Adult Confirmation

  • Thread starter Thread starter saribee
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

saribee

Guest
I am familiar with the RCIA process, but what is the mass like when adults are confirmed? What does the ceremony of adult confirmation consist of?
 
If your RCIA program follows the normal course of events, then you will be baptized (if you have not been already validly), then confirmed, then you will receive your first communion (unless you have already received it at some other time, earlier in life, in which case it would just be a normal reception of communion), and in that order. These things will almost certainly happen at the Easter Vigil mass, which occurs in the evening preceding Easter day, although they can technically I suppose occur whenever the priest feels it is necessary.

Normally, confirmation is conferred by a bishop. I imagine that if you are being confirmed at a cathedral, then there is a chance that he may confer your confirmation. Generally, Catholics are confirmed sometime in the teenage years (if they were raised Catholic), and by the bishop; these confirmations happen on different days so that the bishop can travel to each parish. But generally, since almost all adult confirmations happen on one day, and since it would be impossible for the bishop to travel to every parish in the diocese in one day, and since it would probably be a little unrealistic for all adult confirmands from the entire diocese to assemble in one church in order for the bishop to confer confirmation, your parish pastor (or some other parish priest) will almost certainly be the one to confer your confirmation. This requires permission from your bishop, since bishops are the ordinary ministers of confirmation. But, don’t worry about that. That will be taken care of for you.

As far as to what happens at the mass. Your confirmation will, almost without a doubt, take place within the context of a mass. Like I said, it’ll probably, almost without a doubt, take place during the easter vigil mass. It’s pretty simple. At the applicable time (you’ll know when), all the confirmands will approach the front of the church, facing the priest(s). I don’t recall exactly what is done, but I do know that father will call you by your patron saint’s name (so I was Joseph, instead of Cameron), and say some things, and also dip his thumb into what’s called chrism, and anoint your forehead with it. Chrism is an oily substance with an extremely strong scent, and generally it smells quite nice. All the whole time, your sponsor will have his or her hand on your right shoulder. And that’s pretty much it. Doesn’t really require much on your part.

The mass itself will probably be loads more formal than your regular Sunday mass. This is because Easter is the supreme liturgical celebration of the Catholic Church. The music will probably be heightened in formality. The celebration will occur firstly outside where the priest will ignite the Paschal candle. Then, everyone will process inside, and the church will be completely dark. At some point, I forgot when, all the lights will be turned on, probably in a dramatic fashion. At some point, if your church has covered up the icons and statues with purple cloth (which may or may not be done), these cloths will also be removed, probably in a dramatic fashion. The priest will probably (I actually think this might be required on this day) administer asperges to the congregation. This consists of a thing that looks like a baby rattler made of some precious metal, dipped into a bucket of holy water, that is sprinkled on the people as father walks down and then back up the aisle. I think it’s also a safe bet that incense will be used, which is smelly stuff that’s burned inside of this thing called a censer by ignited charcoal. There’s all different kinds, but most kinds have some sort of very smoky, musky quality. My basic point here is that no matter what the general personality is of your parish, whether it be very traditional or otherwise, it’s a safe bet that this mass will be stepped up in formality over other masses that are celebrated throughout the year. Prepare for a long mass. This year, at my parish, it was like 2.5 hours, or something like that. Also, prepare for a wall-to-wall PACKED mass.
 
Thanks so much!

I was baptized as an infant in the Presbyterian church my family went to, but in my teenage years I became a very hardcore anabaptist, so I was baptized as a believer when I was in my late teens. I know I have the baptism thing covered, but now it’s kind of awkward that I’m considering becoming Catholic but still believe in adult baptism. To prove my baptism, which one should I use? I know the Catholic church says you can only be baptized once, so do I need to track down the pastor who baptized me as a baby (the church I was baptized in does not exist any more), or can I use my most recent baptism since I am still in contact with that pastor?
 
Firstly, no matter what you “feel” to be right, per se, you are required to believe all that the Church teaches. So, since the Church teaches that infant baptism is the norm, then you must believe that. This doesn’t mean that you can’t question it within good taste, but it does mean you have to believe it. This is the same with all Church teaching. I just wanted to get that out of the way.

Secondly, I have no idea which baptism will suffice. The Catholic Church requires that for a baptism to be valid, the formula to be followed MUST be this: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” That formula must be used, and water MUST also be used. Without those two requirements, the baptism is null. The water can either be poured over the head, or you can be immersed into a pool. Either works.

I do not know the manner in which Presbyterian churches and Anabaptist churches baptize. You very well may not, in fact, have the baptism “covered.” If neither of those baptisms followed the formula above, then neither of them are valid. I’d try, very hard, to find some record of your baptisms, both of them. Certificate of baptism, a letter from the pastors, whatever. Just some record of what happened. I think what your pastor will probably end up doing is called a “conditional baptism,” in which he adds “If you are not already baptized…” to the beginning of the words of baptism. This either: baptizes you if you are not already baptized, or does nothing, while preventing any undue sacrilege by a priest baptizing you twice. You obviously won’t know which happens, because you would be unsure in the first place as to whether you were baptized validly or not before.

I’m not going to give you advice past that. These things are very touchy matters and I only wanted to give you a glance at what the route may be. But no matter what, still try to get something from your previous two baptisms. A record of some sort. Ask your parents, they might have something, even if you think they don’t. The priest has ultimate authority in this, however, and he will make the final decision as to the course of events. If you’re dealing with these things through an RCIA “coordinator” or someone like that, then ask him or her about this. It’s extremely important. If that doesn’t work, or even if you have the slightest doubt, speak to your church’s pastor immediately. He will be able to help you better than anyone else.
 
YoungTradCath said:
Firstly, no matter what you “feel” to be right, per se, you are required to believe all that the Church teaches. So, since the Church teaches that infant baptism is the norm, then you must believe that. This doesn’t mean that you can’t question it within good taste, but it does mean you have to believe it. This is the same with all Church teaching. I just wanted to get that out of the way.

Secondly, I have no idea which baptism will suffice. The Catholic Church requires that for a baptism to be valid, the formula to be followed MUST be this: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” That formula must be used, and water MUST also be used. Without those two requirements, the baptism is null. The water can either be poured over the head, or you can be immersed into a pool. Either works.

I do not know the manner in which Presbyterian churches and Anabaptist churches baptize. You very well may not, in fact, have the baptism “covered.” If neither of those baptisms followed the formula above, then neither of them are valid. I’d try, very hard, to find some record of your baptisms, both of them. Certificate of baptism, a letter from the pastors, whatever. Just some record of what happened. I think what your pastor will probably end up doing is called a “conditional baptism,” in which he adds “If you are not already baptized…” to the beginning of the words of baptism. This either: baptizes you if you are not already baptized, or does nothing, while preventing any undue sacrilege by a priest baptizing you twice. You obviously won’t know which happens, because you would be unsure in the first place as to whether you were baptized validly or not before.

I’m not going to give you advice past that. These things are very touchy matters and I only wanted to give you a glance at what the route may be. But no matter what, still try to get something from your previous two baptisms. A record of some sort. Ask your parents, they might have something, even if you think they don’t. The priest has ultimate authority in this, however, and he will make the final decision as to the course of events. If you’re dealing with these things through an RCIA “coordinator” or someone like that, then ask him or her about this. It’s extremely important. If that doesn’t work, or even if you have the slightest doubt, speak to your church’s pastor immediately. He will be able to help you better than anyone else.
Click to expand...
I think a Catholic could potentially hold an opinion that baptism would best be delayed until the person is old enough to remember it (though I would strongly disagree with this position myself) as long as they acknowledge that infant baptism is valid and licit. Sort of like how I personally think confirmation should be moved back to before first communion, but I don’t deny the validity and licitness of the sacraments as they are now commonly given.

The Presbyterian baptism would probably be valid, I believe. I would recommend contacting the Presbyterian church the baptism occurred in and asking if they have any records they could provide, or if possible also ask one’s parents if they have anything. In my own conversion I found that my parents had been given a little card (not a Catholic-style baptism certificate) when I was christened in a Methodist church stating explicitly that I had been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit at such and such a date and place and by a certain pastor, and this was accepted as proof of baptism.

Incidentally I think the words used in baptism do have a little leeway. In the Eastern Churches I believe they use a passive formula, something like “N. is baptized in the name of…” instead of the active “I baptize you in the name of…”, but both are considered valid. The essential thing is that water pass over the head, that the baptism be in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that the baptizing person intend to do what the Church does in baptism, and apparently that the baptizing person have some sort of idea that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in whose name the person is being baptized is a single God, not multiple gods as the Mormons believe. These conditions ought to have been met at the Presbyterian church as long as they were not caught up in the fad of baptizing with a formula like “in the name of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sanctifier.”

One potential cause for concern is that in some Protestant denominations that practice infant baptism the child is sometimes sprinkled with water, instead of having the water pour over the head like in a Catholic baptism. But I believe this baptism by sprinkling is still assumed to be valid by the Catholic Church, even though we wouldn’t do it since we want the water to more clearly flow over the head. Assuming the Anabaptist baptism was by full emersion there wouldn’t be any problem in this regard, though one might start to wonder if the concept of baptism is so radically different that the intent to do what the Church does in baptism is no longer there.

I second the statement that if there is any doubt as to one’s baptismal status, seek out conditional baptism. You don’t want to go through your whole life not sure if you are validly baptized, and it would be much more difficult to get a conditional baptism after one has already been received into the Church.
 
saribee said:
I was baptized as an infant in the Presbyterian church my family went to… To prove my baptism, which one should I use? I know the Catholic church says you can only be baptized once, so do I need to track down the pastor who baptized me as a baby (the church I was baptized in does not exist any more), or can I use my most recent baptism since I am still in contact with that pastor?
Click to expand...
Well I can guarantee that your baptism as an infant is considered the valid one since I was also baptized in a Presbyterian church and you can only be baptized once. For me it was as simple as contacting the church and getting a letter from the current pastor, but it doesn’t sound that easy for you. A written statement from witnesses (i.e. parents, siblings that are old enough to remember, etc.) can also serve as proof.

If you cannot easily obtain statements of your infant baptism the Anabaptist baptism would be your next best bet, assuming that you were baptized in the name of the Trinity. I would still let them know that you were baptized as an infant and I believe the Anabaptist “baptism” would serve as the conditional baptism, but I would check with the pastor.

As for what happens at confirmation it’s pretty straight forward. You will be brought up to make a profession of faith stating that you believe all that the Church teaches, the bishop (or priest) then welcomes you into the Church and after some prayers anoints you with oil and you then return to your seats. Later you will be invited forward to receive your first Communion.

Things might proceed slightly differently depending on when and where you are confirmed (I was confirmed “mid-year” at a parish that did year round catechisis so we were confirmed at a different time from the adults and youths getting baptized Easter)
 
saribee said:
I am familiar with the RCIA process, but what is the mass like when adults are confirmed? What does the ceremony of adult confirmation consist of?
Click to expand...
the timing depends on the bishop. In some places adult Catholics are also confirmed at the Easter Vigil, or in with youth of the parish when the bishop visits for that purpose. We used to have one celebration for the diocese at the Basilica but Bishop Flores has discontinued that. The Mass with readings for the day must be used if it is a Sunday, otherwise there is Confirmation Mass with prayers and a selection of suitable readings that is used. After the Gospel the pastor presents the candidates and affirms they are properly disposed for the sacrament. The bishop (or celebrant he has delegated) preaches to the candidates and sponsors and there is a dialogue in which the candidates affirm their request for confirmation, and the sponsor affirm their support for the candidates. There is the profession of faith, and the actual confirmation. If there is a large number of candidates he may raise hands over the entire group for that prayer, in which the Holy Spirit is invoked upon them. He anoints each candidate individually, as they approach with their sponsors. Then the Mass continues as usual. Those also making first communion receive at the usual time.

You will probably attend a retreat shortly before confirmation where the entire rite is explained in detail.

Reception of baptized non-Catholic adults, through confirmation and first reception of the Eucharist (preceded by sacramental confession at an earlier time) may be done at the Easter vigil by the parish priest, or at another time as ordered by the bishop. And the procedure is the same.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top