One of the most misunderstood of the commonly called Lesser Sacraments is Confirmation. When discerning Confirmation for their children, I find parents wrestle with the questions: Is my child old enough? Do they know enough? Or even, are they good enough? I think the answers to these questions are better understood when we first ask: What is Confirmation? And who is it for?
Let me answer the second question first. Confirmation is for every baptized Christian. To quote from the Questions posed to the godparents in the baptismal service, “Wilt thou take heed that this Child, so soon as sufficiently instructed, be brought to the Bishop to be confirmed by him.” Or again in the rubrics at the end of the Offices of Instruction, “So soon as Children are come to a competent age, and can say the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and are sufficiently instructed in the matter contained in these Offices, they shall be brought to the Bishop to be confirmed by him.” While there is discussion on what qualifies as a “competent age”, I would argue that this depends on the child. Developmentally, from eight to eleven years old, children begin to comprehend pros and cons, make personal decisions, and understand values and long-term effects. At this age, it is a good time to start paying attention to see if the child is able and desirous to make that confession. For some, this may just be the beginning of their movement toward confirmation, and that is okay. And while instruction in the faith and knowledge of the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments are covered in confirmation class, hopefully this is part of family life as well. After all, every parent and godparent is responsible, by their vows at their child’s baptism, for helping teach and instruct the child in these matters. So, who is Confirmation for? It is for every baptized Christian of a competent age who knows the core tenets of the faith and is able to take on their baptismal vows as their own. If you are a baptized adult but are not confirmed, this is for you too.
And now we can ask the question, “What is it?” Confirmation is the laying on of hands by the Bishop. This is reflected in Scripture throughout the book of Acts, particularly in Acts 8:14-17 and 19:5-6. In these texts, the people would hear the Gospel and believe, and then an apostle, just like Bishops today, would come to lay hands on the people and pray for the people to receive the fullness of the Holy Ghost and the seven spiritual gifts. Within this sacrament, the outward visible sign is the confirming Bishop's prayer and his hands laid on a head. As the Anglican priest H.A. Wilson said, “This is the ‘pledge to assure us’ that, simultaneously, at the same moment, there is given the inward invisible full strength of God the Holy Ghost. It is Con-firm-ation. He is ‘The comforter,’ as our Lord calls him, which really means ‘the strengthener, fortifier, giver of fortitude.’ A buttressed wall is less likely to collapse. A CONFIRMED CHRISTIAN IS A STRONGER CHRISTIAN.” Read the Confirmation Service in your prayer-book. It is short and will interest you. Confirmation, therefore, following the Apostolic witness given in Scripture, is the receiving of the spiritual gifts to live out the Christian life.
Everyone coming to Confirmation needs to know what they are confessing; they need to grasp hold of their baptismal vows and desire to live them out. However, Confirmation is the receiving of the Holy Spirit and his sevenfold gifts, and having taken on your own shoulders the Baptismal Vows, they are what you now need to live out the rest of your life. In his Haggerston Catechism, Fr. Wilson describes these gifts as “Wisdom: being wise to know what is best to do. Understanding: being able to understand at least some of the difficulties of life, at least some of God's reasons for things. Counsel: the power to give good advice to others, and (more difficult) to take it from others. Ghostly Strength: strength of soul, courage to keep to religion though others laugh, strength to do what you know is right. Knowledge: the power to know God more and more, as the years pass. True Godliness: because you know him better and better, the power to grow more and more like him; godlikeness. Holy Fear: reverence for God and all the things of God, not letting ‘familiarity breed contempt.’" These are the gifts to help you live out your Christian life. You do not need to be good enough or “Christian enough” or have a degree in theology to come to Confirmation. The Holy Spirit and his gifts, received at Confirmation, allow you to know, believe, and live the Christian life.
St. Peter, at the crucifixion, was afraid for his life and denied Christ three times. After he received the Holy Ghost from Christ post-resurrection, when Christ breathed on the Apostles, he was filled with the Holy Ghost at the Pentecost event in the upper room in Acts. From this point, he led the Church of Christ, even unto his death when he requested to be crucified upside down. The gifts given by the Holy Spirit at Confirmation are the same Spirit and same gifts given to St. Peter. If we grasp on to Christ and conform ourselves to the work of the Spirit, we can be changed too. In fact, because of the seven great gifts received in Confirmation, afterward you can never say, "I can't"; "I can't live the Christian life, I can't conquer this sin or that." You may say, if you wish, "I won't"; but that is a different matter.
The Grace and Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Fr. Aaron