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Confirmation
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church we find that Confirmation brings
an increase and deepening of baptismal grace:
it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation that makes us cry,
“Abba! Father!”
it unites us more firmly to Christ;
it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us;
it renders our bond with the
Church more perfect;
it give us a special strength of
the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith
by word and action as a true witness of Christ,
to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never
to be ashamed of the Cross.
Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the
spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in God’s
presence. Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with
his sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed his pledge, the
Spirit, in your hearts. (St. Ambrose)
Like Baptism which it completes, Confirmation is given only once, for it
too imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark, the “character,” which
is the sign that Jesus Christ has marked a Christian with – the seal of his
Spirit – by clothing him with power from on high so that he may be his
witness.
This “character” perfects the common priesthood of the faithful, received
in Baptism, and “the confirmed person receives the power to profess faith in
Christ publicly and, as it were, officially.”
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