There is a book on the history of the sacraments that is very enlightening (I’m at work and can’t think of the title right now but I’ll get it and post it). It help me to understand the Sacrament of Confirmation (and all the others, too) much better. Our youngest son was being confirmed and my husband, his twin sons and the rest of his family are Protestant and of course, questions came up about the sacraments, confirmation in particular. This book helped.
The 3 Sacraments of Initiation, in the beginning of the church, were all done together. In the first centuries, there was much persecution and those who wanted to be Christion had to go “underground”. These catechumens needed someone to witness for them for everyone was afraid of “infiltrators” that wold turn them over to the authorities. This is where the “sponsor” came from. Catechumens had to go through rigorous training in the faith, sometimes for years.
At the end of this training period - the Easter Vigil - the catechuemns would gather in a secret place and the sacraments were administered. They would stand facing west and denounce Satan, then turn to the east and praise and thank God and accept the faith. Attendants would then prepare the catechumen for Baptism. The catechumen would completely undress and walk into the baptismal “pool” (full immersion). This pool was sometimes shaped like a womb! The bishop would baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The catechumen would come out of the water and put on a white robe signifying their own new creation. The bishop would then anoint them them with the holy chrism oil and call down upon them the Holy Spirit (confirmation) to prepare them for the battle of waging war against Satan. The catechumens were then escorted into the “church” (this is all done in secret), the congregation would accept them into their community and the catechumens would receive their first Holy Communion. Usually this would all culminate around midnight. Of course, at this time, the catechumens were adults.
It’s all very beautiful, the way it is explained in the book. The author gives a catechumen a name and you follow his journey into becoming Christian. It gives you a whole new outlook on these 3 sacraments in particular. The story paints a very vivid picture in your mind of what it must’ve been like to become a Christian back then. The book then goes on to explain how we came to separate the sacraments and why we do them and when we do them. It had to do with the rapid growth of the church in Constantine’s time and logistics - the growth of the world population in general. The book is very enlightening and I suggest it to anyone who wants to understand the sacraments more fully.
I’ll post the name of the book shortly.
