In the early church, Confirmation was often given soon after Baptism. This showed the close connection between the two sacraments. While in some places today Confirmation occurs long after Baptism, it is important to remember the sacraments are linked. Confirmation completes the initiation process begun at Baptism and seals the baptized with a special character. It gives Christians a mission to act on behalf of the Church through the power of the Holy Spirit.

2.  In the early church, it used to be that the
Confirmation was given soon after Baptism.
 That means that if someone was an older
convert—say 10 year old or older— and he
become a Christian,
 He will be thought about the Sacrament of
confirmation, at the same time,
 he was thought about the sacrament of
Baptism and Holy Eucharist.
 So the person learned how 2 sacraments
work together. (Baptism & Confirmation)

3.  For the early Christians, they understood
Confirmation as closely link of with the
sacrament of Baptism,
 We still have the same understanding today;
however, in some Dioceses & Parish, the
Sacrament of Confirmation is given a long time
after Baptism.
 And the sad part, is that sometimes Christians
lose sight of the huge connection between
Baptism & Confirmation.
 So What is the connection? you may ask,
 Lets look at Baptism, first.

4.  When you are born, you are a unique wonderful creature, in
all the world created by God.
 Yet in order to become adopted by God, and become a
member of Jesus mystical body, you must be baptized.
 The priest held you over the Baptismal fount, and he pour
water over, claiming you as an adopted Child of The Holy
Trinity.
 Baptism is so important that without it the person can not
receive the other sacrament.
 Because Baptism is so important & in it, it’s received God’s
Grace, a baby can be baptize without the grave of the action.
 We call this whole process of Baptism on growing up in the
faith Christian initiation.

5.  That in order to become a member of God’s
Christian family, you have to learn and start a
process.
 The baby has to learned gradually, the process of
becoming a Christian, a good saint & what this
means
 They learned, and it happens over time, not all at
once.
 They learn that we all are call to have Sanctity, not to
be sinners, so they must avoid sin—even when they
grow up—and keep their heart pure!
 In Christian life in the Sacraments, the Baby is
baptized, and this begins the process of initiation.

6.  But Baptism is just the 1st step of Christian initiation,
 In fact the process is not completed, on least the person
receive the sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist.
 Confirmation completes and seals the process of initiation.
 No matter how old when the person is—when she or he is
confirmed…
 …the Christian baptized, and now Confirmed, and having
make his or her 1st Communion,
 Is a New Christian completed the process of initiation.
 In the eyes of the Church, this Christian has an status of
adult– on of the special gifts of Confirmation.

7.  Do you know what is this? It is a Seal: Candle wax has
been melted, and an image has been pressed into the
wax.
 In the early Christian times, this was performed to
mark a letter o official document, in the name of
someone;
This means that the document officially belongs to
someone.
 This is a similar example of what the sacrament of
Confirmation does in our soul.
 The Christian receives a mark o character in the soul,
that is indelible.
 INDELIBLE: that can never be take off
 It can not be removed
 It cannot be washed

8.  This mark or Seal means, first of all, that Christians
belongs to God.
 Here is a really neat part: The Seal means that the
Christian has receive a very special Purpose and a mission.
 And is called now, to act officially for Christ & the
Church.
 So the Sacrament of Confirmation complete the initiation
of the process, and it puts an special mark or seal on our
soul that can never be remove.
 The Confirmation is like a sing that the Christians were all
the time.
 It is like a giant poster that say everyone that the soul
belongs entirely to God
 It tells that Christian is God’s property, and he/she has
receive a very special mission to act for a purpose.

9.  The confirmed has a seal in the soul, and he/she works
on behalf of the Church—―The Body of Christ‖
 The person has a very special power from the sacrament
of Confirmation called GRACE,
 to act for the Church
 And be officially part of the Church
 The person can perform acts that gave GRACE to others
on behalf of Christ Body
 When the person acts as a Christian, the whole Church is
present in his/her actions.
 It does not only mean he/she represent the Church as a
member,
 but he/she must represent the Church when others see
them, and their actions.

10.  In our actions, Others are actually seeing the Church.
 The Confirmed is called to act for the Church,
 that’s why we say that Christian, who have received the
Sacrament of Confirmation, are Consecrated for this
Mission.
 We are called to spread and defend the Faith by Words
& Deeds.
 We belong the Church, we represent the Church, and we
must act for the Church,
 and the Sacrament of Confirmation gives us the ability to
do it.
 Confirmation gives su a special strength of the Holy
Spirit to spread and defend the Faith by word and
actions, and true Witness of Christ. CCC #1303

11.  The Sacrament of Confirmation consecrated us to be
Witness, or to give witness.
 We give witness of God, we have seen our God in Jesus
Christ—Our God who became man and died for us.
 We witness every single day the Power of God’s Grace in our
lives
 Through prayer
 The practice of Virtues
 And the Sacraments
 We have receive the Gift of Grace, and seek to grow in Grace
by practice of our faith.
 Through the Sacrament of Confirmation we are called to give
witness and tell others about our encounter with Christ.
 Our works will be powerful and effective, if we prove that
we have the experience to back our words,
 We know the true
 And we tell others about it
 But we lived it, too!

12.  One of the most important ways, we can be a
witness, it is by just the way we live our lives
 You know that one of the best ways to learn is
by watching someone
 If you are trying to improve in some area of you
life, you have to watch, and pay attention to very
good role models.
 In a similar way, we learn a lot about other
people, by watching the way they are:
 What they think?
 What they believe? by their actions!
 More than what we say, our actions tell us
about, Who we are, and what is important to us?

13.  For example:
If it is important to us, every day, to offer
few moments of prayer,
 then our actions will prove, whether or
not, is actually important to us to pray
every day.
 This is how valuable our actions are!
 Our actions show us if we are True to
our words.

14.  Confirmation consecrated us, and gives us the
Power to be witness.
 we give witness to Jesus Christ and the Gospel.
 We do not only do this by our words, but more
important by our actions.
 You can become a living Gospel yourself
 Your life can be a New proclamation of the Good
News for the entire world.
 Your life can be a new and fresh presentation of Jesus
for your family, and your friends and all those in need.
 And even for those who you will never know, yet
somehow, you have an impact on them.

15.  If you have not yet received Confirmation, do
all you can do to pray, and think what would
be like to be confirmed.
1. Prepare your soul to receive this mark or seal, that
means that you belong to God and Jesus’ body—the
Church.
2. Do all you can to begin acting officially in behalf of
the Church.
3. Prepare for your future life of Witness.
4. And Finally, pray for those who will be confirmed.
 It is an incredible Grace to receive in the
Sacrament of Confirmation.
 We must help other by our prayers as they
prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation, so
that they can be good witness in deeds & words.
 Remember Witness is no just about what you
say, but how you live

17.  The Confirmation receives this name for
a very important reason.
 This sacrament (to de one who
received it) is a special out pour of the
Holy Spirit.
 Holy Spirit comes & takes out residence
in the soul, in a very special and unique
way.
 But how is the Holy Spirit?

18.  As Christian Catholics we
believe in One God and 3
persons.
1. 1st person God the Father
2. 2nd person God the Son
3. 3rd person God The Holy Spirit
 We call this the Mystery of The
Trinity.
› 3 persons = 1 God
› 1 God = 3 persons

19.  We have hear of God The Father.
› We pray Him whenever we say the prayer “Our
Father”
 We know God the Son,
› The Son is the person of Jesus Christ.
› We know His story and how he became man
and was born of Mary, and died for our sings.
› He is the same person who instituted the Seven
Sacraments.
 But we have difficult knowing the Holy Spirit
› Why do we have difficulty?
› Because it seems difficult to understand.

20.  We know what a Father is,
› because we have a father,
› and we know that a father suppose to do.
 We transfer the ideas of our human father, to the role of
God the Father.
 with The 2nd person of the Trinity, (It is kind of the same)
› We know what a Son does,
› and how he is part of a family
› We know what the Son suppose to love, and honor his
Father deeply & truly.
› We know that the Son—JESUS—, the one who became
man, dies for us. This is clear!
 But the Holy Spirit, is difficult to understand,
› We do not call him Father, or Son, or brother…
 But He still a Person, even though we do not use human
terms to describe,
› who he is, and
› what He does.

21.  First we must understand that he is not a an
extra part of the Trinity
 His mission and purpose is essential to the Trinity.
 He is God, just as the Father, and just as the Son
are God.
 So lets meet him: He has 2 names
1. Holy
2. and Spirit
1. First He is Holy because he is God
› We remain our selves that he is a person of the
Trinity, by calling him HOLY.
 By saying that Holy as first name,
we recognize in humility that we are speaking
about GOD, and not just a saint or angel.
› This is God we are talking about.

22. 2. Next we call him SPIRIT
 The word Spirit in Hebrew is RUACH, which means
BREATH
› and this will tells us why we use the word Spirit for the 3rd
person of the Trinity
 This is very significant for Hebrew people—the
Jews— Breath was the animating principle of Life.
› In order to see that a person is alive, we first see if is
breathing
 Taking in breath is symbol of Life
› BREATH here means LIFE
 So we take the Hebrew word RUACH and used as
the name of the 3rd Person of the Trinity.
 We area actually saying that the Holy Spirit is our
Life
 He is life and He is breath.
› The Holy Spirit is LIFE
› The HOLY Spirit is BREATH

23. We know that the Father is the
Creator, and the Son is the Redeemer
 But what about the Holy Spirit? What
He does?
 The Holy Spirit is the SANCTIFIER:
 This means that the Holy Spirit work is
to sanctify us
› He is the one who makes us Holy
› He is in charge of Holiness
› He brings Holiness wherever He is.

24.  If someone is Holy, or has the
quality of holiness virtue, it is
because the Holy Spirit is at work
with him.
 He moves like breath and enters
us like breath, to make us Holy.
 He is the Sanctifier

25.  We going to see some of the amazing
symbols or images of the Holy Spirit,
 We don’t have pictures of him, nor
does he has a human body, or face
like Jesus
 Instead we have symbols to help us to
understand what he is like.
 We going to look 4 symbols of the Holy
Spirit:
1. Water
2. Fire
3. Cloud or Light
4. A Dove

26.  We use water to talk about him. Why?
 We know that there is 3 properties of Water related to him:
1. Water cleans us (from we are duty)
› Holy Spirit is symbolize by water because it cleans us of sin.
2. Water also quenches our thirst
› When we are thirsty we drink water to satisfy our thirst
› So in Christian life we are thirsty for Holiness, and the Holy Spirit is the
One who satisfy our thirst—Or our longing for things or affections.
3. Water refresh us
› The Holy Spirit refresh our soul and brings us New and cooling
Grace into our soul
 Remember his special work is to Sanctify us, to make us
Holy.
 We recognized him in the symbol of water
 He is not actually water, but water is used to
communicate that he cleans us, satisfy us, and refresh us

27.  The Holy Spirit is a symbol of Fire because fire is
transformative,
 And it has tremendous energy
 The Holy Spirit does similar works in our soul.
 He first transforms us, by making us Holy, in the
purify fire of Grace.
 the Holy Spirit refines us by the fire of his Grace, to
makes us precious and Holy.
 This symbol is the most expressed of the symbols
because fire is dangerous and powerful
 Yet Holy Spirit is not dangerous, He is powerful
however, Enough to makes us Holy.

28.  In the Old Testament, the Jews
wander in the desert, they were
finding their way from Egypt to the
Holy Land.
 In certain time in their journey, they
were guide by light from a cloud
 This for the Jews was symbol of God.
 In the New Testament, in the Stories
of Christ, The Holy Spirit come in a
overshadowing Movement
 Such as when Jesus was transfigure
or change on the mountain top
during prayer.

29.  The Cloud, and Light symbolized, The
Holy Spirit guiding action in our lives.
 He leads us to the destination, we
need to reach.
 It lead us to Holiness!

30.  The most common and easily recognized is a
Dove
 The Holy Spirit is symbolized by a Dove or bird.
 We take this symbolism from the Gospel.
 When Jesus was Baptized on the Jordan River by
St. John the Baptist, The Holy Spirit descended
upon Jesus in a form of a Dove
(Matthew3:1317)
 We continue to use this symbol to show that the
Holy Spirit has come, and will remain in us.
 He will hover and dwell and protects us
 He is the SANCTIFIER and leads us to Holiness.

31.  In our Catholic Tradition, we
believe that the Sacrament of
Confirmation is a very special
out pouring of the Holy Spirit.
 It is a moment of intensity
 When the Christian is
confirmed, the Holy Spirit
comes and gave us God’s
Grace.

32.  Not only Christians receive a special
outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the
soul, and receive the mark or Seal of the
Holy Spirit
 But by the Power of the Holy Spirit in
Confirmation, The Christians also receive
a special gift: TO BE OPEN TO THE HOLY
SPIRIT.
 This is very important in Christian life:
 Not only do we need the Holy Spirit
Grace, but we need help to be open to
Him
› To hear him
› To listen to him
› And follow his inspirations
 The Holy Spirit works is often hidden and
goes unnoticed

33. 1. For example: You are in your business
doing your own, and suddenly, you feel in
your hear a pull to do something for
someone...
2. Or you have a thought, in your mind, that
you should go & pray for a little while…
 Those instance are called Inspirations
› They are from the Holy Spirit.
› Thus the Holy Spirit moving in you
› He is telling you what to do
› He is trying to tell you to do good
 We can recognize him by the feeling inside
of Peace and Rest.

34.  The Holy Spirit works is often hidden and goes
unnoticed
› Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can
enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of
water and the Spirit.
› Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth
to spirit.
› You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must
be born again.’
› The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its
sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or
where it is going.
› So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-
8)
 Much we cannot see the wind, but we can tell is
active, by the movement of the wind in the trees &
waves of the ocean
 The Holy Spirit works in a very similar way. He moves us
and inspire us to do good, and practice the virtues.

35.  If you feel on inspiration in you to do something and
you feel a restful stillness (inside you) & peace,
 You can be sure, that the Holy Spirit is moving you, to
perform the action
 The goal of our life, then, is to be open to the Holy
Spirit movement, his influence and his Grace
 It is precisely, what we receive in the sacrament of
Confirmation:
“We receive a special presence of the Holy Spirit in
our souls.”
 And not only that but we receive a special grace:
“to be open and respond to him.”
 This is how the Holy Spirit has an open link, and
contact with the Christian that received the
sacrament of Confirmation.

36.  We do not always see him when he is
with us , But we can recognize him in the
effect of his work
 How else have the Christians to get
witness to the world?
 ”Only by the power of the Sanctifier: THE
HOLY SPIRIT”
 Remember after the coming of the Holy
Spirit, the apostles were fill with boldness
(courage).

37.  At first, they had been a timid and fearful group: They
had run away when Jesus was arrested, tried, and put
to death.
1) when Jesus was captive for his enemies, in the
Garden of Gethsemane, all the Apostles run for their
lives.
2) While waiting in the court yard, during the Trial of
Jesus, Peter deny even knowing Jesus.
3) Later, when Jesus appeared to the Apostles after
raising from death, they were gather in a lock room
out of fear.
 Soon , with the help of the Holy Spirit, they become
strong and fearless.
 The Holy Spirit filled them with the fire of faith and the
courage to proclaim the Good News of the risen
Christ.

38.  Before, they did not know, how to speak
about God,
 but now Peter and the Apostles know
exactly what to say.
 Peter began to preach to the crowds, He
told them about the Holy Spirit;
And that Jesus was the Lord and
Messiah, and
› He had died for us
› And he had been raised from the dead by
God the Father.
› And now Jesus had sent the Holy Spirit, as he
promised.

39.  Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his
voice, and began bolding (bravery) proclaiming the
Gospel.
 Peter’s proclamation of Jesus was very powerful,
that The Gospel says that Peter was cut through the
heart…
That the crowd told Peter: “that they wanted to be
save.”
 So those who received his word were Baptized, and
that day were added, about 3000 souls,
 The Apostles were fearless,
The Holy Spirit dwell in their souls, so
intensively, that there was no room, in apostles’
heart, to be afraid.
 The Apostles became strong & courage Christian, who
bear witness to the Faith

40. CELEBRATION OF “CONFIRMATION”

41. CELEBRATION OF THE SACRAMENT CONFIRMATION
 First lets look the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the
New Testament.
They were all together in one place.
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent
wind came from heaven and filled the whole
house where they were sitting.
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire
that separated and came to rest on each of
them.
All of them were filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the
Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4)
 This is an amazing passage, that show us a
similar out pouring of the Holy Spirit, like that in
Confirmation.

42. OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
 What the wind & fire meant?
 That the apostles were all filled with the Holy Spirit
 The Holy Spirit come & rest upon each one.
 First by making his present know on the wind
 And then on the fire
 Although the Sacrament of Confirmation do not take place, the
same way as did with the apostles,
 The sacrament is never less special outpouring of the Holy Spirit
 It is the Holy Spirit sacrament, his very special work.
 It makes his present in us in an new and powerful way.
 And gives us the ability to be open to his inspiration.
 Just as the wind filled the house and the fire rested over their
heads.
 He Holy Spirit choose to manifest his present by certain
symbols, in the Sacrament of Confirmation.

43. RITE OF CONFIRMATION
 RITE is a special word, to refer to Solemn Catholic
Ceremonies and occasions in our lives
 The 7 sacraments, each has their own special Rite
 There is a very special book that the Bishops uses during
the RITE,
 to tell them what words to use and what actions to perform, and
when
 And it is so special and so sacred, and holy that the Bishop
doesn't want to change anything or make anything up.
 The Sacrament of Confirmation is so special that the Bishop
must celebrated the Rite,
 at least, he can make it for a reason, in this case, he can appoint a
priest to take his place.

44. CELEBRATION OF THE SACRAMENT CONFIRMATION
 Usually the Confirmation sacrament takes place
during a Mass, after the Homily—when the priest or
Bishop comment on the Gospel
 The Bishop call all the people, who be confirm, to the
front of the Church,
before everyone and the entirely congregation, and
really before the entirely universal Church,
the Bishop asks the Christians, who will be confirm,
TO RENEW their BAPTISMAL PROMISES,
 This is beautiful and symbolic, specially with what
we know about the Sacrament of Initiation:
 The Baptismal Consecration is Renewed and
Strengthen through the Sacrament of Confirmation
 And how truly fitting it is, to have a Renewal of
Baptismal Promises, right before the Sacrament of
Confirmation is confer.

45. CELEBRATION OF THE SACRAMENT CONFIRMATION
 After the Bishop has determined that the
person to be confirm,..
are serious in their intentions to be strong &
courage Christian—who will bear witness to the
Faith,
 Then the Bishop, says a very special prayer,
and it’s very Powerful–with his hands extended
outward.
 The Prayer begs God the Father to send down
the Holy Spirit upon the Christians to be confirm
 The Prayer also mention a certain list of gifts
that we will to receive.

46. CONFIRM IN THE GRACE OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT
 After the prayer the Bishop takes a very special oil called the
CHRISM
 And anoint each candidate for confirmation on the forehead,
 while he does this, he says the most powerful words in the Rites
“Be Seal with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit”
 An these very words the Sacrament is completed and effective.
 While performing the Actions and saying the words, {and the
very fact ,that the Bishop is the properly ordain to ministry the
sacraments}
the Christian is Now Confirm in the GRACE of the Holy Spirit

47. CHRISM OIL SYMBOLIZES THE HOLY SPIRIT ACTION
 For being so very simple, the Rite is very Symbolic.
 The use of CHRISM oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit
action, and making the Christian strong, when it
comes to give witness of Faith.
 The Holy Spirit come and dwell to the Soul of The
Confirm Christian
 Now in the way, very similar to that 1st
Pentecost, when the house was filled with wind,
 and fire came to rest upon the apostles; they were
filled with the Holy Spirit
 And so are the Christians, too, receive the
Sacrament of Confirmation

48. HOW TO PREPARE TO RECEIVE THE
SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION

49. PREPARATION TO RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION
 The Church makes us ready for the mayor moments of our
lives
 It helps us to prepare for all big moments of our
sacramental life
 This is true for all the Sacraments specially the
Sacrament of Confirmation
 The Sacrament of Confirmation is such a special moment
in the life of The Christian, that requires intense
preparation, in advance.
 If your Gran parents or somebody special are going to come
for a weekend visit, wouldn't you prepare for their visit
ahead of time?
 Cleaning de house…
 Set the table
 Making a special meal…
 The same is true for the Sacrament of Confirmation;
 It is so special, that the Church asks us to prepare our
heart in advance, to receive the God’s Grace.

50. PREPARATION FOR CONFIRMATION
 There are 3 main parts for this
preparation:
1. Select a Confirmation Sponsor
2. Make a good Confession
3. Begin a Period of more intense
prayer (prepare to receive the Holy
Spirit)

51. (1) SELECT A CONFIRMATION SPONSOR
 The person to be confirm must select a Confirmation Sponsor
a) The Sponsor must be baptized Catholic himself and be
selected because he has a good example .
b) And will provide Spiritual Support during preparation & after the
sacrament.
 The Catechism suggest that the Sponsor be the same of one
of the Godparents of Baptism
 This again illustrates how closely related the sacraments of Baptism
& Confirmation truly are.
 So in selecting a sponsor in Confirmation, it is good to
considerate someone,
1. who is good & joyful Catholic
2. Who receive the sacraments very often
3. Who is willing to be a source of support of encouragement in the
time preparing for the sacraments.
 This can be one of your Godparents, or an older
brother/sister, Grandparent or some other family or friend.
 A Sponsor can also be a mentor or teacher, priest, some other
person that you admire & trust
 And who will give support as you preparer for the sacraments.

52. (2) MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION
1. Make a good Confession, before receiving
Confirmation
 This means that the Christian after the age of reason, say 7
yrs old or older, must be free form all serious mortal sin
 The Christian to be confirm must go to the sacrament of
Penance and confess any know mortal & venial sin (in
conscious in them)
 why? In order to receive the GRACE of the Holy Spirit, nothing
can block his access and moment in the soul, and sin is the greater
hinder to works of the Holy Spirit.
HINDER:
 To be or get in the way of.
 To obstruct or delay the progress of.
 To interfere with action or progress.
a) In the Sacrament of Penance the Christian confess any sin
that she/he consciously committed to a priest.
b) After receiving the absolution from the priest, the Christian
now is free from sin,
c) and can be fully open to the Holy Spirit works in the
Sacrament of Confirmation.

53. (3) INTENSIVE PRAYER
 It is to began a period of most intensive
prayer to prepare to receive The Holy Spirit.
 Prayer is talking to God: Prayer is
absolutely essential to Christian life.
 Without prayer, Christian life will dry up like
a desert, and the Soul will lost Grace.
 Prayer is our connection with God:
stronger our prayer life, the deeper our
connection with God.
 If we lose contact with God, then we risk
losing our sense of perfect– in our
intellect/reason— and our mission in life.
 Prayer is just as important as
eating, sleeping, or even breathing.

54. MAKE YOUR HEART READY TO RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT
 Prayer is an important part of a normal and daily life.
 But in praying for Confirmation, the Church asks us to
spend more time in prayer, and spend that time praying
intensively.
 Prayer is a conversation with God; it is like taking to God
who is present and next to you.
 Talking him familiarly, as you would talk to closer friend or lovely
Dad.
 To prepare for confirmation, spend a bit of extra time each
day.
 Every day, praying to, and with the Holy Spirit.
 Speak him about your concerns of your wishes, your dreams, &
your desires.
 Make your heart ready to receive the Holy Spirit and show
Him that you are ready by your eagerness to pray.
1. Pray in order to receive God’s Graces of the Sacrament
2. And be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit
3. And be ready for the Life that begins after the Sacrament of
Confirmation.

55. CONFIRMATION IS NOT AN OPTIONAL SACRAMENT
 The Sacrament of Confirmation is not an
optional sacrament
 It is so important for Christian Life, for
Confirmation completes and seals the
process of initiation.
 the Christian baptized, and now
Confirmed, and having make his or her 1st
Communion,
is a New Christian completed the
process of initiation.