Confirmation

Confirmation takes place in the fall of 9th grade.

All home-schooled and public and parochial school students who have not been confirmed should contact the Faith Formation Office.

For adults, confirmation takes place as part of the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA) formerly RCIA

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. . . . I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name–he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” (John 14:16-17, 25-26)

Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit upon the disciples.  Entrusting them with the great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all the nations, he assures them of assistance of “power from on high.” (Luke 24:49)  The Apostles receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as they are gathered together in prayer with Mary at the feast of Pentecost. (cf. Acts of the Apostles 2:1-41).  Through the Sacrament of Confirmation, Christians receive the Holy Spirit which the apostles received.  The Sacrament of the Confirmation strengthens the Christian to live His Faith and to share it with others.

The Second Vatican Council describes the effects of the Sacrament of Confirmation:  “[The faithful] are more perfectly bound to the Church by the sacrament of Confirmation, and the Holy Spirit endows them with special strength so that they are more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith, both by word and by deed, as true witnesses of Christ.”  (Lumen Gentium, 11)

Regarding Confirmation, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches the following:

• Confirmation perfects Baptismal grace; it is the sacrament which 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. (#1316)
• Confirmation, like Baptism, imprints a spiritual mark or indelible character on the Christian’s soul; for this reason one can receive this sacrament only once in one’s life. (#1317)
• A candidate for Confirmation who has attained the age of reason must profess the faith, be in the state of grace, have the intention of receiving the sacrament, and be prepared to assume the role of disciple and witness to Christ, both within the ecclesial community and in temporal affairs.  (#1319)