What is Confirmation?
As a Sacrament of Initiation, Confirmation is intimately linked with Baptism and Eucharist. Reborn in Baptism, Christians are strengthened by Confirmation and sustained by the food of the Eucharist. Confirmation seals the Baptism, that is, it is a fuller outpouring of the Spirit, incorporating us more completely into Christ and strengthening us in our call to participate in the mission of the Church and in the building of the Kingdom of God.
Every baptized person should receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Without the Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist, Baptism is still valid and efficacious, but Christian initiation remains incomplete.
Confirmation is also known as "the Sacrament of Christian maturity." Confirmation is an important step in a Christian's faith journey that not only stress maturity, but also commitment, knowledge, freedom, and active participation.
Traditionally, in the Roman Catholic Church, the custom has been for Confirmation to take place at the "age of discretion," around age seven. In 2001, the United States Catholic bishops determined that the age for children baptized in infancy to be confirmed should be sometime between the ages of seven and sixteen. In the Diocese of Orange, the policy to confirm youth is, at the earliest, their Sophomore year of High School.
At Saint Polycarp, the process of preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation is a two year process for High School students. This formation program is:
Every baptized person should receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Without the Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist, Baptism is still valid and efficacious, but Christian initiation remains incomplete.
Confirmation is also known as "the Sacrament of Christian maturity." Confirmation is an important step in a Christian's faith journey that not only stress maturity, but also commitment, knowledge, freedom, and active participation.
Traditionally, in the Roman Catholic Church, the custom has been for Confirmation to take place at the "age of discretion," around age seven. In 2001, the United States Catholic bishops determined that the age for children baptized in infancy to be confirmed should be sometime between the ages of seven and sixteen. In the Diocese of Orange, the policy to confirm youth is, at the earliest, their Sophomore year of High School.
At Saint Polycarp, the process of preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation is a two year process for High School students. This formation program is:
- comprehensive and structured;
- more than instruction, but an apprenticeship of the entire Christian life;
- a basic and essential formation of the Christian person, but is also only a beginning that leads one to a more solid nourishment for their faith in the life of Church.
