SECOND SACRAMENT: CONFIRMATION
251. Confirmation is a sacrament that gives us the Holy Spirit with His seven gifts and strengthens us in the faith we receive in Baptism.
252. There are seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and fear of God.
253. Confirmation gives us the special grace to boldly confess our faith and to profess Christian life in the face of every kind of enemy, whether spiritual or temporal.
Confirmation makes us perfect Christians and soldiers of Christ.
The subject of Confirmation is the sacred Chrism, blessed by the Bishop on Holy Thursday.
Chrism is a mixture of olive oil and balsam.
The oil signifies the gentleness, strength, and abundance of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which is infused into the confirmed.
Balsam is a substance that gives off a pleasant smell, thus signifying the good example that the soldier of Jesus Christ must give everywhere.
The form of Confirmation is: "I sign you with the sign of the Cross, and I confirm you with the Chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
The ordinary minister of Confirmation is the Bishop.
The simple priest can only confirm by special delegation of the Pope.
[Modernism, which is satanism, made it possible for any priest delegated by the bishop to give that sacrament.
We read on the web:
^^Now the Sacred Scriptures show that the Bishop alone is the ordinary minister of this Sacrament, for we read in the Acts of the Apostles that when Samaria received the word of God, Peter and John were sent to them, and they prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit, since He had not yet come upon either of them, but they were only baptized.
Here we can see that the one who had baptized, being only a deacon, had no power to confirm; but its administration was reserved to a more perfect order of ministers, that is, to the Apostles. The same may be observed whenever the Holy Scriptures make mention of this sacrament.
Nor are there lacking in proof of this matter the clearest testimonies of the holy Fathers and of the Popes Urban, Eusebius, Damasus, Innocent, and Leo, as appears from their decrees. St. Augustine, moreover, complains seriously about the corrupt practice of the Egyptians and Alexandrians, whose priests dared to administer the sacrament of confirmation.
The complete expediency of reserving this function to bishops may be illustrated by the following comparison. As in the construction of buildings, the craftsmen, who are inferior agents, prepare and arrange the cement, lime, wood and other materials, while the architect is responsible for the completion of the work; so also this Sacrament, which is, as it were, the completion of the spiritual edifice, is to be performed by no other than the chief priest.^^]
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How to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation
The Bishop, extending his hands over the confirmand, invokes the Holy Spirit; then he anoints his forehead with the sacred Chrism, in the form of a cross, pronouncing the words of the form; he gives him, with his right hand, a light slap, saying: Peace be with you; and, at last, he solemnly blesses him.
The anointing in the form of a cross that is made on the forehead means that the confirmed must never be ashamed to fulfill his duties as a Christian, nor be afraid of the enemies of the faith.
The slight slap means that the confirmed must be ready to suffer any affront or work for the faith.
The reception of this Sacrament is not as necessary and urgent as that of Baptism.
254. The one who is confirmed must be in the grace of God.
255. He who receives Confirmation knowing that he is in mortal sin commits a sacrilege.
256. Confirmation must be received, as a general rule, around the age of seven.
There is no time appointed under precept; until having the will to receive it, when comfortably possible.
It is fitting to receive it when we come to the use of reason, in order to have more strength to fight against the enemies of the soul.
In Spain, Latin America and the Philippines, by legitimate custom, Confirmation is often administered to children before the use of reason. [This was written in the year 1941]
He who has the use of reason must receive this Sacrament in the grace of God, and must know the principal mysteries of our holy faith.
Confirmation can only be received once, because it imprints the character of soldier of Jesus Christ.
In Confirmation there should be only one godfather or godmother, godfather for men, godmother for women.
The godfather or godmother must be confirmed and be thirteen years old; they cannot be the same as those of Baptism.
They must be good Christians, to set a good example and spiritually assist their godchildren.
They contract the same obligations and spiritual kinship as the godparents of Baptism.