1. Baptism
•Water “the stuff of life”
•Bapto means “to dye” a garment to
change its color
•Baptizo means “to cause to perish”, as in
drowning
•Common ritual cleansings “wash”,
“rinse”,” sprinkle”
•Conferred only once in one’s life time
•Water is potent an equivocal element
and symbol

2. Historical development and
Christian application
•Jewish Purification
•The Jews practiced various absolutions for
the sake of purification
•John the Baptist (Mar 1:7-8)
•Jesus was baptized. Disciples baptized.
After Jesus ascension, the disciples
baptized both with water and the by lying on
hands.

3. Initiation practices and separation of
the sacramental practices
Mankind inherited a propensity toward evil from the fall of Adam
 What does baptism do?
 It incorporates us into Christ and forms us into God’s
people
 It brings us to the community of faith
 Baptism brings one into the death and resurrection of
Jesus (The first two effects of Baptism)
 Baptism were usually performed by immersions into
water
 To give up an old way of being and to live in Christ
 Baptism imparts a character that of being a child of God
 Baptism removes original sin
 The sin committed by Adam and Eve
 Inherited sin

4. •Who can receive baptism?
•Every person not yet baptized and only such
a person is able to be baptized
•Who can baptize?
•Deacons and priests
•Is there salvation for those who were not
baptized?
•Seek God sincerely and strive to fulfill his will
are saved even if they have not been baptized
•With respect to children who have died without
baptism the liturgy of the Church invites us to
trust in God’s mercy and to pray for their
salvation

5. Didache
Teachings of the Apostles
Catechumerate
Prepare for baptism or Easter
vigil (right before Easter)
By making a forty-day “retreat”
previous to the vigil

6. The Sacrament of Confirmation:
Grace for Fullness of Faith and Life
Confirmation is a spiritual "growing up."
The character of Confirmation makes us
sharers with Christ in His role of prophet or
teacher.
Roots of Confirmation: This is one of the
"many other things that Jesus did" which,
as St. John tells us, are not written down in
the Gospels (see John 21:25).

7. We know that Catholic Tradition is
of equal authority with Sacred
Scripture as a source of divine
truth.
Matter and Form: "Laying on of
hands" was the earliest name for
Confirmation.
CONFIRMATION gives us Strength
to live in the world.

8. Acts 8:14-19
"Now when the Apostles in Jerusalem heard
that Samaria had received the word of God,
they sent to them Peter and John. On their
arrival they prayed for them, that they might
receive the Holy Spirit; for as yet He had not
come upon any of them, but they had only
been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then they laid their hands on them and they
received the Holy Spirit. But when Simon [the
magician] saw that the Holy Spirit was given
through the laying on of the Apostles' hands,
he offered them money, saying, 'Give me also
this power, so that anyone on whom I lay my
hands may receive the Holy Spirit'."

9. It tells us that while Confirmation is a
complement to Baptism, a completing of what
was begun in Baptism, nevertheless
Confirmation is a sacrament distinct from
Baptism.
Necessary for them to receive the "laying on of
hands."
The passage also tells us the way in which
Confirmation was to be given: by the placing of
the hand of the one who confirms, upon the
head of the one to be confirmed, with a prayer
that he may receive the Holy Spirit.

10. The Rite of Confirmation
1. The bishop or priest places his
hand upon the head of each
individual.
2. The bishop traces the sign of the
cross on the person's forehead—
having first dipped his thumb in the
holy oil called chrism—and says, "Be
sealed with the Gifts of the Holy
Spirit." The newly confirmed person
responds by saying, "Amen."

11. CELEBRATION OF THE SACRAMENT
Three main components of the
ritual:
Laying on of hands
Anointing with chrism oil on the
forehead
The words “Be sealed with the
Holy Spirit”

12. 3 kinds of holy oil
•Chrism is one of the three kinds of holy oil
which a bishop blesses each year at his
Mass on Holy Thursday.
•The other two kinds of holy oil
–The oil of catechumens (used in
Baptism)
–The oil of the sick (used in Anointing of
the Sick)
•The holy oils, all of them, are composed of
pure olive oil.

13. Significance of the holy oils used in the
administration of the sacraments
• the oil represents the strengthening effect of
God's grace.
• chrism has another difference: balm has been
mixed with it. Balm is a fragrant substance
procured from the balsam tree.
• In the holy chrism it symbolizes the "sweet
odor" of virtue; it tells of the spiritual
fragrance, the attractiveness that should
characterize the life of him who puts his/her
Confirmation graces to work.

14. Western Church REQUIREMENTS
•In the Latin-Rite (i.e., Western) Catholic Church, the
sacrament is to be conferred on the faithful at about
the age of discretion (generally taken to be about 7),
unless the Episcopal Conference has decided on a
different age, or there is danger of death or, in the
judgment of the minister, a grave reason suggests
otherwise (canon 891 of the Code of Canon Law).
they are baptized
 have the use of reason,
are suitably instructed and
are properly disposed and able to renew the
baptismal promises (letter of the Congregation for Divine Worship
and the Discipline of the Sacraments published in its 1999 bulletin, pages 537-
540).

15. Western Church
•In the Latin Rite, the sacrament is thus
customarily conferred only on persons old enough
to understand it,
the ordinary minister of Confirmation is a
bishop.
Only for a serious reason may the diocesan
bishop delegate a priest to administer the
sacrament (canon 884 of the Code of Canon
Law).
However, a priest may by law confer the
sacrament, if he baptizes someone who is no
longer an infant or admits a person already
baptized to full communion, or if the person (adult
or child) to be confirmed is in danger of death
(canon 883).

16. Eastern Church
•In Eastern Catholic Churches, the
usual minister of this sacrament is the
parish priest, using olive oil
consecrated by a bishop (i.e., chrism),
and administering the sacrament
immediately after Baptism.

17. What does Confirmation do?
1.It increases and deepens the
baptismal grace.
2.It unites us more firmly to Christ.
3.It increases the gifts of the Holy
Spirit within us.
4.It gives us special strength to spread
and defend the faith by word and
action (CCC # 1302-1303).
5.Like baptism, Confirmation is given
only once, for it imparts a special
indelible “spiritual mark” or “character.”

18. Imagery: touch on the cheek
• The "soldier of Christ" imagery
(Confirmation as a "sacrament of
maturity", was used as far back as 350,
by St Cyril of Jerusalem. )
• The touch on the cheek that the bishop
gave while saying "Pax tecum" (Peace be
with you) to the person he had just
confirmed was interpreted in the Roman
Pontifical as a slap, a reminder to be
brave in spreading and defending the
faith.

19. Imagery omitted
•Introduction to the Rite of
Confirmation, 17, which indicates
that the episcopal conference may
decide "to introduce a different
manner for the minister to give the
sign of peace after the anointing,
either to each individual or to all
the newly confirmed together."

20. Effects of Confirmation
•The Catechism's section on Confirmation says that
Confirmation is the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
•Its effects are to:
1. Roots us more deeply in divine filiation (being
children of God)
2. Unites us more firmly to Christ
3. Increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us
4. Strengthens our bond with the Church
5. Associates us more closely to her mission of
bearing witness to Christ
6. Helps us and more strictly obliges us to
spread and defend the faith by word and deed.

21. Rite
1.Consecration of the sacred Chrism – done by
the bishop during the Chrism mass on Holy
Thursday. Hence, it precedes the celebration of
Confirmation.
2.Renewal of baptismal promises and profession
of faith by the confirmands.
3.Invocation of the Holy Spirit.
4.Anointing with Chrism oil on the forehead,
which is done by the laying on of the hand, and
through the words: “Accipe signaculum doni
Spiritus Sancti” – (Be sealed with the Gift of the
Holy Spirit).
5.The sign of peace – it concludes the rite of the
sacrament and signifies ecclesial communion
with the bishop and with all the faithful. [CCC #
1297-1301]

22. POINTS FOR REFLECTION:
1. "Do I actually live as though there were a
visible cross branded on my forehead,
marking me as 'Christ's man' or 'Christ's
woman'?"
2. "In my daily life, do I really bear witness to
Christ?"
3. "By my attitude towards others, by my
treatment of those around me, by my
actions in general do I proclaim: 'This is
what it means to be a Christian; this is
what it means to live by the Gospel'?"