CONFIRMATION

The sacrament of confirmation is given to anyone who is Catholic and aging 12 and above. It is one of the seven sacraments namely Baptism, Confession, Communion, Confirmation, Matrimony, Order of the Priest, Anointing of the Sick. It is also one of the three sacraments that is received only once. The other two are the Baptism and Order of the Priest.

In receiving the sacrament of Confirmation, you are receiving the Holy Spirit in your heart. In the last decades, when you are six or seven, you can already be confirmed. But it was changed because the priests thought that the faith of the conformant must be matured. When our guidance councilor announced that a confirmation would be done, I then consulted my parents about it and they said yes. I then gave the requirements necessary for the confirmation.

But before the actual confirmation, several meetings were held in the guidance office for us to be prepared for the actual confirmation. The first meeting was about the Holy Spirit. What is the Holy Spirit? And other related questions. The next was about the sacrament of Confirmation. What is it all about, why do we need to be confirmed and questions related to these. The next was the Recollection of the parents and sponsors of those who wish to be confirmed. And then the confession with the Taize prayer.

According to what we have been told, Taize derived its name from a little village in Southern France. They said that everyday, the youth gather and pray. But theirs was different. Songs and chants accompany their prayers. While the prayer is still going on, one by one, we were asked to confess to Fr. John.

During the actual date of confirmation, we arrived early at St. Therese Parish Church. We have to wait for about an hour for the others. I thought the actual confirmation would start at 1:00 PM sharp but it started at 2:00 PM. But that 2:00 PM was just the seminar. (We have to have seminar first before the ceremony would start for us to understand better the sacrament of confirmation and what are we up to.) The ceremony for the confirmation started at 2:30 PM. But first, the priest got a model to show us how the confirmation is done and what to answer the priest�s questions.

Then the right time came. The catechist lined us up together with our respective sponsors. First, the priest made a cross sign in our forehead with an oil in his thumb. He said that it wasn�t ordinary oil. The higher positioned priests blessed it during the Holy Week. After the cross sign, he said something, maybe a prayer, which I answered with AMEN. Then he slapped my face before saying PEACE BE WTH YOU, which I answered with AND ALSO WITH YOU. Then we were taken back to our seats and after the others who wished to be confirmed were confirmed, the ceremony continued.

After the confirmation, we eat in a fast-food chain in Ayala Center that�s why when we arrived at home we were so full.

When we got home, I was so happy because at last I am already CONFIRMED.