why is confirmation important
Confirmation is important because it takes place in the early teen years when many young people begin to struggle to find assurance of salvation. In those Christian churches where confirmation is still observed, its connection with and its distinction from baptism influence both the practice and the theological interpretation of the rite. After the Fourth Lateran Council, Communion, which continued to be given only after Confirmation, was to be administered only on reaching the age of reason. Facts about Confirmation 4: The Phase of Adulthood. [1] It is also one of the three sacraments of initiation into the Catholic Church, the other two being Baptism and Holy Communion.[2]. 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. The Code prescribes the age of discretion also for the sacraments of Penance[14] and first Holy Communion.[15]. This seal is a consecration, representing the safeguarding by the Holy Spirit of the graces conferred on the Christian at baptism. Apostolic precedent for the sacrament has been found in the Acts of the…, With the development of infant Baptism, the regenerative initial sacrament was coupled with the charismatic apostolic laying on of hands as the seal of the Spirit in the rite of confirmation (Acts 8:14–17). After the Protestant Reformation, Anglicanism and Lutheranism retained a form of confirmation. Early Christian theologians, therefore, closely connected the meaning and effects of confirmation with those of baptism. Lutheranism rejects the sacramental definition of confirmation and considers it a public profession of the faith into which the candidate was baptized as an infant. [7], In the early Church, through the Middle Ages, confirmation was closely linked with baptism and it was often performed on infants before their first birthday, but in some churches, the minimal age of 10 years comes into play. by Joseph Jones, Ph.D., NRCC-TC When a newborn is selected for meconium or umbilical cord drug testing, a number of events are set into action. The church has always stressed this connection of confirmation through the bishop to the ministry of the apostles, but it has developed different ways of doing so in the East and in the West. Like baptism, therefore, it can be performed only once, and confirmation increases and deepens all of the graces granted at baptism. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Bishop Don Hying shares some great information on this special sacrament. Eventually, the current custom of performing confirmation several years after first Holy Communion developed, but the church continues to the stress the original order of the sacraments, and Pope Benedict XVI, in his apostolic exhortation "Sacramentum Caritatis," suggested that the original order should be restored. Confirmation testing using a second portion of specimen serves two main purposes. How Important Are Confirmation Emails? In most hospital settings, the selection follows at least one observation that has led to a suspicion of […] In the Eastern Catholic (and Eastern Orthodox) Churches, the three sacraments of initiation are administered at the same time to infants. It is when a Catholic youth reaches the age of reason and can choose for themselves, whether or not they want to be a Catholic. A bishop normally performs the rite, which includes the laying on of hands and anointing the forehead with chrism (holy oil). Confirmation is regarded as the perfection of baptism, because, as the introduction to the Rite of Confirmation states: Many people think of the laying on of hands, which signifies the descent of the Holy Spirit, as the central act in the sacrament of confirmation. In order to know the meaning of confirmation, people should study each of church or denomination’s tenets. When people are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, they become Christians, right? Confirmation, Christian rite by which admission to the church, established previously in infant baptism, is said to be confirmed (or strengthened and established in faith). The sacrament of confirmation confers special graces of the Holy Spirit upon the person being confirmed, just as such graces were granted to the Apostles on Pentecost. By the 4th century, confirmation became a separate “unction” (rite using…. During the first several centuries of Christian history, when most of those who joined the church were adult converts from paganism, the baptism of these adults and the ceremony admitting them to the full rights of membership (equivalent to, but not yet called, confirmation) probably coincided. Some time after the 13th century, the age of Confirmation and Communion began to be delayed further, from seven, to twelve and to fifteen. The "soldier of Christ" imagery, which remains valid[20] but is downplayed if seen as part of the once common idea of Confirmation as a "sacrament of maturity",[21] was used as far back as 350, by St Cyril of Jerusalem. This is in accord with the Introduction to the Rite of Confirmation, 17, which indicates that the episcopal conference may decide "to introduce a different manner for the minister to give the sign of peace after the anointing, either to each individual or to all the newly confirmed together.
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