Confirmation is a sacrament instituted by Our Lord Jesus Christ to give us the Holy Ghost with His gifts, and thus to make us perfect Christians.
It is the imposition of hands and anointing with the oil of chrism by the Bishop to perpetuate the grace of Pentecost.
The promise we make
In Confirmation, we renew the vows of our Baptism and promise obedience to God. Through Confirmation the baptized are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit.
Why is it called Confirmation?
It is called “confirmation” or “strengthening” because those who receive it in fitting dispositions are, like the Apostles of old, invested with strength from on high (Luke 34:49). In Holy Baptism we were initiated into the Christian Life, but we remained, as children feeble and fragile. By Confirmation we are transformed, as it were into robust men able to stand up for the faith of Jesus Christ, in spite of any obstacles that we may encounter.
The Sign of the Cross
The words pronounced by the Bishop in conferring this Sacrament help us to understand its nature:” I sign thee with the Sign of the Cross, and I confirm thee with the Chrism of Salvation, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” The Sign of the Cross, marked on the forehead, indicates that, by this sacrament, we become the soldiers of Christ crucified, to fight, as He did, and with his aid, the enemies of God and our Salvation.
The anointing with the oil of Holy Chrism symbolizes the grace, which is spread out in the soul of the candidate in order to preserve him from the corruption of vice. The invocation of the three adorable Persons of the Blessed Trinity acquaints us with the Divine power by which this transforming strength is operated.
Is Confirmation necessary?
While confirmation is not, like Baptism, absolutely necessary to salvation, it is however a powerful aid to Christian life, and that neglect to receive it, especially in such times as these, is a sin, and denotes a blameworthy carelessness with regard to religion and salvation.