Traditional Rite

Sacrament of Confirmation

Confirmation is a Sacrament through which we receive the Holy Ghost  to make us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ.

(My Catholic Faith, Third Edition)

    The Rite of Confirmation

 Rise when the procession enters the sanctuary.  If, during the   procession, the Bishop passes your pew, kneel on the right knee to receive his blessing, then rise.  Kneel when the Bishop kneels.

The Bishop, vested in amice, stole, white cope and mitre, sits upon the faldstool in the center of the predella.  Be seated when the Bishop is seated .  He now addresses those to be confirmed.  Afterwards he washes his hands, then, removing his mitre, stands facing the congregation and says:

(Kneel)

     May the Holy Spirit descend upon you and the power of the Most High      keep you from all sins.

     R. Amen.

     V.  Our help is in the Name of the Lord.

   R.  Who made heaven and earth.

    V.  O Lord, hear my prayer.

    R.  And let my cry come unto Thee.

    V.  The Lord be with you.

   R.  And with thy spirit.

Extending his hands, he says:

Let us pray

Almighty and eternal God, Who hast deigned to regenerate these Thy servants by water and the Holy Spirit; and Who hast given them the remission of all their sins; send upon them Thy sevenfold Spirit, Thy Holy Paraclete from heaven.

       R.  Amen.

       V.  The Spirit of Counsel and Fortitude.

       R.  Amen.

     V.  The Spirit of Knowledge and Piety.

     R. Amen.

Fill them with the Spirit of Thy Fear and sign them with the Cross + of Christ, in Thy mercy, unto everlasting life.  Through the same Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, God, world without end.

       R.  Amen.

Those to be confirmed now go forward, all others may be seated.

The Bishop anoints each with Holy Chrism on the forehead with the Sign of the Cross saying:

(Casmir), I sign thee with the Sign of the Cross +: and I confirm thee with the Chrism of salvation.  In the Name of the Father +, and of the Son +, and of the Holy + Spirit.

     R.  Amen.

     Then he taps each on the cheek, saying:

     Peace be with thee.

When all have been confirmed, the Bishop washes his hands while the following is said:

Antiphon.  Confirm, O God, that which Thou hast wrought in us, from Thy Holy Temple which is in Jerusalem.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

The Antiphon is repeated.

Rise with the Bishop, then kneel.

The Bishop rises and says:

       V.  Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy.

       R.  And grant us Thy salvation.

     V.  O Lord, hear my prayer.

       R.  And let my cry come unto Thee.

       V.  The Lord be with you.

     R.  And with thy spirit.

O God, Who didst give to Thine Apostles the Holy Spirit, and through them and their successors hast wished that He be given to the rest of the faithful: look down with favor upon the service of our humility; and grant that the hearts of those whose foreheads we have anointed with Holy Chrism and signed with the Sign of the Cross, through the coming of the same Holy Spirit into them, He may make them worthy temples for the indwelling of Thy glory.  Who with the Father and the same Holy Spirit livest and reignest, God, world without end.

      R.  Amen.

Turning to the confirmed, he says:

May the Lord bless + you out of Sion, that you may see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life and that you may have life everlasting.

      R.  Amen.

      (Sit.)  

      The Bishop, seated, exhorts the sponsors to watch over the conduct of their godchildren and to see that they receive religious instruction.

At the conclusion, rise and remain standing till the procession has entered the sacristy.

(My Confirmation Day, A Complete Prayer Book Containing the Confirmation Ceremony, Benziger Brothers, Inc., 1951.)

VENI, SANCTE SPIRITUS

      We should pray frequently and earnestly that the Gifts of the Holy Ghost may be increased within us.  Every one should know by heart and often repeat the Veni, Sancte Spiritus, the hymn sung by the Church on the Feast of Pentecost.  In the Middle Ages it was known as the "Golden Sequence."  It is justly regarded as one of the masterpieces of sacred Latin poetry.

VENI, SANCTE SPIRITUS

-(Translated by Father Aylward, O.P.)

(Mass and the Sacraments, Fr. John Laux, M.A.)

Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost

             O Lord Jesus Christ Who, before ascending into heaven, did promise to send the Holy Ghost to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Ghost to me, that He may perfect in my soul the work of Your grace and Your love.  Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Your divine truth, the Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with You and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him.  Mark me, dear Lord, with the sign of Your true disciples and animate me in all things with Your Spirit.  Amen.

(Prayer from Novena to the Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost Fathers)

(Drawing from My Catholic Faith, Third Edition)

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