What is the sacrament of Confirmation?

Confirmation is the sacrament that completes Baptismal grace, sealing the baptized with the Gift of the Holy Spirit and binding them more perfectly to the Church. Through the anointing with sacred chrism by a bishop (or priest acting in his name), the confirmed receives an increase and deepening of the Spirit's gifts, enabling them to spread and defend the faith as true witnesses of Christ.

Scriptural Roots

The pattern of Confirmation is prefigured in the apostles' own reception of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, when they were filled with the Spirit and empowered to preach boldly (Acts 2:4). In the Acts of the Apostles, the laying on of hands after baptism to impart the Holy Spirit becomes a distinct apostolic act, as when Peter and John went to Samaria so that the newly baptized 'might receive the Holy Ghost' (Acts 8:15-17).

St. Paul likewise speaks of believers being 'sealed with the holy Spirit of promise' (Ephesians 1:13), language the Church has long connected with the sacramental seal, or character, imprinted in Confirmation.

The Effects of Confirmation

Confirmation is one of the three sacraments of Christian initiation, together with Baptism and the Eucharist, and it perfects the grace of Baptism (CCC 1285). It roots the baptized more deeply in divine filiation, unites them more firmly to Christ and the Church, increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit within them, and gives a special strength to witness the Christian faith in word and deed, never being ashamed of the Cross (CCC 1303, 1316).

Like Baptism, Confirmation imprints an indelible spiritual mark, the character, on the soul; for this reason the sacrament can be received only once (CCC 1304, 1317).

The Rite and Minister

The essential rite of Confirmation is anointing the forehead of the baptized with sacred chrism through the laying on of the minister's hand, accompanied by the words 'Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit' in the Roman Rite (CCC 1300). The original minister is the bishop, which manifests the sacrament's effect of binding the confirmed more closely to the Church and her apostolic origins; priests may confirm with the bishop's faculty, especially in the case of adult initiation or danger of death (CCC 1312-1313).

A sponsor stands with the candidate to represent the Church and help them fulfill their baptismal promises, continuing the maternal role the Church plays in every believer's spiritual growth (CCC 1311).