Confirmation

Along with Baptism and the Eucharist, Confirmation is a Sacrament of Initiation, one of the fundamental rites that bring a person into the Catholic Church and the Christian life.

Confirmation perfects and completes the grace that a person receives in Baptism. The gifts of the Holy Spirit received in Baptism are strengthened in Confirmation to help a person live a holy life even more.

The ordinary minster of the Sacrament of Confrimation is a bishop. In some circumstances, a priest may be given special permission to administer the sacrament.

The sacramental matter of Confirmation is sacred chrism oil. The minister anoints the head of the confirmed with the Sign of the Cross.

The sacramental form are the words: “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.” which are said while the person is being anointed.

In Confirmation, a Catholic is marked by the Holy Spirit. This seal of Confirmation is permanent so the Sacrament of Confirmation may only be received once.

The person being confirmed chooses the name of a patron saint that can serve as a model of holiness as well as a sponsor who can be an teach and model Christian life.

The completion of Baptism:

Sharing in the events of Pentecost:

Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the “sacraments of Christian initiation,” whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For “by the Sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1285

Receiving the Holy Spirit in a special way:

A special grace by laying on of hands:

Growing the gifts of the Holy Spirit:

Gifts to live a Christian life:

In fact, the Sacrament of Confirmation closely associates the Christian with the anointing of Christ, whom “God annointed with the Holy Spirit”. This anointing is recalled in the very name “Christian”, which derives from that of “Christ”, the Greek translation of the Hebrew term “messiah”, whose precise meaning is “anointed”. Christ is the Messiah, the Anointed One of God. Through the seal of the Spirit conferred by Confirmation, the Christian attains his full identity and becomes aware of his mission in the Church and the world. “Before this grace had been conferred on you”, St Cyril of Jerusalem writes, “you were not sufficiently worthy of this name, but were on the way to becoming Christians”
Pope John Paul II, General Audience, September 30, 1998

A source of power and courage:

Unleashing untapped spiritual energy:

Bearing the seal of Jesus Christ:

Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the holy Spirit.
Acts 8: 14-17

Reaffirming promises: