important conditions for the sponsor, but time will not permit our mentioning them.

4. After the singing of the "Veni Creator," the bishop vests, and with his hands joined begins:

"May the Holy Ghost come upon you, and the power of the Most High keep you from sins. Amen."

5. He extends his hands over the candidates and prays: 30

"Almighty and eternal God, who has vouchsafed to regenerate these Thy servants by water and the Holy Ghost, and hast given them forgiveness of all their sins: send forth from heaven upon them Thy sevenfold Spirit, the Holy Comforter . . .The Spirit of wisdom and understanding . . . The Spirit of counsel and fortitude . . . The Spirit of knowledge and piety . . . Fill them with the Spirit of Thy fear, and sign them with the sign of the cross of Christ, in Thy mercy, unto life eternal. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, etc."

6. Seated at the altar, or moving along the rail, the bishop dips his right thumb in the holy chrism, places the outstretched fingers of his right hand on the head, and with the oil makes the sign of the cross on the forehead, saying:

"John (or whatever name the person has chosen) I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."

He anoints the forehead because:

a. It is the most conspicuous part of the body. It is open and visible to the world.

b. It is on the forehead that false shame, as well as true modesty and conviction of principles, show themselves. The Christian must glory in his title, wear it, as it were, upon his forehead.

7. The sign of the cross shows that Confirmation, like all the other sacraments draws its power from the cross, the standard, the banner of the one confirmed, the new soldier of Christ.

8. The extending of the hands over the candidates, and the stretching out of the fingers over each candidate's head, show that the Holy Ghost is covering with His graces the souls of those being confirmed. The Holy Spirit is taking possession, taking control and command.

9 The bishop gives the one confirmed a slight blow on the cheek to teach him:

a. That this sacrament gives him courage and strength to suffer insult and injury for the sake of Jesus Christ.

b. That patience in trials brings peace to the soul.

10. The bishop concludes the ceremony by turning to the altar and praying:

"O God, who didst give to Thine Apostles the Holy Ghost, and didst ordain that by them and their successors He should be given to the rest of the faithful; look mercifully upon our unworthy service; and grant that the hearts of those whose foreheads we have anointed with holy chrism and signed with the sign of the holy cross, may by the same Holy Spirit coming down upon them and graciously abiding with them, be made the temple of His glory."

In these ceremonies the Christian becomes a soldier of Christ. He receives strength to know and profess his faith. He receives the grace and help to work for God and the things of God. He receives the heavenly help we all need to walk in the footsteps of Christ. He receives a new indelible character, a new spiritual beauty, which the mother in our story appreciated very deeply, a beauty the confirmed will treasure in this life, a beauty you must treasure now, a beauty that will brighten the soul of the confirmed through all eternity. Amen.