Posted on 05/03/2015 12:26:28 PM PDT by NYer
HE BEST AGE to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation is a matter of discussion in my diocese, as it is in many others. There are advocates for quite a wide range of ages, from as early as Baptism to the latter years of high school. Reasonable arguments can be made in favor of almost any age between these two mileposts. But which age is best?
Anyone involved in Catholic education/catechesis will know the struggle it is to keep young people in religious education after their Confirmation. A common tactic in many local Churches has been to raise the age at which Confirmation is administered to high school, on the theory that doing so will keep students in religious education for a longer period of time.
In my locale, the norm is to confirm students in sixth grade, and the result is that most parishes offer no formal religious education past sixth grade. In those parishes that do offer a program beyond, there is often a significant drop-off in attendance post-Confirmation.
Pope Francis is well aware of this trend from his pastoral experience in Argentina. In a September 2013 address to young people in Sardinia, he said this:
The Sacrament of Confirmation—what is this Sacrament called? Confirmation? No! Its name has changed: the ‘Sacrament of farewell.’ They do this, and then they leave the Church. . . . Many young people move off after receiving Confirmation, the Sacrament of farewell, of goodbye, as I said. It is an experience of failure, an experience that leaves emptiness and discourages us. Is this true or not?
In addition to the issue of becoming the “Sacrament of farewell,” Confirmation has also come to be understand by many people (clergy & catechists, included) as a sort of Catholic Bar/Bat Mitzvah—a young Catholic’s personal acceptance of the faith into which he or she was baptized. Confirmation, however, immediately followed Baptism (even with infants) for many centuries in the West, and this practice continues in the Eastern Churches even today. Thus, the understanding of Confirmation as an adult acceptance of faith cannot be true without also claiming that the long tradition of the Church’s liturgical practice was errant. Equating Confirmation with a personal acceptance of faith is a fundamental misunderstanding of the Sacrament, which is better understood as the strengthening of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit received at Baptism.
Having said all this, what is the best age for Confirmation?
ET ME ANSWER by way of analogy. In Pennsylvania, young people must be 16 years of age in order to obtain a driver’s license. At what age do the most traffic accidents occur? Not surprisingly, at age 16. We must, therefore, raise the driving age to 18, some say. But, if we do that, at what age would the most traffic accidents occur? I suspect, at age 18. If we raised the driving age to 35, I daresay that most traffic accidents would occur at age 35.
Pushing Confirmation back later and later, I believe, simply perpetuates the conception of this Sacrament as the proverbial carrot being dangled in front of the student. If young people are giving up on religious education (or religion altogether) after Confirmation in sixth grade, what makes us think that moving the age to eighth grade or high school will make any difference?
For this reason, my opinion is that Confirmation would be better restored to its original position, before Holy Communion. So long as Confirmation is treated as the carrot to be obtained by the student who sticks around long enough, it is destined to be treated as “graduation” (the corollary to which is subsequent disappearance from parish life).
The subliminal understanding of Confirmation as graduation is well entrenched, and I believe the only effective means of counteracting this understanding will be a total disruption of “the system” as it now exists in many dioceses. “The system” consists in hopping on a conveyor belt at Baptism, riding it until Confirmation, and jumping off forever thereafter. Perhaps if we confirmed our young Catholics at some point between Baptism and First Holy Communion, we could reclaim the sense that religious education is not mere Sacramental preparation, but also formation in discipleship.
IS EXCELLENCY, Bishop Larry Silva has proposed the restoration of the traditional order of the Sacraments of Initiation in his Diocese of Honolulu. In an article for the Hawaii Catholic Herald, he offers a very cogent explanation for this decision. I encourage you to read his article. It details a well-considered pastoral plan for practically implementing the transition.
As the bishop explains, “Current practice is like counting 1, 3, 2,” because Baptism & Confirmation “go together like Easter and Pentecost.” There is an inner logic to the traditional order of the Sacraments that is totally lost when Confirmation is pushed to adolescence. Baptism is the gateway Sacrament; Confirmation seals & strengthens the gifts first received at Baptism; and Holy Eucharist is the pinnacle toward which all Christian initiation tends.
Not only is Baptism, Confirmation, Communion a restoration of the long tradition of the Church, but I believe it is also a very pastoral solution to a problem being faced in many communities. Instead of simply delaying students’ departure from religious education programs, it stresses the value of catechesis on its own, independent of Sacramental preparation. It also serves to remind parents that they must be the first & best teachers of their children in the ways of faith.
There will be no magical cure-all to the issues of catechesis. But restoring Confirmation to its proper place might be a start.
In our Maronite parish, children normally receive Baptism and Confirmation at the same time. However, we have children from families where only Baptism was administered. Last week, one of our First Communicants was confirmed in order to complete the preparation for First Communion, which took place today. Interestingly enough, the children preparing for First Communion, attended First and Second Penance. Has anyone else had this experience? Our pastor is quite young and today with the first time he administered the Mystery of First Communion. He handled it beautifully, tying it to today's Gospel and questioning the children on its meaning.
Ping
I was Confirmed at age nine. We were taught that Confirmation can be administered once a child has reached the age of reason, age seven, we were told.
I was confirmed at age 39 but that’s a different story.
I was baptized as a Roman Catholic as an infant. When I was in high school I went back to the church on my own, went through the entire Catechism, First Communion, and Confirmation. I was a sincere ‘seeker’ looking for reality in the faith of my grandparents. I actually expected something to happen when the bishop laid hands on me and said, “receive the Holy Spirit”. I didn’t pray again until I asked God to save my life in Vietnam... He did... Some years later I kept my foxhole commitment and gave my life to Jesus Christ. Not long after simple Christians laid hands on my and I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit like Christians of the first two centuries. I spoke (and still speak) in the language of the Spirit. I have had the privilege of preaching in 15 countries over the last 30 years and seeing thousands of people have the same experiences and seeing hundreds of people healed of everything from blindness to crippled limbs. By the way, I have some practicing Catholic friends who have received the Holy Spirit as well, but unfortunately not at confirmation, but in private or through other believing, born again Catholics... I’m not trying to promote myself but you could read more if you’re interested... www.alifeofmiraclesbook.com (A Life of Miracles published by Tyndale House Publishing)
We confer baptism, confirmation and communion all at the same time. So far as I know, in the East this has always been the way.
In your church's teaching, what do they claim are the effects of the Sacrament of Confirmation?
You are undoubtedly aware that you are still a baptized Catholic and can return to the Catholic Church with all your gifts!
God bless.
Those marks of Baptism, Confirmation do not leave your soul. They are still there, even if you are an inactive Catholic.
I wonder if the FSSP or other apostolate would do the Sacrament of Confirmation entirely using the Liturgy of 1962. Or maybe this is their normal procedure.
Interesting! What is “Second Penance? It must be a wonderful thing to be able to instruct people in the Faith that way! Thanks for posting!
When I told a CCD teacher about my third grade Confirmation she seemed aghast and explained that kids that young are not able to understand the importance of the Sacrament. I told her that I remember the nuns telling me, in the third grade, that fear of the Lord was that kind of fear that makes you want to not do anything that might hurt Jesus. And somehow, I was too young to understand that very deep concept, as an eight-year-old.
It is not right to deny the gift of grace through Confirmation to young people who are totally able to understand what they are receiving.
I know in the Byzantine tradition all 3 Sacraments of Initiation are conducted at the time of Baptism. I made my Confirmation in the 5th grade and now they make it in High School in their Sophomore or Junior year.
Back when I was in high school a classmate of mine was making his confirmation because he and his mother were told that you can’t get married in the church if you don’t have your confirmation, well, we know you can; they didn’t. And that’s a bad reason for one to make their confirmation.
I know that the FSSP does do this. As an aside, my own children were Confirmed in the 1962 rite in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Both were 12 years old.
I myself was Confirmed at age 11, and I think waiting until much after that is senseless. I can’t tell you how many people I know who were never Confirmed because they and their parents were unwilling and sometimes unable to try to squeeze CCD in amongst their already busy schedules. When I hear of all the crazy hoops they have to go through, I just shake my head.
And then, once they are not Confirmed, they have trouble with continuing in the Faith — in order to have a church wedding, for example, they would have to take a year out and complete the sacrament — but most don’t do that. They shrug their shoulders and say, “I’ll just get married some other way.” And once THAT happens...well...then the children aren’t raised in the Faith, and they stop going altogether.
Better to Confirm them early, encourage them to attend a Catholic high school where they will have religious instruction every day, and hope that they stay in the Faith the rest of their lives.
I am in favor of lowering the age of Confirmation — even to infancy. But 12 years old is old enough.
Regards,
I don’t really understand the need for people to understand the importance of a Sacrament, or have some particular knowledge about it, in order to receive God’s graces. If that were so, then the Church should have rejected infant baptism long ago. I would personally love to return confirmation to immediately after baptism, regardless of the age of the child. Knowledge will come in time.
The Sacraments are God’s gifts of grace. Baptism should be free for babies. Confession, Communion and Confirmation should be open to children leading through to the age of reason and it is good for children to have some idea of the significance of what is being conferred upon them. The Sacraments that do need instruction are Marriage and Holy Orders. That leaves Extreme Unction which is designed for people within the age of reason.
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