Confirmation

Confirmation is the sacrament that gives the baptized the fullness of the Holy Spirit, as the apostles received it at Pentecost. At baptism, the Christian is reborn as a child of God; at confirmation, he receives the Spirit in fullness, which strengthens him in this new life and clothes him with the force to bear witness to his faith.

The completion of Christian initiation

Three sacraments bring one into the Christian life and carry it to its fullness: baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist. Baptism gives rebirth to the life of God; confirmation strengthens in it and gives the Spirit in fullness; the Eucharist nourishes with the flesh of Christ. Confirmation thus perfects the grace received at baptism.

The gift of the Spirit in fullness

At baptism, the Holy Spirit already makes the Christian a child of God and dwells in him. Confirmation gives him this same Spirit in fullness, in the manner of Pentecost, where fearful disciples were transformed into intrepid witnesses. On that day, the Spirit descended on the apostles and filled them. “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:4 The apostles then communicated this gift by the imposition of hands. In Samaria, men already baptized had not yet received the Spirit in this way: Peter and John came to lay their hands on them, and they received him. “They laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” Acts 8:17 This gesture, distinct from baptism and performed by the apostles, is the origin of confirmation.

The gifts of the Spirit

The seven gifts of the Spirit, wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of God, accompany grace and are already received at baptism. By giving the Spirit in fullness, confirmation increases and strengthens them, making the Christian more docile to his action. “Upon him will rest the Spirit of the Lord, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord.” Isaiah 11:2

The rite and the seal

Confirmation is given by the anointing with holy chrism, a perfumed oil consecrated by the bishop, traced on the forehead of the confirmed with these words: “Be sealed with the Holy Spirit, the gift of God.” The bishop, successor of the apostles, is its minister, sign of the bond that unites the confirmed to the whole Church. Like baptism, this sacrament imprints in the soul a spiritual and definitive seal: it is received only once. “God has marked us with his seal.” 2 Corinthians 1:22

The force to bear witness

Confirmation produces in the baptized what Pentecost produced in the apostles. Already disciples of Christ, they received that day the force to go out and proclaim the Gospel before all, without fear. In the same way, the confirmed is clothed with the force of the Spirit to confess his faith, to announce it and to defend it, and to become a witness of Christ before the world. Christ had promised it to his apostles before ascending to heaven. “You will receive a force, that of the Holy Spirit who will come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.” Acts 1:8