CONFIRMATION — For anointing on the forehead. Pontifical of Stephen Poncher, Bishop of Paris (1503-19) — Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, ms. lat. 956, f. 1.
It is advisable and fitting that Confirmation (C.) be administered before First Communion, since it is like the completion and perfection of Baptism; however, it may lawfully be received even afterward.
2. **Dispositions.** — For the validity of Confirmation, it is required that the candidate have received the Baptism of water, which is the gateway to all the Sacraments (can. 786). It is further required that the confirmand, when capable, have at least an interpretative intention of receiving II. For liceity, the state of grace is required, since Confirmation is a Sacrament of the living. The state of grace required for Confirmation may be obtained even by perfect contrition alone; in practice, however, one should insist that the confirmand approach the Sacrament of Penance. A confirmand who, in good faith, receives Confirmation in a state of mortal sin with only the required attention (v.), receives the Sacrament validly and even fruitfully, at least according to a very probable opinion (cf. A. Piscetta – A. Gennaro, *Elementa theologiae moralis*, V, Turin 1931, p. 11). The confirmand must finally be sufficiently instructed in the truths of the faith and Christian morality (pro suo caput) (can. 786). The Roman Ritual specifies this by stating that the confirmands must be diligently instructed (concerning the nature, dignity, effects, and dispositions required to receive this Sacrament worthily) (*Appendix. De Sacr. Confirmationis*). The confirmand is not bound to fast. The canonical laws that once prescribed this have fallen into desuetude.
3. **Obligation.** — Although this Sacrament is not necessary for salvation, no one may lawfully neglect to receive it when the opportunity arises; indeed, pastors have the duty to see to it that the faithful approach it at the appropriate time (can. 787). Authors do not agree on the gravity of the obligation to receive Confirmation. Some affirm it with St. Antoninus, St. Alphonsus, and Benedict XIV. Others deny it in greater number, following St. Thomas (*Summa Theologiae*, III, q. 72, a. 1 ad 3; a. 8 ad 4), except in three cases: contempt, scandal, or a special danger to salvation. Given this controversy, if an elderly Christian, in places where Confirmation is customarily given to children, finds it very difficult or shameful to receive it, one cannot impose the obligation *sub gravi*, but rather should persuade him to receive II. Parents, of course, remain bound to see that their children receive the Sacrament of Confirmation when the opportunity arises. Spouses before marriage and clerics before receiving tonsure are expressly bound by ecclesiastical law to receive Confirmation if they have not already done so (can. 993 n. 1 and 1021 § 2).
V. TIME AND PLACE. — The most suitable time for the administration of Confirmation is the week of Pentecost; however, it may be administered on any day of the year (can. 790). In antiquity, Confirmation was customarily administered only in the morning; today it may be administered at any hour of the day, though morning is to be preferred. The proper place is the church, though for a just reason, at the minister’s judgment, it may be conferred in any decent place (can. 791).
VI. SPONSORS. — According to an ancient usage of the Church, as in Baptism, so also in Confirmation there must be a sponsor, if one can be had (can. 793). According to common opinion, the obligation is grave, though some authors, basing themselves on the wording of can. 793 (*si haberi possit*), hold that it is a light obligation. In the same ceremony, there may be sponsors for only one or two confirmands, unless the minister, for plausible reasons, deems it advisable to have sponsors for a greater number. Each confirmand may have only one sponsor (can. 794). For a sponsor to be truly such, the following are required:
a) that he himself be already confirmed, have the use of reason, and intend to act as sponsor;
b) that he not be enrolled in any heretical or schismatic sect, nor be excommunicated;
c) that he not be the father, mother, or spouse of the confirmand;
d) that he be designated by the confirmand or his parents and guardians or by the bishop or pastor;
e) that he physically touch the confirmand, either personally or through a proxy, by placing his right hand on the confirmand’s shoulder while the minister confers Confirmation.
For a person to act as sponsor lawfully, the following are required:
a) that he be different from the Baptismal sponsor, unless the minister permits it for a just cause, or unless Confirmation is conferred immediately after Baptism;
b) that he be of the same sex as the confirmand, unless the minister, in some particular case, deems it just to make an exception;
c) that he have attained the age of fourteen;
d) that he not be unworthy;
e) that he know the principal truths of the faith;
f) that he not be a novice or professed religious, unless he has the permission of his superior, which is to be granted only in case of necessity;
g) that he not have received Sacred Orders, unless he has the permission of his Ordinary.
Between the sponsor and the confirmed there arises a spiritual kinship, by which the sponsor is bound to care for the Christian education of the confirmed (can. 797). The spiritual relationship arising from Confirmation no longer constitutes an impediment to marriage (can. 1079).
VII. REGISTRATION. — The pastor has the duty to record in the special book of confirmands the name of the minister, the confirmands, their parents, sponsors, the day and place of Confirmation; he must also make an entry in the Baptismal register of the name of the confirmed (can. 798).
The obligation is grave. If, in Confirmation administered in a parish, non-parishioners are also admitted, the local pastor or his delegate, having signed and stamped the cards of non-parishioners, must promptly send them to the respective pastors for proper registration (can. 799).
To prove the administration of Confirmation, unless someone’s rights would be prejudiced, a single text is sufficient, provided it is unimpeachable and reliable, or even the oath of the confirmed himself, unless he was confirmed in infancy (can. 800).
(from: Larguier, *Les pontificaux manuscrits des bibliothèques publiques de France*, [181]) Confirmation — For anointing on the forehead. Pontifical of Stephen Poncher, Bishop of Paris (1503-19) — Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, ms. lat. 956, f. 1.
VIII. CONFIRMATION IN THE MISSIONS. — The decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments could not be practically applied in many mission territories because the juridical persons mentioned in the decree do not exist there. For this reason, Propaganda, by a decree dated 18 December 1947, issued its own decree with fundamentally opposed criteria, granting Ordinaries in mission territories the faculty to permit their priests to administer Confirmation to adults and children in danger of death.
In granting such a faculty, it is required that the priests be subjects of the Ordinary, be within the territory of his ecclesiastical jurisdiction (i.e., diocese or quasi-diocese), and exercise in any way the care of souls. This broad faculty is not intended to prejudice other indults in the matter granted through decennial faculties and extraordinary faculties, as, for example, in the Plenary Council of Shanghai (1924). It is noteworthy that there is a difference between the title and the body of the text, since the title speaks of danger of death “from serious illness,” but the body of the text does not include the addition “from serious illness.” It seems clear that one must follow the body of the text, which was certainly subjected to papal approval.
Saverio Paventi
III. Ascetical Theology of Confirmation
As with Baptism, so too with Confirmation, the Fathers, theologians, and ascetical writers have striven to emphasize its intimate contribution to the integral and effective formation of the Christian. Natural life, after birth, grows, develops, strengthens, and perfects itself until it reaches full maturity; so too must supernatural life. This life, which is born in the soul through the sanctifying grace conferred by Baptism, must therefore grow, like any other life, until it attains “the perfect manhood,” as St. Paul says, “the fullness of the stature of Christ” (Eph. 3:13; cf. Sum. Theol., 3, q. 72, a. 5). Moreover, in Baptism the Christian has committed himself to renounce evil, the devil, and all his works, and he must therefore understand and resist them; this cannot be done unless he is enlightened and strengthened. As soon as the child’s intellect begins to open, he soon understands that life is a struggle; and this moment, in which he becomes conscious of his duty as a Christian and of the resistance he encounters within himself and outside himself in fulfilling it, can sometimes become tragic and disorient an entire life. For this reason, Jesus Christ willed to strengthen it with a Sacrament. Consequently, it is necessary:
I. TO LIVE ONE’S CONFIRMATION — That is to say, to become ever more conscious of its value and to cooperate with the double task that it has to fulfill in the Christian, whether considered in himself or in his social nature (Sum. Theol., 3, q. 72, a. 2): 1. For every Christian considered individually, Confirmation, by giving the fullness of the Holy Spirit with His gifts, offers: a) a deeper penetration of revealed truths (the gift of understanding). These are not merely an external baggage, sometimes cumbersome, but must penetrate the depths of the heart, becoming rooted convictions by which to orient life, which is beset by deviations and passions; b) a more loving inclination toward divine things, toward worship, toward divine service (the gift of piety); c) the vigor and constancy to translate convictions into practice (the gift of fortitude). Having good convictions is only a first step and insufficient; it is necessary to move to action, which demands overcoming and victories over the daily insurgencies of difficulties that make life like navigating against the current. It is the eternal struggle between the law of the spirit and that of the flesh, between the law of grace and that of sin (cf. Rom. 7:15-25). St. Paul himself offers an example of a prayer to the Father that, through the Holy Spirit, may strengthen the inner man, root divine life in his heart, and consequently acquire a taste for and relish of divine mysteries (Eph. 3:14-21). 2. For the Christian considered in his social nature, Confirmation gives the strength always to honor his own banner; never to blush for his faith; to know how, when necessary, to spread and defend it against every fear of human respect and every danger of struggle and contradiction. The command of Jesus Christ to His Apostles: “You shall be my witnesses... even to the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8) can at times be costly and lead to imprisonment and death.
II. DEVOTION TO CONFIRMATION — Various practices and norms are recommended to keep in mind and revive the thought and memory of the great gift of Confirmation and the obligations that derive from it, which can be summarized by saying that Confirmation makes one at once a “soldier” and an “apostle.” Therefore: 1. Before receiving the Sacrament, good preparation is necessary; in ancient times, squires before being knighted prepared themselves for the solemn ceremony through exercise and prayer. 2. Afterward, solemnize its anniversary and take advantage of Pentecost to intensify devotion to the Holy Spirit. V. tav. LII.