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Catechism of the Catholic Church We are quite familiar with all the signs that surround us in everyday life: Logos are one of the great signs of the modern age. Everyone can identify brand logos and labels, especially children. These signs communicate a direct emphatic message. In our religion we have certain signs, with which we are all familiar and to which we show deference and respect. A symbol is a special sign, which helps give expression to experiences and meanings, which often defy language: However, put candles on it and it signifies something more.
Put twenty-one, forty, fifty, or even one hundred candles and then the significance is even greater; sunsets happen every evening without fail, but sit and watch it with someone special, or at the end of an eventful day, perhaps after eating some of the cake with the candles, and it has an even greater meaning; rings are just bands of gold, silver, or a base metal, but offer and exchange them as part of a celebration of the sacrament of marriage and they have a whole new meaning, which often cannot be put into words.
For the people living in the ancient world of the Roman Empire, the cross was a means of execution. To Christians it becomes the symbol of redemption, the triumph of Christ over sin and death.
Water is one of the basic things needed to sustain life. Bless it and pour it over the head of a baby and it becomes something that sustains more than just physical life. Therefore, a sacrament is a manifestation of the sacred 1. This experience of sacrament is the experience of entering a place where space, time and meaning are sacred. This has been a very successful addition to the liturgical and spiritual formation of the children.
With the addition of religious images like statues and icons, and liturgical symbols like candles and crucifixes, it has helped to evoke an attitude of prayer and to focus the prayer-time in class. One teacher told me that as soon as she lights the class candle at the beginning of prayer-time, the children have an awareness of a different moment of time in the school day. In the classroom space, time and meaning can become sacred. The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes these seven sacraments as: They are the actions of the Holy Spirit at work in his Body, the Church.
The celebration of the sacraments, according to the theologian Bernard Cooke:. The sacraments transform us, but this can only be achieved by an active participation on our part. Finally it must be remembered that the celebration of a sacrament is not just about the individual. When we all gather and celebrate a birthday, we all benefit from the event. At times of sadness we can all be moved in some way and in varying degrees. In the celebration of the sacraments: History of confirmation If people in the Early Christian Community wanted to commit themselves as followers of Christ, they had to be baptised with water.
Today the laying on of hands and anointing are the central actions of the Confirmation ceremony.
Scholars, however, cannot establish whether this laying on of hands and anointing with oil in the New Testament had anything to do with what we now call Confirmation. There is no clear evidence of a separate sacrament of Confirmation at this time in the history of the Church. Gradually, the ceremonies that signified a person was becoming a Christian became more elaborate and involved.
At first, solemn initiation the process of becoming a member of a group into the Church took place in a single ceremony. That ceremony normally unfolded during the Easter Vigil service. After a long period of instruction that sometimes lasted as long as three years, each candidate was baptised individually and apart from the main assembly, and then clothed in a white garment. The candidates were then brought before the Bishop, the leader of the local church, and the other members of the assembly.
The Bishop laid his hands on the candidates; he prayed that the candidates might receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. From the fourth century, bishops have used the prayer that we currently use in the Confirmation ceremony today. After a time, because the number of those who wanted to be Christians grew so quickly, the Bishops were no longer able to be present at every ceremony of initiation. The Eastern Church, that is, the Churches in what we now call the Middle East, resolved this problem by allowing priests to administer the whole ceremony of initiation.
To this day in many Eastern Churches, the ceremony of initiation remains a single ceremony. In the Western Church, the Church of Rome, the problem was resolved in quite a different way.
The ceremony of initiation was divided into separate ceremonies that took place at different times. Priests were allowed to baptise and it seems that most often they gave Holy Communion in that ceremony, too.
However, bishops alone could lay on hands and anoint. Bishops completed the initiation process in this way whenever they could arrange to be present in a particular area. Lord God, Who have given these men and women the dignity of meriting the forgiveness of sins through the bath of regeneration of the Holy Spirit, put your grace in them that they may serve you according to your will.
We are not quite sure why the Western Church chose this means of resolving the problem. We do know that when this division of the ceremony of initiation took place, people began to think in terms of two different or separate sacraments: Baptism and what came to be called Confirmation.
Over the course of the next few centuries, Confirmation became more and more separated from Baptism, both in time and in meaning. Christians no longer saw it clearly as the sealing or completion of Baptism. They began to look upon it in many different ways; as a sacrament of growth, or of maturity, or of commitment.
Chronology Although, as stated, there was no clear emergence of Confirmation as a separate sacrament until after the third century, the elements of the Sacrament of Confirmation can be recognised in the Sacrament of Baptism in the early Church. These procedures were loosely organised, but followed closely the practices used in the Jewish groups at the time.
Procedures included a period of preparation, comprising of instruction and repentance.
This was followed by reception into the community through a bath of water and sometimes a laying on of hands. This included instruction, prayer, fasting, repentance and good works. A Sponsor was also required to present a candidate to become a Catechumen one under instruction. At Baptism, each catechumen went into the water where they were asked to state their belief in Jesus Christ. Up to three immersions took place. Deaconesses assisted the women during this ceremony. After Baptism, the bishop anointed each person on the forehead to signify being joined with Jesus Christ.
Then the bishop greeted each with the kiss of peace. Special places were built apart from the church as fitting places for driving out devils Baptisteries. With the growing number of Baptisms and churches, bishops were no longer able to preside at each Baptism to confirm it by laying on of hands. Hence, Baptism and Confirmation began to emerge as separate ceremonies.
Confirmation took place whenever the Bishop could be present. Hence the period of preparation no longer seemed necessary. In some places, Confirmation continued to immediately follow Baptism. During the Middle Ages, fifteen was the usual age for Confirmation, but practices varied widely.
The latter is now seen in terms of initiation and generally takes place within the Eucharist. Before being confirmed, candidates renew their Baptismal Promises, are next confirmed and then celebrate and receive the Eucharist. Thereby they enact again the traditional initiation sequence of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. The new rites of Confirmation were introduced in Over the last twelve years you have been responsible for teaching them their prayers, bringing them to Church, giving them the first lessons in right and wrong. On the day of Confirmation it is time for children to take on the responsibility for their own faith.
In many parishes a Service of Light is held some time before the Confirmation ceremony. I have heard parents say that they found this a more memorable occasion, when compared with the hustle and bustle that often accompanies the Confirmation day. The ritual symbolises the handing on the responsibility for their faith to the child. However, for parents and godparents it is not the end. Parents still have a great deal to do with the religious upbringing of their children, a responsibility which often remains throughout life.
Parents will always pray for their children, and hopefully in a spirit of love and caring offer advice and encouragement from time to time. On the day of Confirmation the school is also present with the teachers, the choir, the servers and all the others is takes to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation. The teachers that are present have prepared the young people in the last year for the Sacrament of Confirmation.
On the day of Confirmation the Christian community is present once again. The community of the particular parish plays its part in the journey of faith of the young people who are about to be confirmed. All who help in the preparation for the day of Confirmation have helped the faith of candidates. It is the privilege of the community to contribute what was contributed for them — the witness, prayer and practical assistance to the young people.
In the future and in their turn the girls and boys who are confirmed today will help the future generations. Finally the clergy are present — the bishop and the priests of the parish. The bishop is the original minister of Confirmation. The reason for this is to signify an obvious link with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles at Pentecost.