Confirmation In The Catholic Church

There are seven sacraments in the Catholic church starting with baptism, communion, penance, confirmation, matrimony, holy orders and the anointing of the sick. This paper will examine the sacrament of confirmation in the Catholic church. Confirmation is a sacrament that Catholics believe helps the soul grow spiritually. It is seen as the completion of an initiation process that began with the sacrament of baptism. A person cannot receive confirmation unless they have been baptized first. ("What Is Confirmation in the Catholic Church?")

People believe growth is important to life and Catholics believe that the soul must also grow to stay healthy. According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “In the Sacrament of Confirmation, the baptized person is “sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit” and is strengthened for service to the Body of Christ.” With this Catholics believe that the sacrament of confirmation is a supernatural version of natural growth. ("What Is Confirmation in the Catholic Church?") When receiving the Holy Spirit Catholics are preparing and confirming themselves and their souls to be missionaries of Jesus Christ.

When Confirmation first began is was done right after the

Baptism, but today Confirmation isn’t performed until years later. This change happened as Christianity spread and people moved to different areas of Rome making it difficult for the bishop, the only person who could perform the sacrament, to be able to oversee all Catholics, rites and ceremonies. The Bishop began appointing priests to perform rites like Eucharistic Communion, to lead the preaching, and to keep the him up to date on what was happening among these communities that were out of his reach. Although, not everyone was interested in letting these appointed priests handle the Confirmations because they worried that the Sacrament would lose its integrity. So therefore, the Church saw a great divide when the Eastern Church decided that it acceptable for the priests to Confirm the new Christians and the Western Church decided that the bishop was the only one who could do the Sacrament. (Ortiz, Andres) As stated by About Catholics, “this meant people would have to wait a few years to be anointed so that the bishop could come out to the town,” ultimately making Confirmation its own separate Sacramental Rite.
The Sacrament of Confirmation is performed when the priest uses Chrism to make a cross on a person’s forehead as a spiritual symbol of a seal. Chrism is said to be a “mixture of pure oil of olives and balsam that is blessed by the bishop,” as stated by Jim Seghers. This seal signifies a belonging to Christ, the initiation into a life of service in his name, and confirming that the supernatural powers of the Holy Spirit are now within that person. The only other time that Chrism is use for a Sacrament is when a person receives their Holy Orders. These supernatural powers include the powers of wisdom, understanding, guidance, courage, knowledge, devotion, and a fear of God; they are to be given to the person so that they can live with faith as a Christian. (Seghers, Jim)
In order to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation a person needs to have a sponsor who will stand with them.

The sponsor must be the same sex as the person being confirmed, they must also be at least fourteen years old, a practicing Catholic, should have already received Confirmation themselves, and cannot stand as a sponsor for more than two people. Years ago, the sponsor would put their right foot on the foot of the person being confirmed but now they put their right hand on the person’s shoulder. It has also become customary to choose a confirmation name, usually the name of a saint, which is a practice that started because St. Charles Borromeo did not want people with non-Christian names to receive the very Holy Sacrament of Confirmation.

("Confirmation.")
Overall Confirmation is when a person is accepting responsibility for their faith and destiny. The Sacrament and the people’s beliefs in traditional ritual acts have changed over time, such as confirmation being performed by the Bishop in the Western Church versus Priests in the Eastern Church. Although with the changes in how things are done the true meaning of Confirmation remains the same. It is the receiving of the supernatural powers of the Holy Spirit so that the person can stand up and mission for Jesus Christ and be called upon to battle the powers of evil.