The Sacraments of Confirmation
Before Jesus was put to death, he promised his followers that he would send the Spirit to comfort and strengthen them. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out onto the Apostles. The sacrament of confirmation is our own Pentecost. When we are confirmed the Holy Spirit is poured out onto us so that we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Confirmation is administered by anointing with the oil of Chrism and the laying on of hands. The Bishop places his hands on the heads of the candidates and then anoints their foreheads with holy oil, saying the words:
'Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit'.
In Jesus' time soldiers were marked with their leader's seal and slaves with their master's. By receiving the seal of the Holy Spirit we show that we belong to God. Being anointed is a sign of ownership and belonging, but it also elevates us to a higher position. In the Old Testament, priests, prophets and kings were all anointed with oil.

The Rite of Initiation
Confirmation originally formed part of the joint rite of Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist, which were all given to the new convert at the same time. Even small infants were simultaneously baptised, confirmed and given communion, If children were too small to receive the consecrated bread, a small drop of the consecrated wine was dabbed on their lips. Nowadays adult converts are still baptised and confirmed and receive the Eucharist at the same time, but infants are generally baptised a few days or weeks after birth, receive the Eucharist when they are seven or eight and are confirmed some years later. This time lag between the three sacraments has an historical basis. As the early Church was very much city based, it was easy for the Bishop to be present at every baptism to administer the full rites of initiation which included Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist. When the Church grew larger, and moved into rural parishes, it became much more difficult for the Bishop to be present at every ceremony.

Because the Church wanted to preserve the tradition of having the Bishop as the minister of Confirmation, the rite became separated from Baptism and the Eucharist, which could be
administered by the local priest. Once the separation had taken place, some saw it as a good thing that children should wait until they were old enough to have a fuller understanding of what was happening and so instead of waiting until the Bishop next came round, they deliberately delayed confirming children until they were much older.

The Eastern churches still keep the more ancient tradition of maintaining the unity of the sacraments of initiation so that their children are baptised and confirmed and receive the Eucharist at the same time. During Confirmation, instead of just anointing the forehead with a sign of the cross, they anoint the forehead, eyes, nose, ears, lips, breast, the back of the hands and the feet.

Although the Church has separated the rites of Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist, they still constitute a unity, as, properly speaking, Confirmation completes the baptismal rite. Those who have been baptised but have not yet been confirmed are urged to receive the sacrament of Confirmation to complete their Baptism. This is not to devalue their Baptism in any way, but it does mean that their Christian initiation remains incomplete.

A school chaplain preparing children for Confirmation would tell them how, once they had received the Holy Spirit, their lives would never be the same again. No longer would they be able to lie to their parents, steal sweets from the sweet shop or bully their younger brothers and sisters. Oh no, now they would hear the voice of the Holy Spirit in their heads telling them to "STOP!" what they were doing wrong and start behaving themselves. Perhaps the Holy Spirit does not work in such a crude way, but the school chaplain did have a point. The Spirit of God can comfort and calm us, but can also challenge us and make demands on us that are far from comfortable.

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
There is an ancient tradition in the Church of speaking about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. The custom can be traced to Isaiah 11:1-3, and it sets down the following gifts:

KNOWLEDGE:
The gift of knowing the truth; knowing the Father and Jesus the Saviour whom he sent among us.

WISDOM:
The power to see all things as God sees them.

UNDERSTANDING:
The gift of understanding God's revelation.

COUNSEL:
Helps us to see just what we should do in a difficult situation.

FORTITUDE:
The power to carry through joyfully what we know to be right.

PIETY:
Leads us to feel for God the love that a child feels for a loving parent and enables us to see all others as our brothers and sisters.

FEAR OF THE LORD:
Enables us to be willing to respond to the impulses of the Holy Spirit and gives us a fear of being separated from God.

It's important to remember though, that being a Christian is the first gift of the Holy Spirit, and that each person has special gifts which the Holy Spirit uses for the good of the whole Church.

Confirmation Celebrates The Presence of The Holy Spirit Within Us.

Our confirmation is, in fact, a continuance of what has begun at our baptism; a continuance of the developing awareness and reality of faith and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. At our baptism, faith was conceived; we became part of Christ's body; part of his Church. The Holy Spirit ensures that we are a brother or sister of Christ. Our confirmation is the gentle unfolding of what our baptism means.
When we celebrate confirmation, we celebrate the fact that we are being transformed, and that transformation will continue to take place from the day we are confirmed until we are completely one with God. We are on a journey to wholeness, peace and perfecting love. We can celebrate that. Our heavenly Father celebrates with us because we are responding to his invitation to a life of love and reconciliation. We have said 'yes' to his invitation to be part of the visible, living, breathing, Spirit-filled body of Christ. It is only through the action and lives of Christians that the Holy Spirit, through faith and the sacraments, can show what the Church is truly called to be; the living body of Christ. And this must be at the heart of any other activity we undertake.

What is Confirmation?

During the life of Jesus and after his death and resurrection his followers grew to know and love him. They began to see in his teaching an answer to the questions and problems they encountered in their lives. Once they had witnessed his resurrection, they became completely convinced that they wanted to remain his followers for the rest of their lives. Just before his ascension, Jesus told them to spread the message of the Good News he had brought to them to the whole world. He then promised that he would be with them always (Matt.28:20). The significance of this promise failed to register with them until the first Pentecost, the day when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. Then, suddenly, they had the courage to speak out, strength to begin building a Christian community and an amazing power to convince others of the truth of what they said about Jesus Christ.

It is this strength, courage and power which is the Spirit of Christ. Jesus was true to his word, be hadn't left them, his Spirit came into their hearts, permanently. This same Spirit enters our lives in this active way at our confirmation.

From the earliest days of the Church the gift of the Holy Spirit has been linked to Baptism. In the Acts of the Apostles we read how Philip, the deacon, made converts in Samaria and baptised them. The apostles then sent Peter and John to the converts. On arrival "they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit for as yet he had not come upon any of them because they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit". (Acts 8:14-17)

Later, when Paul came to Ephesus, he found "disciples... who had not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit". They had received only John's baptism. When they heard of Christ, "they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus; and when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak in tongues and prophecy." (Acts 19:1-6)

In each case baptism was followed by the laying on of hands. Just as Jesus had invited his followers to join him, it was only after they had received the Holy Spirit that they were able to go out and pass on the Good News about the kind of life Jesus had revealed to them. So it is with us; we receive the invitation and accept it at Baptism. This is followed by "the laying on of hands" at Confirmation which inspires us to preach the Gospel.

What Happens at Confirmation?

Those to be confirmed, their families, friends and the community of Christians, gather together to celebrate this sign of God's life in the world.

Words of welcome are exchanged and all present are united in the opening prayers.

Everyone listens to the word of God which is read from the Scriptures.

All Christians present renew their own baptismal vows.

A prayer is offered, calling on the power of the Holy Spirit, and the bishop then lays his hands on the head of each candidate.

The sponsors each present their candidate to the bishop giving their candidate's chosen confirmation name.

Each candidate is anointed by the bishop with Oil of Chrism calling them by their chosen name to be sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Prayers are then offered for all present, for the Church and for all men and women.

The celebration of the Eucharist may follow.