CONFIRMATION
216
CONFIRMATION
olive-oil and balsam consecrated by a bishop. (For
the manner of this consecration and for other details,
historical and liturgical, see Chrism.) The difference
regarding the form of the sacrament, i. e. the words es-
sential for confirmation, has been indicated above in
the description of the rite. The validity of both the
Latin and the Greek form is unquestionable. Addi-
tional details are given below in the historical outline.
Recipient. — C'onfirmation can be conferred only on those who have already been baptized and have not yet been confirmed. As St. Thomas says : " Confirma- tion is to baptism what growth is to generation. Now it is clear that a man cannot advance to a perfect age unless he has first been born ; in like manner, unless he has first been baptized he cannot receive the Sacra- ment of Confirmation" (Summ. Th., Ill, Q. Ixxii, a. 6). They should also be in the state of grace ; for the Holy Ghost is not given for the purpose of taking away sin but of conferring additional grace. This condition, however, refers only to lawful reception; the sacra- ment is validly received even by those in mortal sin. In the early ages of the Church, confirmation was part of the rite of initiation, and consequently was admin- istered immediately after baptism. When, however, baptism came to be conferred by simple priests, the two ceremonies were separated in the Western Church. Further, when infant baptism became customarj-, con- firmation was not administered until the child had at- tained the use of reason. This is the present practice, though there is considerable latitude as to the precise age. The Catechism of the Council of Trent says that the sacrament can be administered to all persons after baptism, but that this is not expedient before the use of reason ; and adds that it is most fitting that the sacra- ment be deferred until the child is seven years old, " for Confirmation has not been instituted as necessary for salvation, but that by virtue thereof we might be found well armed and prepared when called upon to fight for the faith of Christ, and for this kind of conflict no one will consider children, who are still withoiit the use of reason, to be qualified." (Pt. II, ch. iii, IS.) Such, in fact, is the general usage in the Western Church. Under certain circumstances, however, as, for instance, danger of death, or when the opportunity of receiving the sacrament is but rarely offered, even younger children may be confirmed. In the Greek Church and in Spain, infants are now, as in earlier times, confirmed immediately after baptism. Leo XIII, writing 22 June, 1897, to "the Bishop of Marseilles, commends most heartily the practice of confirming children before their first commimion as being more in accord with the ancient usage of the Church.
Effects. — Confirmation imparts (1) an increase of sanctifying grace which makes the recipient a " perfect Christian"; (2) a special sacramental grace consisting in the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost and notably in the strength and courage to confess boldly the name of Christ; (3) an indelible character by reason of which the sacrament cannot be received again by the same person. (See Char.\cter.) A further consequence is the spiritual relationship (see Rel.\tionship, Spirit- o.^l) which the person confirming and the sponsor contract with the recipient and with the recipient's parents. This relationship constitutes a diriment impediment (see I.mpediments) to marriage. It does not arise between the minister of the sacrament and the sponsor nor between the sponsors themselves.
Necessity. — Regarding the obligation of receiving the sacrament, it is admitted that confirmation is not necessary as an indispensable means of salvation (ne- cessitate medii). On the other hand, its reception is obligatory {necessitate pnrcepii) "for all those who are able to understand anil fulfil the (^oniniandmeiits of God and of the Church This is especially true of those whosuffer persecution on account of t^ieir relig- ion or arc exposed to grievous temptations against faith or are in danger of death. The more serious the
danger so much greater is the need of protecting one-
self ". (Cone. Plen. Bait. II, n. 250.) As to the grav-
ity of the obligation, opinions differ, some theologians
holding that an imconfirmed person would commit
mortal sin if he refused the sacrament, others that the
sin would be at most venial unless the refusal implied
contempt for the sacrament. Apart, however, from
such controversies the importance of confirmation as a
means of grace is so obvious that no earnest Christian
will neglect it, and in particular that Christian parents
will not fail to see that tlieir children are confirmed.
Sponsors. — The Church prescribes under pain of grievous sin that a sponsor, or godparent, shall stand for the person confirmed. The sponsor should be at least fourteen years of age, of the same sex as the can- didate, should have already received the Sacrament of Confirmation, and be well instructed in the Catholic Faith. From this office are excluded the father and mother of the candidate, members of a religious order (unless the candidate be a religious), public sinners, and those who are under public ban of interdict or e.xcommunication. E.xcept in case of necessity the baptismal gotljjarent cannot serve as sponsor for the same person in confirmation, ^\"here the opposite practice obtains, it should, according to a decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council, 16 Feb., 1884, be gradually done away with. The Second Plenary Council of Baltimore (1866) declared that each candi- date should have a sponsor, or that at least two god- fathers should stand for the boys and two godmothers for the girls (n. 25.3). See also prescriptions of the First Council of Westminster. Formerlj^ it was cus- tomary for the sponsor to jilace his or her right foot upon the foot of the candidate during the administra- tion of the sacrament; the present usage is that the sponsor's right hand should be placed upon the right shoulder of the candidate. The Holy C>ffice decreed, 16 June, 1884, that no sponsor could stand for more than two candidates except in case of necessity. The custom of giving a new name to the candidate is not obligatory; but it has the sanction of several synodal decrees during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Fifth Council of Milan, imder St. Charles Borro- meo, insisted that a candidate whose name was " vile, ridiculous, or quite unbecoming for a Christian" should receive another at Confirmation" (cf. Mar- tene).
It is clear from the diversity of practice at the pres- ent day, that there is much imcertainty as to the doc- trine concerning confirmation. It is certain that the sacrament is validly and lawfully administered in the Church; but this does not solve the theological ques- tions regarding its institution, matter, form, and min- ister. At the time of the Council of Trent the diffi- culty was felt to be so great that the assembled Fathers contented themselves with only a few canons on the subject. They defined that confirmation was not "a vain ceremony but a true and proper sacrament"; and that it was not "in olden days nothing but a sort of catechism in which those who were entering upon youth gave an account of their faith in the face of the Church" (can. i). They did not define anything spe- cific about the institution by Christ; though in treat- ing of the sacraments in general they had already de- fined that " all the sacraments of the \ew Law were instituted by Christ our Lord" (Se.ss. VII, can. i). Nothing whatever was said about the form of words to be used ; and regarding the matter they merely con- demned any one who should maintain " that they who ascribe any virtue to the sacred chrism of confirmation offer an outrage to the Holy Ghost" (can. ii). The third and last canon defined that the "ordinarj'" min- ister of the sacrament is a bi.shop only, and not any simple iniest. Tliis guarded language, so different from the definite canons on some of the other .sacra- ments, shows tliat the council had no intention of de- ciding the ([uestions at issue among theologians regard-
