Order of Sacraments

[solayan]

Most converts are brought into the Church as adults which is why they receive all 3 Sacraments of Initiation. Being born into the Church, you are baptized as a baby, receive First Communion around 7 with your parents accepting responsibility for raising you in the faith. Most cradle Catholics are confirmed as teenagers when they are deemed mature enough to accept responsibility for their faith.

But if you’re following the rites as they’re written, children over the age of reason who convert to Catholicism follow the same sacramental order as adult converts. They are baptized, confirmed and receive their first communion at the Easter Vigil. Their maturity or lack thereof isn’t a factor.

I’m a fan of restoring the order of the sacraments so that we can stop thinking of Confirmation as some sort of “Catholic Bar Mitzvah” where you become an adult or take on more adult responsibility for your faith, which is really not what it’s about. The only reason those elements have been associated with Confirmation is the age at which it tends to be administered in the Latin Rite of the Church.

 

[Usige]

But if you’re following the rites as they’re written, children over the age of reason who convert to Catholicism follow the same sacramental order as adult converts. They are baptized, confirmed and receive their first communion at the Easter Vigil. Their maturity or lack thereof isn’t a factor.

I’m a fan of restoring the order of the sacraments so that we can stop thinking of Confirmation as some sort of “Catholic Bar Mitzvah” where you become an adult or take on more adult responsibility for your faith, which is really not what it’s about. The only reason those elements have been associated with Confirmation is the age at which it tends to be administered in the Latin Rite of the Church.

Yep, my oldest daughter was 8 when she and my wife were received. She received baptism, confirmation and first communion the same night my wife did. My oldest son was 6 at the time and was baptized 2 weeks later. Despite the fact that there is only a 2 years difference between them, she was confirmed 9 years before him.

One of my biggest pet peeve is when people see confirmation principally as accepting a mature/adult responsibility for their faith. It seems to turn the tables into it being the confirmand confirming their faith, rather than what is really happening which is that they are confirmed by the Holy Spirit. It seems that so many people see confirmation as something they do rather than a gift of grace given to them.

 

[phil19034]

I think it should stay in the current order of having Holy Communion first then being confirmed in high school.

My archdiocese currently confirms in 6th grade.

 

[Bookcat]

Pope Benedict XVI too was in favor of the original Order.

 

[FrDavid96]

There is no such thing as an “original order.” That’s a false anachronism.

Even in the early Church, adult converts were Baptised, Confirmed and received First Communion in a single continuous ceremony. There was no “order” beyond the simple practical fact that Communion occurs at the end of Mass, so Confirmation came first after Baptism. It was not about any order, excepting that Baptism usually came first. There is even evidence of Confirmation before Baptism in some places.

The ancient Church had no set order for the 3 Sacraments. They were administered “together.”

There was no such notion that one needed to be Confirmed first then Communion later. As far as the early Church was concerned, all 3 happened at the same time.

Also, in the West there has never been any single “right way” to do things. From the 4th century onward, the order and the ages have been constantly changing and have always varied from one place to another.

 

[Padres1969]

The sky is black, it only looks blue during the day.
Not all dog breeds bark.


You would think that is case, but many dioceses in the United States still push back Confirmation to a later age. I hear few have gone back to the proper order, so maybe others will follow.

Figure I’ll throw my :twocents: in.

I’m always partial to the order I received the sacraments in. Baptism → Reconciliation → Eucharist → Confirmation. However, at the time my diocese had moved Confirmation out from 8th grade to Freshman year of high school. The year after I passed through 8th grade they pushed it back to 8th grade (so I was in the grade year Confirmation dodged and jumped back over). I think they moved it out to high school to try and keep teens more involved after they’d left primary education (where many had been in Catholic school or CCD). And if I’m remembering correctly they found that it just led to less confirmed Catholics.

However I always liked the rationale in theory that it would keep kids engaged with their faith a little longer. Yes they may have seen a drop in total numbers, but those that would stay IMO would have made an actual commitment to Christ more so than 8th graders much more likely to be just going through the motions in school or CCD.

 

[Vico]

Should the Sacraments of Initiation be restored to their original order or should Confirmation continue to be given in middle school and high school?

Confirmation before Eucharist (since it complete the triple Christian initiation) at age of discretion for the Latin Catholic or baptism, Chrysmation, Eucharist at the same Liturgy for (some of) the eastern Catholic churches.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Two traditions: East and West

1290 In the first centuries Confirmation generally comprised one single celebration with Baptism, forming with it a “double sacrament,” according to the expression of St. Cyprian. Among other reasons, the multiplication of infant baptisms all through the year, the increase of rural parishes, and the growth of dioceses often prevented the bishop from being present at all baptismal celebrations. In the West the desire to reserve the completion of Baptism to the bishop caused the temporal separation of the two sacraments. the East has kept them united, so that Confirmation is conferred by the priest who baptizes. But he can do so only with the “myron” consecrated by a bishop. 100

1322 The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord’s own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.