Confirmation is the second sacrament of initiation. In most treatises on sacramental theology, less is said about Confirmation than about Baptism. Sometimes the sacrament has been neglected theologically, but it is nevertheless powerful and important.

3.2 Institution and existence of Confirmation

Confirmation contains two ritual actions, a laying-on of hands and an anointing with perfumed oil, called Chrism, and a set of significant words go with each. Here a look is taken at the existence of this rite according to the Scriptures, the Fathers, and the teaching of the Church.

3.2.1 Scripture

In the Old Testament, some prefigurations of Confirmation can be highlighted. From earliest times, the hands were used to call down a blessing on specially chosen people (Gn 48:13-16) and to designate individuals for some special role (Nb 8:10). Anointing with oil, especially perfumed oil, was one of the rituals of joyous celebration of the Old Covenant (Am 6:6). As well as prefigurations, there were also prophecies of a future outpouring of the Holy Spirit, such as that of Joel: "After this I will pour out my spirit on all mankind. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men will see visions." (Jo 3:1) The prophet Isaiah foretold a future gift of the Holy Spirit: "For I will pour out water on the thirsty soil, streams on the dry ground. I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, my blessing on your children." (Is 44:3)

In the New Testament, Christ fulfilled His mission in the power of the Spirit (Mk 1:10), and proclaimed: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" (Lk 4:17-21). Christ promised the Holy Spirit to the Apostles so they might bear fearless witness to Him (Lk 12:12, cfr Jn 14-15). After His Resurrection, Christ once again promised the Holy Spirit "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes down on you; then you are to be my witnesses" (Ac 1:8; cf. Lk 24:49). The fulfilment of Christ’s promises took place at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down mightily upon Our Lady and the Apostles. Early believers were baptised and received the Holy Spirit (Ac 2:38). The language of anointing is used in connection with the Baptism of Jesus to describe how He was filled with the Holy Spirit (Ac 10:38) and also in reference to His divine Sonship (Hb 1:9). The expression is then also applied to describe how Christians share through Christ in the messianic gift of the Spirit (I Jn 2:20-27). The Acts of the Apostles describe a rite involving a gift of the Holy Spirit which was connected with Baptism yet distinct from it. Idea of laying on of hands: "When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, and they went down there, and prayed for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit, for as yet He had not come down on any of them: they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit" (Ac 8:14-17). Around thirty years later, St Paul carried out the same rite at Ephesus (Ac 19:1-8). The Letter to the Hebrews cites a laying of hands which is distinct from Baptism (Hb 6:2).

From what has been outlined, it emerges that the rite carried out by the Apostles Peter and John has all the characteristics of a sacrament. It was conferred with a tangible sign, namely the imposition of hands. The rite produced grace (Ac 8:18), and was distinct from Baptism. It was permanently instituted by Christ. Since the Lord promised to impart the Holy Spirit to all the faithful, it must be assumed that He laid down clear instructions about how this Gift was to be communicated. Since the apostles regarded themselves as simply Christ’s ministers and stewards of the divine mysteries (I Co 4:1) and not initiators of the same means that since they administered this rite of the gift of the Holy Spirit, then this sacred act must have been founded by Christ Himself. Nothing is certain about the precise moment in which the Lord instituted Confirmation. Some theologians hold that He founded it before the Resurrection, others maintain that it was instituted afterwards. Other scholars again propose that Christ set up Confirmation at the Last Supper, when He spoke at great length about the gift of the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:5-15). Some theologians have stated that the sacrament was prefigured when Christ laid his hands on the children (Mt 19:13), while at the Last Supper he founded it more clearly, instructing the Apostles to administer it after Pentecost.

3.2.2 Church Fathers

The very early Christian liturgies of initiation included a post-baptismal laying-on of hands and anointing, but it is not always clear whether this was a sacrament separate from Baptism. Even today in the current rite of Baptism of children, there is an anointing with chrism after Baptism, and this foreshadows the later Confirmation of the child. This anointing is a vestige of Confirmation from the rite of initiation of adults when all three sacraments of initiation were given together, and is applied with the following prayer: "God the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ has freed you from sin, given you a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and welcomed you into His holy people. He now anoints you with the chrism of salvation. As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet, and King, so may you live always as members of His body, sharing everlasting life." However, the distinction between the two sacraments became clear by the time St. Hippolytus in his Treatise on the Apostolic Tradition, dating from about 215 A.D., referred to the Roman rite of initiation, in which two post-baptismal anointings took place. After baptism, the candidates came out of the font and were immediately anointed with the oil of thanksgiving by the priests who used the following words: "I anoint thee with holy oil in the Name of Jesus Christ." Then, afterwards, the second anointing which followed with consecrated oil, clearly seems to be Confirmation. After everyone had been dried and dressed, all went into the church, where the Bishop laid hands upon the candidates, and prayed over them. He then poured the consecrated oil on each candidate and laid his hand on the head of each one, reciting the formula: "I anoint thee with holy oil in God the Father Almighty and Christ Jesus and the Holy Ghost." The bishop then sealed every candidate on the forehead and gave him a kiss of peace. This very early description of Confirmation is very similar to what occurs today. Tertullian referred to three distinct phases in the rite of Christian initiation, so that Confirmation was seen as a sacrament in its own right: "The flesh is washed that the soul may be made spotless: the flesh is anointed so that the soul may be consecrated: the flesh is signed with the cross that the soul may also be protected; the flesh is overshadowed by the imposition of the hand that soul also may be enlightened by the Spirit: the flesh feeds on the Body and Blood of Christ so that the soul as well may be replete with God."

In the Christian East, around the middle of the fourth century, St. Cyril of Jerusalem treated of the sacrament of Confirmation in his catechetical lectures: "Now just as Christ was truly crucified, and buried, and raised again, and through Baptism, in virtue of a kind of likeness, you were accounted worthy of being crucified, and buried, and raised again, so too it is with the unction. He was anointed with the spiritual oil of gladness, that is with the Holy Spirit, who is the Oil of gladness since He is the Author of spiritual joy. But you were anointed with ointment, having been made partakers and associates of Christ." In the West, at the end of the fourth century, St. Ambrose dealt with all the sacraments of initiation including references to Confirmation: "Now after Baptism you went up to the bishop. Consider the anointing that followed. Was it not what David says: ‘It is like precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, running down upon Aaron’s beard.’...You have received the spiritual seal.... God the Father has sealed you, Christ has confirmed you, and the Spirit has given you the pledge in your heart."

Thereafter, the theological development of Confirmation was greatly influenced by the thought of certain Faustus who was Abbot of Lérins and then bishop of Riez in Southern France during the second part of the fifth century. One of his homilies had a great impact on the later medieval sacramental theology of Confirmation. His idea was that Confirmation equipped the Christian to be a soldier of Christ:

"Military proceedings require that when a commander receives a man into the number of his soldiers, he should not only put his mark upon him, but also equip him with arms suitable for fighting with.... So the Holy Spirit, who descended upon the baptismal waters bearing salvation, gave at the font all that is needed for innocence: at Confirmation He gives an increase of grace, for in this world those who survive through the different stages of life, must walk among dangers and invisible enemies. In Baptism we are born again to life, after Baptism we are confirmed for battle."

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Then, in the ninth century, Rabanus Maurus, archbishop of Mainz referred to two anointings which the Christian received after Baptism. The first anointing on top of the candidate’s head was carried out by the priest; the second was effected on the candidate’s forehead by the bishop. The first anointing signifies the descent of the Holy Spirit to consecrate a worthy dwelling for God, while the second confers the sevenfold grace of the same Holy Spirit upon man with all the fullness of sanctity. At the second anointing, Confirmation, the Holy Spirit comes upon the Christian to fill him with heavenly gifts, and to strengthened him by His grace to bear the name of Christ fearlessly before the kings and rulers of this world and preach Him with a free voice.

The Angelic Doctor developed these ideas on Confirmation which he regarded as "a certain spiritual growth bringing man to perfect spiritual age." In another formulation, St. Thomas described Confirmation as "the sacrament of the fullness of the Holy Spirit."

3.2.3 Church teaching

The term Confirmation was used for the first time at the Council of Riez in 439. The Council of Florence, one thousand years later, defined Confirmation to be a sacrament in which the Holy Spirit is "given for strength." The Council of Trent stated, against the Reformers, that Confirmation is a true sacrament. That this sacrament was instituted by Christ was taught by the Tridentine decree on sacraments in general, in contrast to the Lutheran Augsburg Confession which had professed that Confirmation was only of apostolic institution. Later, at the turn of the twentieth century, the Modernists went even further than the Reformers and denied that the rite of Confirmation was used by the apostles, maintaining that "the formal distinction between the two sacraments, Baptism and Confirmation, has nothing to do with the history of primitive Christianity." In 1971, Pope Paul VI stressed that after Pentecost the apostles, "in fulfillment of Christ’s wish, imparted the gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized by the laying-on of hands to complete the grace of Baptism." Paul VI made it clear that "this laying-on of hands is rightly recognised by the Catholic tradition as the beginning of the sacrament of Confirmation." These affirmations teach the divine institution by Christ of the sacrament of Confirmation.

3.3 The external sign

3.3.1 The matter

The matter of Confirmation has undergone an historical evolution in the various rites of East and West. Seemingly, during the period of the Acts of the Apostles, Confirmation was imparted by the laying on of hands and a prayer (See, for example Ac 19:1-7). However, the idea of sacred anointing is implicit in the New Testament conception of the giving of the Spirit, as St. John pointed out: "But you have not lost the anointing that He gave you, and you do not need anyone to teach you; the anointing that He gave teaches you everything; you are anointed with truth, not with a lie, and as it has taught you, so you must stay in Him" (I Jn 2:27). Sometimes in the first century of the Church’s life, the rite of Confirmation was so linked with the concluding ceremonies of Baptism, that it is difficult to discern what was the essence of Confirmation.

In the oldest Roman rite, that of Hippolytus dating from the first half of the third century, Confirmation was administered as follows. After Baptism, when the candidates had dried and dressed, all went into the church, where the Bishop laid hands upon them with a prayer. Then, the Bishop anointed them with holy oil on the head, saying :"I anoint you with holy oil in the Father Almighty, in Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit." Thus both an anointing and a laying on of hands was employed. In all the subsequent Latin liturgies, the anointing with Chrism and the laying-on of hands have been present in all the rites. However, in the Oriental Liturgies of the Byzantine, Armenian Orthodox, Syro-Antiochene rites only crismation is used. On the other hand, the Chaldean-Nestorian liturgy has only a laying-on of hands. The Coptic and Ethiopian rites present both crismation and imposition of hands. In the Latin rites of the West, the anointing grew in importance from the fifth century onwards. Then from the thirteenth century onwards, the anointing was given still further importance, without forgetting however the laying-on of hands. Pope Innocent III regarded the anointing as an expression of the laying on of hands.. The First Council of Lyons and the Council of Florence, reduced the laying-on of hands to the anointing of the candidate’s forehead with the hand, while the Council of Trent did not treat this particular question. The idea therefore developed that the laying-on of hands was included within the the symbolism of the signing with chrism on the forehead. Pope Benedict XIV (1740-1758) was the first to stress anew the laying-on of hands as a ritual element in its own right, while making clear that the matter of the sacrament was anointing. In the present-day Orthodox Church, the laying-on of hands is tending to lose its importance.

As regards the relationship between the laying-on of hands and the anointing with chrism, there are several interpretations. One approach considers that the laying-on of hands mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles evolved into an anointing. Another position affirms that even in the Acts of the Apostles chrismation was used as well as imposition of hands, but this anointing with chrism was simply not mentioned. In any case, concerning the future understanding of the matter of the sacrament of Confirmation, when Pope Paul VI reformed the rite, he clarified any doubt as regards the matter of Confirmation: "Therefore, in order that the revision of the rite of Confirmation may fittingly embrace also the essence of the sacramental rite, by our supreme apostolic authority we decree and lay down that in the Latin Church the following should be observed for the future. The sacrament of Confirmation is conferred through the anointing with chrism on the forehead, which is done by the laying on of the hand, and through the words: ‘Accipe Signaculum Doni Spiritus Sancti’ (Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit)." The definition of Pope Paul VI applies to the Latin Church. The document also makes it clear that the laying on of hands with the prescribed prayer before the anointing is not part of the essence of the sacrament and so is not required for validity, but "is to be held in high esteem" because it contributes to the integral perfection of the rite and a clearer understanding of the sacrament. Paul VI also specified that the extension of hands over all the candidates as a group before the anointing differs from the laying-on of the hand by which the anointing is carried out on the forehead of each candidate. A clarification has more recently been issued to the effect that during the actual gesture of Confirmation it is sufficient for the minister to apply the chrism with his thumb, and he need not impose his hand at the same time on the candidate’s head. In the preparation of the chrism, generally olive oil is employed, which is mixed with perfume and then blessed by the bishop on Maundy Thursday at the Chrism Mass. Vegetable oil other than obtained from olives may be adopted, but it is not admissible to use animal or mineral oil as the remote matter for the sacrament of Confirmation.

3.3.2 Form

The form of Confirmation, the prayer which accompanies the matter, has also known great variety of expression during its history. The Scriptures simply speak of a prayer which accompanied the laying-on of hands (Ac 8:15). Some of the Fathers like Tertullian and Saint Cyprian describe the administration of the sacrament with a crismation and an invocation of the Holy Spirit. St. Ambrose and St. Augustine regarded as important the invocation of the Holy Spirit with His sevenfold gifts. In the Eastern Church, from the fourth century onwards, a simple formula was employed involving the expression "seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit." This expression was also used in the West until the tenth century, but in the Middle Ages, the form underwent many variations, until the twelfth century. At that point in the West, the following form became normative: "I sign you with the sign of the Cross and confirm you with the chrism of salvation. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." This formula lasted until 1971, when Pope Paul VI renewed the rite of Confirmation with the new form: "Jane, be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit." The name of the candidate mentioned in the rite is either that which he or she received in Baptism, or else a new Confirmation name chosen for the occasion. The new form resembles the ancient formula of the Byzantine Rite, by which the Personal Gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost is recalled (Ac 2:1-4, 38). The Syro-Malabar rite adopts the formula "Chrism of the gift of the Holy Spirit", while the Chaldean rite has "Be perfect in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." The Coptic Ethiopian rite uses the form: "Anointing of grace of the Holy Spirit." In all these cases, it is significant that the formulations express either directly or indirectly the double effect of grace, namely the character and grace.

3.6 The effects

The sacrament of Confirmation completes the sacrament of Baptism. It confers grace beyond that already received in Baptism and also imparts a new sacramental character. It perfects what has been bestowed in Baptism; but both Baptism and Confirmation are completed in the Eucharist. The character of Confirmation is connected with the specific nature of the sacrament. What Confirmation adds may be seen by comparing the nature of the sacramental character of Baptism, Confirmation and Ordination. Baptism confers upon the Christian union with Christ and His Church. Confirmation endows the baptized person with mission within the Church, as a lay Christian. Ordination to the presbyteral and episcopal orders gives a share in Christ’s role as mediator between God and man. In more detail, the character received in Confirmation entrusts the person with the public nature of his or her being Christian. While Baptism focuses more on the individual life of the member of the Church, Confirmation places a stress on the communal aspect. This explains in part why the sacrament is connected with growth towards Christian maturity. Part of this growth includes the struggle to do good and to fight evil, form which flows the analogy that the confirmed Christian is a soldier of Christ. Confirmation endows the recipient with the power to proclaim the Christian faith publicly by words and deeds.

The sacramental character bestowed in Confirmation is the basis for the increase in divine life, in terms of a closer union with Christ, and a deeper indwelling of the Holy Spirit, in a closer adopted sonship of God the Father. Nevertheless, it should be stressed that the Holy Spirit is not given for the first time in Confirmation; He has already been conferred in Baptism. Rather Confirmation puts the seal on Baptism as Pentecost completes Easter. The chrism symbolizes the outflowing of the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son. The prayer before Confirmation speaks of the sevenfold Gift with which the candidates will be endowed, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of wonder and awe in God’s presence. These gifts are already enumerated by the prophet Isaiah (Is 11:2). The gift of wisdom enables the Christian to consider the eternal truths and to judge all things by them, to cherish salvation and the means necessary to obtain it, and to relish the things of God. Understanding is the power of penetrating the deepest meaning of the truths of revelation, and also teaching others these truths. Right judgment or counsel is the power of deciding prudently about the concerns of God and of salvation, involving also a strengthening of the will to make choices for the better. The gift of courage or fortitude enables the Christian to possess firmness of soul in professing the faith and in persevering in the life with Christ. It involves strength in adversity during the struggles with the world, the flesh and the devil. The gift of knowledge enables the confirmed person to view and utilize temporal things in the light of eternal life. Reverence or piety is the gift which disposes the person to serve God the Most Holy Trinity with tender love and devotion, and to practise what the Church teaches. The gift of wonder and awe in God’s presence (or fear of the Lord) enables the confirmed Christian to have the correct reverence for the majesty and sovereignty of God, not only in the religious sphere but in all aspects of life, remembering that God is present everywhere.

Confirmation is important for salvation and while it is not absolutely necessary in the same way as Baptism, nevertheless care should be taken to ensure that this precious means of salvation is readily available. During the Carolingian period some theologians held that the sacrament would augment the degree of heavenly happiness after death. St. Thomas Aquinas pointed out that while Baptism is necessary for salvation in the sense that there is no salvation without it, Confirmation is necessary for the perfection of salvation. Those who omit the sacrament of Confirmation out of contempt put their salvation at risk. The practice of the Church also highlights the salvific importance of this sacrament, by conferring Confirmation upon a child who is below the age of reason and in danger of death, so that he or she "should not be deprived of the benefit of this sacrament."