Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 4.djvu/259

 CONFIRMATION

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CONFIRMATION

ill? the time and manner of the institution by Christ iirect or indirect institution), the matter (imposition I 'I hands or anointinj;, or both), the fonn ("I sign I Ik p", etc., or "the seal", etc.), and the minister (bish- 1 1| . or priest). Elsewhere (Sess. VII, can. ix) the council defined that " in confirmation a character is imprinted in the soul, that is, a certain spiritual and indelible siiin on account of which the sacrament cannot be re- peated", and again (Sess. XXIII) the council declared that " bishops are superior to priests; they administer the Sacrament of Confirmation; they ordain the min- isters of the Church; and they can perfonn many nther things over which functions others of an inferior rank- have no power". Concerning the administra- t II )ii of the sacrament from the earliest times of the (liurch, the decree of the Inquisition (Lamentabili sane, 3 July, 1907) condemns the proposition (44): '■ There is no proof that the rite of the Sacrament of ( onfirmation was employed by the Apostles; the for- mal distinction, therefore, between the two sacra- nunts. Baptism and Confirmation, does not belong to tlic history of Christianity". The institution of the sacrament has also been the subject of much discus- sidu as will appear from the following account.

II. History. — The Sacrament of Confirmation is a St riking instance of the development of doctrine and ritual in the Church. We can, indeed, detect much nil pre than the mere genns of it in Holy Scripture; but \\ <> must not e.xpect to find there an exact description if the ceremony as at present performed, or a com- iilite solution of the various theological questions which have since arisen. It is only from the Fathers and the Schoolmen that we can gather information on these heads.

1 1) We read in the Acts of the Apostles (viii, 14-17) that after the Samaritan converts had been baptized by Philip the deacon, the Apostles "sent unto them I'rter and John, who, when they were come, prayed fur theiTi, that they might receive the Holy Ghost; for hf was not yet come upon any of them, but they were Hilly baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus; then they laiil their hands upon them, and they received the liiily Ghost". Again (.xix, l-tj): St. Paul "came to 10|ihesus, and found certain disciples; and he said to them: Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye be- lii-ved? But they said to him: We have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Ghost. And he said: In what then were you baptized? Who said: In John's liaiitism. Then Paul .said: John baptized the people w jth the baptism of penance. . . . Having heard these I Kings, they were baptized in the name of the Lord li -us. And when Paul had imposed his hands on !'iiin, the Holy Ghost came upon them, and they -jiiike with tongues and prophesied". From the.se t^Mp pa.ssages we learn that in the earliest ages of the I liurch there was a rite, distinct from baptism, in w hioh the Holy (ihost was conferred by the imposition

I if hands (5ii tijs i-wi6i<rius tCiv xeipwi' tCiv' \TroaT6\iiiv), anil that the power to perform this ceremony was III it implied in the power to baptize. No distinct men- tinn is made as to the origin of this rite; l)ut Christ priimised the gift of the Holy Ghost and conferred it. .Xyain, no express mention is made of anointing with chrism; but we note that the idea of unction is com-

II inly associated with the giving of the Holy Ghost. list (Luke, iv, 18) applies to Himself the words I saias (Ixi, 1): "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, a refore he hath anointed me to preach the gospel ".

.St. Peter (Acts, x, .38) speaks of "Jesus of Nazareth: how God anointed him with the Holy Ghost". St. John tells the faithful: "You have the unction (xpur/ux) from the Holy One, and know all things"; and again: " Let the unction [xpio^jio], which you have received from him. abide in you" (I Ep., ii, 20, 27). A striking pas.sage, which was made much u.se of by the Fathers and the Schoolmen, is that of St. Paul: "He that confirmeth [6 ii f^tjiaiQv] us with you in Christ,

and hath anointed us, is God, who also hath sealed [(rpi.yiffiium^] us, and given us the pledge [appapCita] of the Spirit in our hearts ' (II Cor., i, 20, 21). No mention is made of any particular words accompany- ing the imjiosition of hands on either of the occasions on which the ceremony is described ; but as the act of imposing hands was performed for various purposes, some prayer indicating the special purpose may have been used: "Peter and John . . . prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost". Further, such expressions as "signing" and "sealing" may be taken as referring to the character impressed by the sacrament: "You w-ere signed [i(T(ppa.yl<i6T]T(] with the holy Spirit of promise"; "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed [ia(ppa.yla6riTi\ unto the day of redemption" (Eph., i, 13 ; iv, 30). See also the passage from II Cor. quoted above. Again, in the Epistle to the Hebrews (vi, 1—4) the writer re- proaches those whom he addresses for falling back into their primitive imperfect knowledge of Christian truth ; " whereas for the time you ought to be masters, you have need to be taught again w-hat are the first elements of the words of God" (Heb., v, 12). He exhorts them: "leaving the word of the beginning of Christ, let us go on to things more perfect, not laying again the foundation ... of the doctrine of baptisms, and imposition of hands ' '. and speaks of them as those who have been "once illuminated, have tasted also the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost". It is clear that reference is made here to the ceremony of Christian initiation: baptism and the im- position of hands whereby the Holy Ghost was con- ferred, just as in Acts, ii, 38. The ceremony is con- sidered to be so well known to the faithful that no further description is necessary. This account of the practice and teaching of the Apostles proves that the ceremony was no mere examination of those already baptized, no mere profession of faith or renewal of baptismal vows. Nor was it something specially con- ferred upon the Samaritans and Ephesians. What was done to them was an instance of what was generally bestowed. Nor was it a mere bestowal of charismata; the Holy Ghost sometimes produced extraordinary effects (speaking with divers tongues, etc.), but these were not necessarily the result of His being given. Tlie practice and teaching of the Church at the present day preserve the primitive tj^pe: the imposi- tion of hands, the gift of the Holy Ghost, the privileges of the episcopate. What further elements were handed down by tradition will be seen presently.

(2) In pa.ssing from Holy Scripture to the Fathers we naturally expect to find more definite answers to the various questions regarding the sacrament. From both their practice and their teaching we learn that the Church made u.se of a rite distinct from baptism; that this consisted of imposition of hands, anointing, and accompanying words; that by this rite the Holy Ghost was conferred upon those already baptized, and a mark or seal impressed upon their souls; that, as a rule, in the West the minister was a bishop, whereas in the East he might be a simple priest. The Fathers considered that the rites of initiation (baptism, confir- mation, and the Holy Eucharist) were instituted by Christ, but they did not enter into any minute dis- cussion as to the time, place, and manner of the insti- tution, at least of the second of these rites. In exam- ining the testimonies of the Fathers we should note that the word confirmation is not used to designate this sacrament during the first four centuries; but we meet with various other terms and phrases which quite clearly refer to it. Thus, it is styled "imposition of hands" (tnanuum imjMnilio, xupodtvla), "unction", "chrism", "sealing", etc. Before the time of Tertul- lian the Fathers do not make any explicit mention of confirmation as distinct from baptism. The fact that the two sacraments were conferred together may ac- count for this silence. TertuUian (I)e Bapt., vi) is