Ministry of the Word - sacrament of Confirmation. The ordination of the Laity

SACRAMENTS : A History of Confirmation

Is Confirmation is the ordination of the laity

Is this sacrament a confirmation of faith, a pledge of sorts to God, and a sign of adulthood in the Church. Confirmation is not a celebration of what we do and God responds and it is not an event at which we confirm anything to God; it is about what God does and how we respond to God.

History of Confirmation.

Confirmation was once a part of the baptismal ritual; it took place immediately after baptism, sealing in the Holy Spirit and anointing the new Christian with a threefold ministry as priest, prophet, and king. The specific oil that is used is called chrism. It is only used in two sacraments: Confirmation and Holy Orders; both are sacraments in which the person is anointed for ministry. Therefore, Confirmation can be seen as an anointing for ministry, for work to build the kingdom of God, not graduation from church.

How did Confirmation become separated from Baptism?
Confirmation became separated from Baptism through a change in the social structure of ancient society. In the ancient world it was the bishop who performed all the duties that you might see a parish priest do today. The bishop was the one who celebrated Mass for the Christian community and led other rituals. This still holds true today, as the bishop is the “ordinary minister” of the sacraments of a geographical area, but people are so spread out that it would make it difficult for the bishop to lead the entire community in one celebration, especially in areas with a large Christian population. In the ancient world, the bishop led the only celebration of the Eucharist for that week.

Gradually bishops appointed presbyters / elders in the church to go live in the villages, preside over Eucharist, preach, and to keep in touch with him.
However, not all parts of the Church had the same idea as to how initiation should be carried out.

The Eastern Church was concerned with maintaining the integrity of the rites of initiation. Their philosophy was that it was okay if the presbyter anointed the new Christians so that the whole ritual would be performed at once rather than doing each part a different time.

The Western Church, however, wanted to preserve the idea of initiation into a whole community, with recognition by its visible head. Therefore, the bishop was the only one who could perform the anointing.
This is how Confirmation became a separate sacrament from Baptism in the Western Church.

Now the question is what is most important: preservation of the rite or the importance of initiation into a community and recognition by its visible head. Both sides are legitimate and are both recognized as valid by the Catholic Church. However, in the Roman Catholic Church.

Ratramnus of Corbie, a ninth century monk argued in favor of the position of the Western Church. He said that it has to be the bishop that confirms because the bishop ordains (Holy Orders) and Confirmation is the ordination of the laity. He also said that it is the sacramental celebration of the priesthood of the people of God and the universal priesthood of the faithful.

Confirmation is not an end to religious education, but the beginning of a life in service to God.

Compiled by:

Anthony Custodio Fiacre DIAS

http://tonydias.page.tl/

+91 9821342681 Bombay India

tony@dias.co

9^th April 2016

Is Confirmation the ordination of the laity