Confirmation

"Be who you were created to be, and you will set the world on fire." —St. Catherine of Siena

On several occasions Christ promised an outpouring of the Spirit, a promise he fulfilled most strikingly at Pentecost. From that time on the apostles, in fulfillment of Christ's will, imparted to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands the gift of the Spirit that completes the grace of Baptism. Very early, the better to signify the gift of the Holy Spirit, an anointing with perfumed oil (chrism) was added to the laying on of hands. This anointing highlights the name “Christ” or "Christian," which means "anointed" and derives from that of Christ himself whom God "anointed with the Holy Spirit." 

Since Confirmation is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost, it brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace:

- it roots us more deeply in our relation to God as His children, which makes us cry, "Abba! Father!";
- it unites us more firmly to Christ;
- it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us;
- it renders our bond with the Church more perfect;
- it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross.

Confirmation, like Baptism, leaves an indelible spiritual mark, which is the sign that Jesus Christ has marked a Christian with the seal of His Spirit by clothing him with power from on high so that he may be his witness and so profess faith in Christ publicly.

(The above is paraphrased from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1287-1305)

If you would like to read more about Confirmation, click here.

Also, don't miss out on Bishop Barron's talk about the Sacrament of Confirmation in the video below.