Some Notes on Confirmation/Chrismation. Taken from a few sources.

Q. What is Confirmation?
A. Confirmation is a Sacrament through which we receive the Holy Ghost to make us strong and perfect Christians and soldier of Jesus Christ. --Baltimore Catechism

Scriptural Texts on Confirmation/Chrismation

New Testament quotes from the RSV, OT from the Brenton Translation of the LXX
Words enclosed by ** indicate where Confirmation is discussed
Isaiah 25:6-7: And the Lord of hosts shall make a feast for all the nations: on this mount they shall drink gladness, they shall drink wine: *they shall anoint themselves with ointment* in this mountain.

Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my Spirit in you, and will cause you to walk in mine ordinances, and to keep my judgments, and do them.

Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; *and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit*.

Acts 8:17 * Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit*.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has commissioned us; he has put *his seal upon us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a gaurantee*.

Ephesians 1:13-14 In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were *sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it*, to the praise of his glory.

Hebrews 6:1-2 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith towards God, with instruction about absolutions, *laying on of hands*, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

Revelation 7:2-3 Then I saw another angel ascend from the rising sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we have *sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.*"

Confirmation in other sources:

"This Seal of the Holy Spirit marks our total belonging to Christ, our enrollment in his service for ever, as well as the promise of divine protection in the great eschatological trial." (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1296).

"It is evident from its celebration that the effect of the sacrament of Confirmation is the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost.

"From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace:
- it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry, "Abba! Father!";
- it unites us more firmly to Christ;
- it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us;
- it renders our bond with the Church more perfect
- it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross.

"Like Baptism which it completes, Confirmation is given only once, for it too imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark, the "character" which is the sign that Jesus Christ has marked a Christian with the seal of his Spirit by clothing him with power from on high so that he may be his witness" (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1302, 1303, 1304).

"It is also necessary that he should be anointed who is baptized; so that, having received the chrism, that is, the anointing, he may be anointed of God, and have in him the grace of Christ." (St. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle LXIX, Ante-Nicene Fathers Volume 5).

"And then remember that you received the seal of the Spirit; the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and godliness, and the spirit of holy fear, and preserved what you received. God the Father sealed you, Christ the Lord strengthened you, and gave the earnest of the Spirit in your heart, as you have learned in the lesson from the Apostle." (St. Ambrose, On the Mysteries, Nicene-Post Nicene Fathers Series 2 Vol. 10)

"But beware of supposing this to be plain ointment. For as the Bread of the Eucharist, after the invocation of the Holy Ghost, is mere bread no longer, but the Body of Christ, so also this holy ointment is no more simple ointment, nor (so to day) common, after invocation, but it is Christ's gift of grace, and, by the advent of the Holy Ghost, is made fit to impart His Divine Nature. Which ointment is symbolically applied to thy forehead and thy other senses; and while the body is anointed with the visible ointment, thy soul is sanctified by the Holy and life-giving Spirit." (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Lectures, Nicene-Post Nicene Fathers Series 2 Vol. 7).

"The signing takes place with a mixture of oil and balm which is called chrism, and not without reason. For by the oil one designates the power of the Holy Spirit, from whom Christ, too, is called 'anointed' (Ps 44:8; Luke 4:18); and consequently from Christ they are called 'Christians' (Acts 9:26), so as to say, fighting under Him. And by the balm, through its fragrance, good repute is indicated. For the public confession of faith in Christ this good repute must be led by those who dwell among men of this world' brought forth, so to say, from the hidden recesses of the Church unto the field of battle." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles Book IV Chapter 60).


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