THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION.
Confirmation is a Sacrament in which, through the imposition of the
Bishop’s hands, unction and prayer, baptized persons receive the Holy
Ghost, that they may steadfastly profess their faith and lead upright
lives.
This Sacrament is called _Confirmation_, because it _confirms_ or
strengthens the soul by Divine grace. Sometimes it is named _the laying on
of hands_, because the Bishop imposes his hands on those whom he confirms.
It is also known by the name of _Chrism_, because the forehead of the
person confirmed is anointed with chrism in the form of a cross.
Frequent mention is made of this Sacrament in the Holy Scripture. In the
Acts it is written that “When the Apostles who were in Jerusalem had heard
that Samaria had received the Word of God they sent unto them Peter and
John, who, when they were come, prayed for them that they might receive
the Holy Ghost; for He was not yet come upon any of them, but they were
only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on
them, and they received the Holy Ghost.”(354)
It is also related that the disciples at Ephesus “were baptized in the
name of the Lord Jesus, and when Paul had imposed his hands upon them the
Holy Ghost came upon them and they spoke tongues and prophesied.”(355)
In his Epistle to the Hebrews St. Paul enumerates Confirmation, or the
laying on of hands, together with Baptism and Penance, among the
fundamental truths of Christianity.(356)
To the Corinthians he writes: “He that confirmeth us with you in Christ,
and that hath anointed us, is God; who also hath sealed us and given the
pledge of the Spirit in our hearts.”(357) God _confirmeth_ us in faith; He
hath _anointed_ us by spiritual unction, typified by the sacred chrism
which is marked on our foreheads. He hath _sealed_ us by the indelible
character stamped on our souls, which is indicated by the sign of the
cross impressed on us. He hath given the _pledge_ of the Holy Ghost in our
hearts, by the testimony of a good conscience, as an earnest of future
glory. The Bishop performs the external unction, but God, “who worketh all
in all,” sanctifies the soul by His secret operation.
It cannot be asserted that the laying on of hands and the graces which
followed from it, as recorded in the Acts, were not intended to be
continued after the Apostles’ times, for there is no warrant for such an
assumption. This function of imposing hands formed as regular and
imperative a part of the Apostolic ministry as the duties which they
exercised in preaching, baptizing, ordaining, etc. Hence the successors of
the Apostles in the nineteenth century have precisely the same authority
and obligation to confirm as they have to preach, to baptize or to ordain.
Those who were confirmed by the Apostles usually gave evidence of the
grace which they received by prophecy, the gift of tongues and the
manifestation of other miraculous powers. It may be asked: Why do not
these gifts accompany now the imposition of hands? I answer: Because they
are no longer needed. The grace which the Apostolic disciples received was
for their personal sanctification. The gift of tongues which they
exercised was intended by Almighty God to edify and enlighten the
spectators, and to give Divine sanction to the Apostolic ministry. But now
that the Church is firmly established, and the Divine authority of her
ministry is clearly recognized, these miracles are no longer necessary.
St. Gregory illustrates this point by a happy comparison: As the sapling,
he says, when it is first planted is regularly watered by the gardener,
who softens the earth around it, that the sun and the moisture may nourish
its roots until it takes deep root and it no longer requires any special
care, so the Church in her infancy had to be nourished by the miraculous
power of God. But after it had taken root in the hearts of the people and
spread its branches over the earth it was left to the ordinary agencies of
Providence.
St. Augustine writes also on the same subject: “In the first days (of the
Church) the Holy Ghost came down on believers, and they spoke in tongues
which they had not learned.... These were miracles suited to the times....
Is it now expected that they upon whom hands are laid should speak with
tongues? Or, when we imposed hands on these children, did each of you wait
to see whether they would speak with tongues?... If, then, there be not
now a testimony to the presence of the Holy Spirit by means of these
miracles, whence is it proved that he has received the Holy Spirit? Let
him ask his own heart; if he loves his brother, the Spirit of God abides
in him.”(358)
Following in the footsteps of the Apostles we find the Fathers of the
Church, from the earliest age, recognizing Confirmation as a Divine and
sacramental institution and proclaiming its salutary effects.
“The flesh,” says Tertullian, “is _anointed_, that the soul may be
consecrated; the flesh is marked, that the soul may be fortified; the
flesh is overshadowed _by the imposition of hands_, that the soul may be
enlightened with the Spirit.”(359)
St. Cyprian, speaking of the Christians baptized in Samaria, says:
“Because they had received the legitimate baptism, ... what was wanting,
that was done by Peter and John, that prayer being made for them and hands
imposed, the Holy Ghost should be invoked and poured forth upon them.
_Which now also is done amongst us_, so that they who are baptized in the
Church are presented to the Bishops of the Church, and by our prayer and
imposition of hands they receive the Holy Ghost and are perfected with the
seal of the Lord.”(360)
St. Cyril of Jerusalem compares the sacred Chrism in Confirmation to the
Eucharist: “You were anointed with oil, being made sharers and partners of
Christ. And see well that you regard it not as mere ointment; for, as the
bread of the Eucharist, after the invocation of the Holy Ghost, is no
longer mere bread but the body of Christ, so likewise this holy ointment
is no longer common ointment after the invocation, but the gift of Christ
and of the Holy Ghost, being rendered efficient by His Divinity. You were
anointed on the forehead, that you might be delivered from the shame which
the first transgressor always experienced, and that you might contemplate
the glory of God with an unveiled countenance.... As Christ, after His
baptism and the descent of the Holy Ghost upon Him, going forth overcame
the adversary, so you likewise, after holy baptism and the mysterious
unction, clothed with the panoply of the Holy Ghost, stand against the
adverse power and subdue it, saying: ‘I can do all things in Christ, who
strengtheneth me.’ ”(361)
St. Ambrose, commenting on these words of the Apostle, “God ... hath given
us the pledge of the Spirit,” (II. Cor. i. 22) expressly applies the text
to the seal of Confirmation. “Remember,” he says, “that you have received
the spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of
counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, the spirit of
holy fear. God the Father hath sealed you; Christ the Lord hath
_confirmed_ you, and hath given the pledge of the Spirit in your hearts,
_as you have learned from the lesson read from the Apostle_.”(362)
St. Ambrose here speaks of the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Ghost which are
received in Confirmation, and every Bishop in our day invokes these same
gifts on those whom he is about to confirm.
“Do you know,” writes St. Jerome against the sect of Luciferians of his
time, “that it is the practice of the churches that the imposition of
hands should be performed over baptized persons and the Holy Ghost thus
invoked? Do you ask where it is written? In the Acts of the Apostles; but
were there no Scriptural authority at hand the consent of the whole world
in this regard would have the force of law.”(363)
“You willingly understand,” says St. Augustine, “by this ointment the
Sacrament of Chrism, which, indeed, in the class of visible seals is as
sacred as Baptism itself.”(364)
The Oriental schismatic churches recognize Confirmation as a Sacrament,
and administer the rite as we do, by the imposition of hands and the
application of chrism. Now, some of these churches have been separated
from the Catholic Church since the fourth and fifth centuries. This fact
is an eloquent vindication of the Apostolic antiquity of Confirmation, and
is an ample refutation of those who would ascribe to it a more recent
origin.
Protestantism, which made such havoc of the other Sacraments, did not fail
to abolish Confirmation in its sweeping revolution.
The Episcopal church retains, indeed, the name of Confirmation in its
ritual, and even borrows a portion of our prayers and ceremonial. But, in
opposition to the uniform teaching of the Catholic, as well as of all the
Oriental churches, both orthodox and schismatic, it declares Confirmation
to be a mere rite and not a Sacrament.
In violation of the practice of all antiquity it mutilates the rite by
omitting the sacred unction. It retains the shadow without the substance.
It raises, indeed, its hands over the candidates; but they are not the
anointed hands of Peter or John, or Cyprian or Augustine, to whom it is
said: “Whatsoever thou shalt bless, let it be blessed; whatsoever thou
shalt sanctify, let it be sanctified.”(365) Their hands were lifted up
with authority and clothed with supernatural power; but the hands of the
Episcopal Bishops are spiritually paralyzed by the suicidal act of the
Reformers, and they expressly disclaim any sacramental efficacy in the
rite which they administer.