(5) The Council of Trent did not decide the questions discussed by the Schoolmen. vii); then branching out into the two distinct schools of Dominicans (Albertus Magnus and St. Thomas) and Franciscans (Alexander of Hales, St. Bonaventure, and Duns Scotus). is not, obligatory If possible, one's Confirmation sponsor should be___. The opinion of Alexander of Hales, referred to by St. Thomas, was as follows: the Apostles conferred the Holy Ghost by mere imposition of hands; this rite, which was not properly a sacrament, was continued until the ninth century, when the Holy Ghost inspired the Fathers of the Council of Meaux in the choice of the matter and form, and endowed these with sacramental efficacy (Spiritu Sancto instigante et viriulem ranch/candi prceslante). In 1655, Don Diego de Rebolledo, Governor of Florida, urged the King of Spain to ask the pope to make St. Augustine an episcopal see, or to make Florida a vicariate Apostolic so that there might be a local superior and that the faithful might receive the Sacrament of Confirmation; but nothing came of the petition. “we ought to know at what time Patrick, the holy bishop and greatest teacher of the Irish, began to come to Ireland … to sanctify and ordain and confirm”. Sponsors.—The Church prescribes under pain of grievous sin that a sponsor, or godparent, shall stand for the person confirmed. carnis, n. 8): “The flesh is washed that the soul may be made stainless. [7] Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ [8] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. Max., SS. That the presence of the apostles was to protect the unity of the early church in explaining more fully the power of God’s Spirit? All agreed that these consisted of the anointing (including the act of placing the hand upon the candidate) and the words, “1 sign thee”, or “I confirm thee”, etc. vii) held that it was instituted by the Holy Ghost through the instrumentality of the Apostles. xlviii, Labbe, I, col. 1497). Other instances are the visitations of Bishop de Velasco (1735-6) and Bishop Morel (1763). Add help@mathetis.org to your contacts list or mark our confirmation email as safe if it arrives in your spam folder. Of course this refers only to the Western Church. Eccl.”, II, c. xxvi; St. Bede, “In Act. Objection 2. 250.) Scotus seems to have felt the weight of the authority of the Dominican opinion, for he does not express himself clearly in favor of the views of his own order. VII, De Conf., C. iii). Finally, the most generally accepted view is that the anointing and the imposition of hands conjointly are the matter. Conc. With precision of practice came greater precision and completeness of doctrine. The words, however, I cannot name, for fear of seeming to betray rather than to reply to the point on which you have consulted me.” Saint Leo in his fourth sermon on Christ’s Nativity says to the faithful: “Having been regenerated by water and the Holy Ghost, you have received the chrism of salvation and the seal of eternal life” (chrisma salutis et signaculum vitae aeternae.—P.L., LIV, col. 207). Bait. Trid., I, p. 383 sqq.). de theol. For when presbyters baptize, whether with or without the presence of the bishop, they may anoint the baptized with chrism, provided it be previously consecrated by a bishop, but not sign the forehead with that oil, which is a right reserved to bishops [episcopis] only, when they give the Spirit, the Paraclete. John 12:42 – People who do not confess are not disciples, therefore confession is essential in order for one to become a disciple . In the same work (II, 550-51) a Latin preface to an ancient Irish chronological tract says: Debemus scire quo tempore Patricius sanctus episcopus atque prceceptor maximus Scotorum inchoavit … sanctificare et consecrare . i), excluded the opinion that the Holy Ghost was the author of confirmation. A further consequence is the spiritual relationship which the person confirming and the sponsor contract with the recipient and with the recipient’s parents. This condition, however, refers only to lawful reception; the sacrament is validly received even by those in mortal sin. In such cases, however, the priest cannot wear pontifical vestments. St. John tells the faithful: “You have the unction from the Holy One, and know all things”; and again: “Let the unction, which you have received from him, abide in you” (I Ep., ii, 20, 27). Again, no express mention is made of anointing with chrism; but we note that the idea of unction is commonly associated with the giving of the Holy Ghost. Read Acts 8:18-24 to see what happens next. Cuth.”, c. xxix); but they do not examine the reason why the power is reserved to the bishops, nor do they discuss the question of the time and mode of the institution of the sacrament. Internal Inconsistencies within the Catholic Catechism (Catholic Catechism), Why is the Catholic Bible Different? Heaven is opened whilst the Father anoints; the spiritual oil in the image of the Dove immediately descended and rested on His head, and poured on it oil, whence Ile took the name of Christ, when He was anointed by God the Father; to whom that the imposition of hands might not seem to have been wanting, the voice of God is heard from a cloud, saying, This is my Son, of whom I have thought well; hear ye him” (De schism. In his famous “Confession” (ed. cit., II, 484). But when they came to justify this doctrine by the authority of Scripture they encountered the difficulty that no mention is made there either of the anointing or of the words; indeed nothing is said of the institution of the sacrament at all. Is Priestly Celibacy Biblical? The imposition of hands takes place in order that the Holy Spirit, being called by the blessing, may be invited [per benedictionem advocates invitetur Spiritus Sanctus]; for after the bodies have been cleansed and blessed, then does the Paraclete willingly come down from the Father” (Etym., VI, c. xix in P.L., LXXXII, col. 256). In some portions of what is now the United States the sacrament was administered by bishops from the neighboring French and Spanish possessions; in others, by missionary priests with delegation from the Holy See. The validity of both the Latin and the Greek form is unquestionable. 1). PP., VI, p. 649). The third and last canon defined that the “ordinary” minister of the sacrament is a bishop only, and not any simple priest. Do they have less gifts of the Holy Spirit? iii, 18.) lxxiii). Bishop Calderon of Santiago visited Florida in 1647 and confirmed 13,152 persons, including Indians and whites. St. Isidore, “De Off. On the contrary, Children are saved by Baptism alone without the other sacraments. Apart, however, from such controversies the importance of confirmation as a means of grace is so obvious that no earnest Christian will neglect it, and in particular that Christian parents will not fail to see that their children are confirmed. ccxxvii, Ad Infantesin P.L., XXXVII, col. 1100; De Trin., XV, n. 46 in P.L., XL, col. 1093); “Of Christ it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, how God anointed Him with the Holy Ghost, not indeed with visible oil, but with the gift of grace, which is signified by that visible unction wherewith the Church anoints the baptized”. Aureolus and Petavius, held that it consists in the imposition of hands. St. Ambrose addressing the catechumens who had already been baptized and anointed, says: “Thou hast received the spiritual seal, the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding…. The LCMS does not believe that Baptism is ABSOLUTELY necessary for salvation. What does it mean to be “perfected by the Holy Spirit with the gift of Christ’s fullness”? III, Q. lxxii, a. xxxiii, n. 1; cf. (Catholic Catechism), Was Mary a Virgin Her Entire Life? Is the Deuterocanon trustworthy? The most explicit passage is in the letter of Pope Innocent I to Decentius: “As regards the sealing of infants, it is clear that it is not lawful for it to be done by anyone but a bishop [non ab aliis quam ab episcopo fieri licere]. They were aware, however, that in the primitive Church simple priests sometimes administered the sacrament. Except in case of necessity the baptismal godparent cannot serve as sponsor for the same person in confirmation. in P.L., CI, col. 614). ad Colonien.). (See Character.) The Synod of Exeter (1287) enacted that children should be confirmed within three years from birth, otherwise the parents were to fast on bread and water until they complied with the law. The importance of confirmation as a means of grace is so obvious that no earnest Catholic … 3 and 4). 1, ad 1). The rite of confirmation has undergone various changes in the different prayer books (see Book of Common Prayer). ii, q. Further information on this important and difficult question will be found in the article Sacraments. In the Gregorian Sacramentary no words at all are assigned to the anointing; but it is clear that the anointing must be taken in connection with the words belonging to the imposition of hands. The Blessed Theodoret commenting on the first chapter of the Canticle of Canticles says: “Bring to thy recollection the holy rite of initiation, in which they who are perfected after the renunciation of the tyrant and the acknowledgment of the King, receive as a kind of royal seal the chrism of the spiritual unction as made partakers in that typical ointment of the invisible grace of the Holy Spirit” (P.G., LXXXI, 60). Martene). vii, Labbe, II, col. 952). Other statutes were: that no one should be admitted to Holy Communion who had not been confirmed (Council of Lambeth, 1281); that neither father nor mother nor stepparent should act as sponsor (London, 1200); that children to be confirmed must bring “fillets or bands of sufficient length and width”, and that they must be brought to the church the third day after confirmation to have their foreheads washed by the priest out of reverence for the holy chrism (Oxford, 1222); that a male sponsor should stand for the boys and a female sponsor for the girls (Provincial Synod of Scotland, 1225); that adults must confess before being confirmed (Constitution of St. Edmund of Canterbury, about 1236). The Franciscans also maintained that the Holy Ghost was the author, but that He acted either through the Apostles or through the Church after the death of the Apostles. Through Confirmation, our personal relationship with Christ is strengthened. He was led to this extraordinary view (which he states as merely personal) by the fact that no mention is made in Holy Scripture either of the chrism or of the words; and as these were undoubtedly the matter and the form they could only have been introduced by Divine authority. And out of the fullness of this power the blessed pope Gregory granted that simple priests conferred this sacrament” (St. Thomas, ibid.). “Those who are enlightened must after baptism be anointed with the heavenly chrism, and be partakers of the kingdom of Christ” (can. “Two sacraments”, says St. Cyprian, “preside over the perfect birth of a Christian, the one regenerating the man, which is baptism, the other communicating to him the Holy Spirit” (Epist. The Holy Office decreed, June 16, 1884, that no sponsor could stand for more than two candidates except in case of necessity. The Welsh laws of Hywel Dda suppose for children of seven years and upwards a religious ceremony of laying on of hands that can hardly be anything else than confirmation. When they came to examine the doctrine underlying this practice they all admitted that it was a sacrament, though in the earlier writers the word sacrament had not yet acquired a distinct technical meaning. From these it can be seen how the Anglican Church has varied between the complete rejection of the Catholic doctrine and practice, and a near approach to these. The words accompanying the imposition of hands were generally a prayer calling upon God to send down the Holy Ghost and confer upon the neophytes the seven gifts. Apost.” in P.L., XCII, col. 961; “Vit. A. Theiner, Acta Genuina SS. (Catholic Catechism), Was Peter Married? Eccl., II, c. xxvi in P.L., LXXXIII, col. 823). III, c. ii, n. 8) says that after the baptismal immersion “the spiritual seal [signaculum] follows … when at the invocation of the bishop [sacerdotis] the Holy Ghost is infused”. The Holy Spirit doesn’t come until Peter and John arrive and lay hands on the believers. Where special words are assigned they sometimes resemble the Greek formulary (signum Christi in vitam ceternam, etc. Writing to his agent at Rome, Rev. Further, such expressions as “signing” and “sealing” may be taken as referring to the character impressed by the sacrament: “You were signed with the Holy Spirit of promise”; “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph., i, 13; iv, 30). It has been variously designated: a perfecting or completing, as expressing its relation to baptism. et consummare, i.e. Previous to the establishment of the hierarchy, many Catholics in North America died without having received confirmation. “Chrisma”, says St. Isidore of Seville, “is in Latin called `unctio’, and from it Christ receives His name, and man is sanctified after the laver [lavacrum]; for as in baptism remission of sins is given, so by anointing [unctio] the sanctification of the Spirit is conferred. This one unique situation, the priest can not wear pontifical vestments indicated in... Flesh, and the Greek Church and in the first Council of Trent ( I. Is what is Catholic baptism for God first formed him and breathed his., i.e change his mind, Mary, Saints, or of Apostolic, or of Apostolic or. After baptism as heard whether there be a Christian and not God 's way to man godparent shall. 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