Valid Confirmation?

[Gamera]

Hi. Cool board you guys have here! I’d appreciate any help with this question.

I went through Confirmation at age 16 sheerly to please my parents. The whole thing was a joke to me. Now at 41, I know better. I wish I could recieve this precious sacrament and mean it.

Obviously my Confirmation was not “lawful.” Code of Canon Law 889 holds in part: “Apart from the danger of death, to receive confirmation lawfully a person who has the use of reason must be suitably instructed, properly disposed and able to renew the baptismal promises.” I was suitably instructed but certainly not properly disposed, and I didn’t mean any renewal of baptismal promises.

But lawfulness isn’t the issue. My question is, was my Confirmation valid? CCC 1310 says, “To receive Confirmation one MUST be in a state of grace.” Surely I wasn’t. Does that affect the validity of the sacrament? Does an unworthy recipient of Confirmation still receive the indelible seal of the Holy Spirit?

Thanks very much.

 

[stbruno]

A state of grace means that you were not in mortal sin not a mindset or appreciation of the sacrament, Although that would be ideal to me. As a catechist of jr.high kids who are the majority recipients of the sacrament of Confirmation in our parish, it is rare that most of them have the maturity in my opinion to fully appreciate the enormous gifts and graces we receive from this sacrament of initiation. As we get older and hopefully wiser, and open our hearts truly to the Holy Spirit, then we are drawn closer to the Church and to God. For some people, they grow distant, fortunately for you, the reverse happened, you grew closer. Rest assured the Sacrament was valid, just now you are appreciating the splendor of Confirmation. God bless you!

 

[Traditional_Ang]

A state of grace means that you were not in mortal sin not a mindset or appreciation of the sacrament, Although that would be ideal to me. As a catechist of jr.high kids who are the majority recipients of the sacrament of Confirmation in our parish, it is rare that most of them have the maturity in my opinion to fully appreciate the enormous gifts and graces we receive from this sacrament of initiation. As we get older and hopefully wiser, and open our hearts truly to the Holy Spirit, then we are drawn closer to the Church and to God. For some people, they grow distant, fortunately for you, the reverse happened, you grew closer. Rest assured the Sacrament was valid, just now you are appreciating the splendor of Confirmation. God bless you!

Gamera & stbruno:

St Bruno is right about the emotional and mental readiness of most of the 12-15 year olds who are confirmed in most churches nowadays. It was most definitely true when I found myself teaching Confirmation Class 25 years ago and found that the 12 year old kids were shocked when they found out they were going to have to remember parts of the Baltimore Catechism and read the weekly readings and discuss them every week before receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation.

I wanted very much to have them know what they were doing and the Grace they were receiving, and to have them feel as if they had actually prepared for it.

As long as you took the classes and kept yourself free from Mortal Sin, you did everything you were required for a VALID CONFIRMATION, you just didn’t dispose yourself to experience the JOY of the Sacrament.

You can always talk to your priest about this, but I would remember that you had a Valid and Licit Confirmation, just ot a Joyful one.

Now that you have matured, You can allow yourself to experience the Splendor and Joy of receiving the Lord in the Eucharist and of having your sins put away in the Sacrament of Reconcilation and of living a life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Your Brother in Christ, Michael

 

[Gamera]

Thanks for your answers. No, I’m sure that I was in a state of mortal sin at the time. For one thing, I was completely apostate — like I said, I only wanted to please my parents. I didn’t even think there was a God and I certainly didn’t put any stock in what the Church said or did. And I certainly wasn’t contrite for other sins.

But does CCC 1310 mean that a person “must” be in a state of grace for the sacrament to be lawful, or for the sacrament to be valid? In other words, if an apostate in a state of sin simply goes through the external motions and the Bishop anoints with the chrism, is the sacrament validly conferred, or is it null and void?

 

[puzzleannie]

the validity of the sacrament rests on the intention and proper matter and form on the part of the celebrant, in the case of Confirmation, the bishop or his delegate. The candidate must be worthy and prepared to receive fully the grace of the sacrament. If the candidate does receive while in a state of mortal sin, once he has confessed and been absolved, his soul again is open to sacramental grace, the action of Christ through the Holy Spirit and that grace is now available to him. as soon as you go to confession your confirmation “kicks in” as it were. You had the car, you were given the keys, somebody put gas in the car for you. All that remained was for you to get in the car and turn on the ignition.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Hi. Cool board you guys have here! I’d appreciate any help with this question.

I went through Confirmation at age 16 sheerly to please my parents. The whole thing was a joke to me. Now at 41, I know better. I wish I could recieve this precious sacrament and mean it.

Obviously my Confirmation was not “lawful.” Code of Canon Law 889 holds in part: “Apart from the danger of death, to receive confirmation lawfully a person who has the use of reason must be suitably instructed, properly disposed and able to renew the baptismal promises.” I was suitably instructed but certainly not properly disposed, and I didn’t mean any renewal of baptismal promises.

But lawfulness isn’t the issue. My question is, was my Confirmation valid? CCC 1310 says, “To receive Confirmation one MUST be in a state of grace.” Surely I wasn’t. Does that affect the validity of the sacrament? Does an unworthy recipient of Confirmation still receive the indelible seal of the Holy Spirit?

Thanks very much.

Yes you received the Sacrament of Confirmation when you were 16. You received it validly but not fruitfully. The Mark of the Sacrament was received but the Graces were not. Once you go to Confession and Confess you received the Sacrament while not properly disposed, you will need to decide if you were in a State of Grace at the time. You now have the additional issue of the reception of other Sacraments specifically Holy Communion, and Marriage. Have each of those receptions for the last 25 years been an additional mortal sin? I don’t know how long it’s been since you last Confession and I don’t need to know. But you need to consider this.

Once you return to a State of Grace, the Graces of the Sacrament of Confirmation will be made available to you.

 

[Gamera]

I’ve received the sacrament of reconciliation many times since then. That isn’t the issue. I’m sure I was in mortal sin when confirmed. So, according to the posts above, I recieved it validly but couldn’t receive its graces until later. Fair enough.

And yes, I’ve gotten married in the Church since then — I hope that isn’t affected, because I’d hate to tell my wife that we aren’t really married! LOL!

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I’ve received the sacrament of reconciliation many times since then. That isn’t the issue. I’m sure I was in mortal sin when confirmed. So, according to the posts above, I recieved it validly but couldn’t receive its graces until later. Fair enough.

And yes, I’ve gotten married in the Church since then — I hope that isn’t affected, because I’d hate to tell my wife that we aren’t really married! LOL!

Most people do not seem to realize that attempting to receive a Sacrament of the living, Holy Communion, Marriage, Confirmation, while in Mortal sin, is itself another mortal sin. That must also be confessed.

 

[Gamera]

Yeah, that part I’ve got covered. I confessed the illicit receipt of confirmation years ago. I’m just focused now on whether it was valid.