72 — CONFIRMATION

Presence of God. — O Holy Spirit, confirm once more what You have worked in me and make me capable of living as a true soldier of Christ.

Meditation

1 — Baptism is the sacrament of Christian initiation, that is, it introduces us into the Church, God’s great family, and infuses sanctifying grace into us, by which we become children of the Most High and brothers of Jesus Christ. Confirmation, instead, is the sacrament of strengthening, that is, it confirms and strengthens us in that Christian life to which baptism gave us birth. Baptism is the act of birth to Christian life; confirmation is the act of passage to mature Christian life. “Confirmation,” says the catechism, “makes us perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ, giving us the abundance of the Holy Spirit, that is, His grace and His gifts, which confirm and strengthen us in faith and in the other virtues against Christ’s enemies.”

By baptism we are consecrated temples of the Holy Spirit; by confirmation this divine Spirit comes upon us with greater fullness, consecrating us knights of Christ, fit to fight for defense of faith and Church. We have immense need of this sacrament, especially today, when, as God’s enemies multiply more and more, and snares and seductions of evil multiply, great courage is often necessary, and at times even heroism, to stand firm in faith and Catholic morals. By impressing on our souls the character of “soldiers” of Christ, confirmation infuses corresponding strength in us and confers on us the right to receive, at the opportune time, the actual graces necessary to remain faithful to God despite all difficulties and struggles we may encounter; this is precisely what “the sacramental grace” of confirmation consists in.

It can therefore be said that, at least virtually, confirmation is the sacrament that consecrates heroes of duty, that consecrates martyrs, that is, that confers on man the strength to live and openly profess his faith, even at the cost of great sacrifices, not excluding that of life, should this be necessary. When pusillanimity or human respect try to overwhelm you, repeat to yourself St. Francis of Assisi’s bold words: “Knight of Christ, are you afraid?!” and remembrance of your solemn consecration as knight of Christ, accomplished on the blessed day of your confirmation, may give you strength to react and conquer.

2 — Speaking of confirmation, St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus writes: “I had prepared myself with great fervor for the visit of the Holy Spirit, unable to understand how so little attention was paid to receiving this sacrament of love... Like the Apostles, I awaited with joy the promised Consoler, rejoicing at soon becoming a perfect Christian” (St. 4). Souls who, like this young saint, can say they prepared themselves with true understanding to receive the sacrament of Confirmation are unfortunately rare. Of the Holy Spirit - the great uncreated Gift who gives Himself to the soul to be its Paraclete, that is, its comfort, support, guide - very few think; or people think of Him so fleetingly and superficially that the confirmand has no possibility of deepening this ineffable mystery. Let us seek to make up at least now for the lack of preparation with which one day we went to receive confirmation. Let us meditate on the beautiful prayer that the Bishop recited while imposing hands on us: “O God... send down upon them from heaven the Author of the seven gifts, Your Holy Spirit the Consoler. The spirit of wisdom and understanding; the spirit of counsel and fortitude; the spirit of knowledge and piety. Fill them with the spirit of Your fear and mark them with the sign of the Cross of Christ unto eternal life” (Rit. Rom.). The Holy Spirit descended into us with abundance of His gifts; He confirmed us in faith; He conferred on us the strength necessary to live as perfect Christians, in full harmony with the holy demands of God’s law. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem... to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1, 8), Jesus told the Apostles, foretelling the coming of the divine Paraclete. This strength we too received on the day of confirmation; but if in fact by our conduct we have not always borne witness to Christ, this did not depend on defect of the sacrament, but on defect of our correspondence to the grace conferred by it. If we have been weak in fighting against passions, against the world, against the devil, it has been because we did not know how to profit from that grace of fortitude the Holy Spirit bestowed on us in holy confirmation.

Let us beg this divine Spirit to pardon our negligence and to help us make up for the future for the failings of the past.

Colloquy

“I have known You, true and one God, Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, consubstantial and coeternal with Them, Paraclete and our Advocate, who descended in form of dove upon our Lord Jesus Christ and appeared in tongues of fire upon the Apostles; You who from the beginning instructed all God’s saints and elect by the gift of Your grace and opened the mouths of prophets to narrate the wonders of God’s kingdom; You who by all God’s saints are adored and glorified together with the Father and the Son; and I too, child of Your handmaid, glorify Your name with my heart, for You have enlightened me. You are true light; true lamp, fire of God and teacher of spirits, who by Your anointing teach us every truth; You, Spirit of truth, without whom it is impossible to please God, since You Yourself are God of God and light proceeding from light, that is, proceeding ineffably from the Father of lights and from His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom You are glorified and reign, consubstantial with Them, true and coeternal, existing in the essence of one invisible Trinity.

“O Holy Spirit, give me to drink at the torrent of Your sweetness, so that I may no longer love to taste anything of the poisoned sweetness of the world” (St. Augustine).

“O Holy Spirit, infinite love, who proceed from the Father and the Son, give me the spirit of adoption, teach me to act always as a true child of God. Dwell in me, grant that I may dwell in You, to love as You love. Without You I am nothing: sine tuo numine nihil est in homine... I am worth nothing, but keep me united to You, fill me with Your love, that with Your help I may remain united to the Father and to the Son” (Dom C. Marmion).