Guided by the Baltimore Catechism, our trip through the sacraments continues this week. Last week, we discussed the first sacrament, Baptism; this week, we look at the sacrament that historically has been the second one that Christians receive: the Sacrament of Confirmation.
In the Western Church, Confirmation is usually received today after the sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion. But the Eastern Church, both Catholic and Orthodox, retains the ancient practice of administering Confirmation immediately after Baptism, and then administering Holy Communion immediately after Confirmation. Together, these three sacraments are known as the Sacraments of Initiation.
That order is still considered to be the normal one. The practice of delaying Confirmation arose from the fact that the ordinary minister of Confirmation is the bishop, rather than the priest. In the early centuries of the Church, bishops performed most baptisms, as well as confirmations; today, however, Baptism is normally performed by a priest. In the West, the bishop generally confirms a number of people at one time; thus, the sacrament became separated from Baptism, and gradually came to be performed considerably later.
In the Eastern Church, the priest generally performs the Confirmation as well as the Baptism, but the sacrament is still connected to the bishop by the use of chrism, a sacred oil that is blessed by the bishop on Holy Thursday.
In both cases, the purpose and effects of the Sacrament of Confirmation are the same: Confirmation completes the Sacrament of Baptism. Through it, we receive the Holy Spirit, as the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary did at Pentecost. Through the Holy Spirit, we receive the strength to perfect our lives as Christians, and to bear perfect witness to Christ--even to the point of martyrdom, if necessary.
Unfortunately, because Confirmation is now most often administered during the teen years in the West, many Catholics neglect to receive it. The sacrament is a great bulwark of our faith, and if for some reason you did not receive it at the normal time, you should contact your priest and arrange to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation as soon as possible.
Next week, we'll look at the effects of the Sacrament of Confirmation, particularly the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and how they perfect the Christian life.
Lesson Fifteenth from the Confirmation Catechism has 10 questions. Note that the lesson begins with Question 166, continuing with the numbering from Lesson Fourteenth.
In the First Communion Catechism, the parallel lesson this week is Lesson Thirteenth. It includes 6 questions drawn from Lesson Fifteenth of the Confirmation Catechism.
Check out this week's lesson, and if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments or ask them in the Catholicism Forum!
Previous Lessons in Sunday School:- Welcome to Sunday School!
- On God and His Perfections
- On the Unity and Trinity of God
- On Creation
- On Our First Parents and the Fall
- On Sin and Its Kinds
- On the Incarnation and Redemption
- On Our Lord's Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension
- On the Holy Ghost and His Descent Upon the Apostles
- On the Effects of the Redemption
- On the Church
- On the Attributes and Marks of the Church
- On the Sacraments in General
- On Baptism