Confirmation

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A watercolor of a lamb bishop in a miter and red robe holding a vessel of holy oil and tracing a cross on the forehead of a kneeling lamb, with a flame and a blue swirl of wind above

Which three are the sacraments of Christian initiation?
1. Baptism · Confirmation · the Eucharist
2. Baptism · Penance · the Eucharist
3. Baptism · Confirmation · Penance
4. Confirmation · the Eucharist · Matrimony
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Answer ① Baptism · Confirmation · the Eucharist
The sacraments of initiation are Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist. Because of the custom of preparing for confession ahead of First Communion, Penance often gets counted in among them by mistake — but Penance is a sacrament of healing, one that raises up again someone who has already been initiated.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1212, 1285
Which gesture from the age of the apostles does Confirmation carry on?
1. The apostles anointing the sick with oil so that they were healed
2. The apostles breaking bread and sharing a table
3. The apostles casting lots to fill the empty place among the Twelve
4. The apostles laying hands on those already baptized so that they received the Holy Spirit
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Answer ④ The apostles laying hands on those already baptized so that they received the Holy Spirit
Acts tells how, at Samaria, the apostles laid their hands on people who had already been baptized and the Holy Spirit came down on them. The first three were things the apostles did as well, but each is a different strand, running on into the Anointing of the Sick, the Eucharist and the appointing of ministers.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1288, 1315
In the Latin Church, what is the essential rite of Confirmation?
1. The candidate choosing a new name and announcing it
2. The anointing of the forehead with sacred chrism, together with the laying on of the hand and the words “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit”
3. The bishop giving the candidate a light blow on the cheek
4. The candidate being handed a candle and joining in the profession of faith
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Answer ② The anointing of the forehead with sacred chrism, together with the laying on of the hand and the words “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit”
The anointing with chrism, the laying on of the hand and the words “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit” make up the essential rite together. The light blow on the cheek was a secondary gesture attached to the older rite, and the confirmation name and the candle are customs that help the celebration along — they do not constitute the sacrament.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1300, 1320
Which of these states the grace of Confirmation most accurately?
1. It gives the Holy Spirit for the first time, since the Spirit was not yet received at Baptism
2. It forgives the sins a person has committed and so takes the place of confession
3. It completes the grace of Baptism, so that in the strength of the Holy Spirit we bear witness to the faith and defend it
4. It qualifies a person to take on an ordained office in the Church
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Answer ③ It completes the grace of Baptism, so that in the strength of the Holy Spirit we bear witness to the faith and defend it
Confirmation deepens the grace of Baptism, sends the confirmed out as witnesses of Christ and binds them more firmly to the Church. The first answer forgets that the Holy Spirit was already received at Baptism, and the fourth confuses Confirmation with Holy Orders.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1302-1303, 1316
Confirmation imprints an indelible character, and so it is received only once in a lifetime.
1. Yes
2. No
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Answer ① Yes
Like Baptism and Holy Orders, Confirmation marks the soul with a character and is therefore never repeated. Someone whose faith went cold and who has come back does not receive Confirmation a second time; the grace of it is brought back to life through the sacrament of Penance.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1304, 1317
In the Latin Church, who gives Confirmation?
1. Only a bishop may give it, with no exception of any kind
2. A deacon may give it in the bishop's place
3. It is entrusted to the parish priest alone, and the bishop takes no part in it
4. The bishop is the ordinary minister, and in the cases laid down in canon law a priest may give it too
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Answer ④ The bishop is the ordinary minister, and in the cases laid down in canon law a priest may give it too
The ordinary minister of Confirmation is the bishop, but a priest confirms as well when he baptizes an adult, or when someone is in danger of death. The first answer — “only a bishop, no exceptions” — closes off a way the Church has deliberately left open, and a deacon is never the minister of this sacrament.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1312-1314
What does the sacred chrism used at Confirmation most truly signify?
1. That we share in Christ, the Anointed One, and receive the seal of the Holy Spirit
2. That the oil carries a medicinal power to heal illness in the body
3. That it is simply a decorative touch, to give the rite a pleasant fragrance
4. That the person confirmed has taken on an office in the Church
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Answer ① That we share in Christ, the Anointed One, and receive the seal of the Holy Spirit
The names “Christ” and “Christian” themselves come from anointing, and the anointing at Confirmation draws us into that anointing and sets the seal of the Holy Spirit on us. Oil for the healing of illness belongs to the Anointing of the Sick, and oil for the entrusting of an office belongs to Holy Orders, which is why the three are so easily mixed up.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1289, 1293-1296
Confirmation is the sacrament of “adult faith”, so it can only be received once a person has grown up and become mature.
1. Yes
2. No
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Answer ② No
Confirmation is sometimes called the sacrament of “Christian maturity”, but maturity of faith and maturity in natural age are not the same thing. In the Eastern Churches a newly baptized infant is confirmed straight away, and a child in danger of death receives it whatever their age.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1307-1308, 1318