Our word “confirm” is derived from a Latin term for “strengthen.” Along with Baptism and first Eucharist, Confirmation is a sacrament of initiation. The Catholic Church understands Confirmation as the “completion of the baptismal grace” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1285). It is also a strengthening of the baptized Christian in the Holy Spirit.
Confirmation in the New Testament. Although an explicit Confirmation rite does not appear in the New Testament, its roots are in the vocabulary and practices of the New Testament church. We can begin as the public life of Jesus does, with the preaching of John the Baptist. According to the Fourth Gospel, Jesus and his disciples continued John’s practice of water baptism (John 3:22, 4:1-2). Thus Christians have practiced water Baptism as a sacrament of initiation from the beginning. Yet it appears that the early followers of Jesus confess something more, connected with baptism, yet uniquely identified with the gift of the Holy Spirit. This something more is anticipated by the Baptist:
“I may baptize you with water for repentance, but there is one coming after me who is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Matthew 3:11; see also Luke 3:16)
The water-plus-Spirit pattern is also found in the Fourth Gospel, which tells of Jesus’ conversation with the Jewish leader Nicodemus. Jesus instructs him that one must be born anew, baptized in both water and the Spirit (John 3:5).
The connection between baptism and the reception of the Spirit is seen even more clearly in the Acts of the Apostles. Although it was not intended as a history book, Acts is the most important source for determining the early church’s practices. It tells a story of the expansion of the Jesus-movement from the ascension of Jesus to Paul’s trial in Rome, from about 30 to 62 AD. It includes the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the growth of the Gospel outside of the Holy Land, the call and missionary travels of Paul, and the conversion of many gentiles. The group who witnessed the miraculous Pentecost event and heard Peter’s initial speech proclaiming Jesus as Messiah and Lord, asked what they should do in response. Peter replied,
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)
According to this speech, baptism for forgiveness of sins is inherently linked with the reception of the Holy Spirit. In another passage from Acts, it is clear that baptism was followed by the laying on of hands and reception of the Holy Spirit:
“When those apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who came and prayed for the Samarian believers, that they might receive the Holy Spirit — for it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus! Then Peter and John laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 8:14-17)
Here Baptism and the Confirmation-like experience were separated in time. It was the apostles Peter and John who might be thought of as completing the Samarians’ Baptism, which is very much like Bishops today completing in Confirmation the initiation of those who were baptized.
It was not unique to find a group who had heard the gospel and been baptized, but had not yet received the Holy Spirit. In his travels, the apostle Paul encountered a group of baptized believers who were unaware of the Spirit:
“Paul ... came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. He asked them, ‘did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ They replied, ‘no, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’ Paul said, ‘into what were you baptized?’ They said, ‘into John’s baptism.’ And Paul said, ‘John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.’ On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.” (Acts 19:1-6)
Here it is clear that the laying on of the apostle’s hands and reception of the Holy Spirit followed Baptism. We might also conclude that the power to baptize was not considered the same power as the power of conferring the Holy Spirit.
The letters of Paul expand upon our ideas of the nature of the church and the role of the Holy Spirit in empowering each Christian to contribute to the growth of the body of Christ. In his first letter to the Corinthian Christians, Paul confronts an elitist clique of Christians who thought only they were gifted by the Holy Spirit. This is the context of Paul’s introduction of the image of the church as the body of Christ, in which each Christian is a body-part: heart, finger, toe and spleen! The gifting of each Christian by the Holy Spirit to serve is an essential element of Paul’s idea of the church, and it is foundational to the sacrament of Confirmation. Paul also formulated the fruits of the Spirit concept, that is, the idea that the presence of the Spirit will be observable in a Christian’s life (Galatians 5:22-26). Paul’s influence is even more direct, as the following text from his second letter to the Corinthians exhibits.
“The one who confirms us with you in Christ and who anointed us is God, who has also sealed us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
Because modern English translations usually translate bebaiôn (“confirms” above) as “establishes,” the significance of Paul’s words have been obscured, whereas the early church saw here a clear description of Confirmation. From the later Pauline tradition we also read about being “sealed with the Holy Spirit,” which is a essential symbol of Confirmation: “sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13); “do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).
Each of these Pauline metaphors has significantly influenced the Catholic theology of Confirmation: the Holy Spirit’s gifting or empowering, its fruit or production, and sealing or completion.
Confirmation in Church History. Although it seems clear in the New Testament that the early church practiced a Confirmation-like rite, we wait until the fourth century for an explicit mention of “Confirmation.” Earlier writers recognize the laying on of hands and anointing as elements of Christian initiation (Tertullian, d. 220 AD), and refer to two Sacraments of initiation, one for regeneration (Baptism) and a second for the Holy Spirit — Confirmation (St. Cyprian, d. 258 AD). From the fourth century onward, there can be no question that Church theologians recognize a sacrament of Baptism and a second one that, with the laying on of hands and anointing with chrism, confers the Holy Spirit: for example, the fourth century Syrian, St. Ephrem, wrote of an “oil also for a most sweet balm, with which those already initiated by baptism are sealed, and put on the armor of the Holy Spirit.” The second sacrament is what we know today as Confirmation. By the middle ages there is no question about the validity of the sacrament of Confirmation.
The Eastern Orthodox-Greek tradition celebrates Baptism, Confirmation and first Eucharist at the same time. Thus infants who are baptized also receive Confirmation and Eucharist. In the Roman Catholic West, the separation of Baptism and Confirmation into two distinct (but interrelated) rites was both a theological and a practical development. The development of the idea of original sin went hand-in-hand with Baptism as purification, even for infants. As infant baptisms increased throughout the year, it became difficult for the Bishop to confirm each infant when they were baptized, yet the Western Catholic church has, at least since St. Augustine, considered it the Bishop’s role to complete Baptism. Local priests were allowed to baptize, but it was seen as the Bishops’ role to “confirm” the earlier Baptism by the “laying on of hands.”
The Western Catholic tradition also assigned Confirmation to an age of reason, a developmental stage in which children became able to choose for themselves, and will to follow Christ. Confirmation was never intended to cease the growth of the Christian into Christ’s likeness; each Christian has the obligation to grow in faith and knowledge.
The Modern Catholic Church. The Confirmation of maturing Christians resembles the rites of passage practiced by many cultures and various conceptions of the stages of personal development. But Confirmation is a theological entity rather than an anthropological or psychology phenomenon. Its effects are real rather than customary: a full outpouring of the Holy Spirit that manifests itself in gifts and service. Its additional effects will reveal themselves in the spiritual growth of the Christian and building-up of the body of Christ: an increase in the grace of baptism that roots one more deeply in family of God, and even allows one to authentically call God Abba; unites to Christ more firmly; increases the gifts of the Spirit; perfects the connection to the church; imparts new strength to confess Christ, evangelize and defend the church (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1303). In other words, Confirmed Catholics are enabled to “put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). Moreover, like Baptism, Confirmation “imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark, the ‘character,’ which is the sign that Jesus Christ has marked a Christian with the seal of his Spirit.”Symbols of Confirmation
- laying on of hands
- anointing with chrism (oil)
- signing with the cross
- giving the sign of peace
“Preparation for Confirmation should aim at leading the Christian toward a more intimate union with Christ and a more lively familiarity with the Holy Spirit — his actions, his gifts, and his biddings — in order to be more capable of assuming the apostolic responsibilities of Christian life. To this end catechesis for Confirmation should strive to awaken a sense of belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ, the universal Church as well as the parish community. The latter bears special responsibility for the preparation of confirmands.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1309)
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