📖Overview

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Confirmation, together with Baptism and the Eucharist, forms the ensemble of the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose unity must be safeguarded. Confirmation perfects baptismal grace; it is the sacrament that gives the Holy Spirit in order to root us more deeply in the divine filiation, incorporate us more firmly into Christ, strengthen our bond with the Church, associate us more closely with her mission, and help us bear witness to the Christian faith in words accompanied by deeds. Like Baptism, Confirmation imprints a spiritual mark (character) on the Christian's soul, and for this reason one can receive this sacrament only once. In the Latin Rite, the ordinary minister of Confirmation is the bishop, signifying the confirmed person's closer bond with the Church and the apostolic origins of the faith. The essential rite of Confirmation is the anointing of the forehead with sacred chrism, together with the laying on of the minister's hand and the words, "Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit." The candidate must be in a state of grace, should be instructed in the faith, and should be capable of renewing baptismal promises. Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace, a special strength of the Holy Spirit for witnessing to Christ, and a closer union with the Church and her mission of evangelization.

💡Key Points