Bogachan Demirci
STM 322C-170 Sacraments & Symbols
Research Paper
September 9, 2012

The History, Theology, Ritual/Liturgy, Pastoral Issues of
Confirmation as a Sacrament

“Sacraments are actions, and they function as rituals: they repeat gestures and words that are meaningful to those who perceive them. Sacraments affect more than the thoughts and feelings of participants because they have to be understood psychologically and theologically.
There are seven sacraments in Catholicism: Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, The Eucharist, Penance, Anointing the Sick and Holy Orders. People learn and remember and they remember from practice of prayer and of the involvement and preparation of the sacraments. (Martos 2009). These sacraments help people work together in the Catholic Community and celebrate God every day. Mt 25 34-46.
Confirmation is one of three Catholic sacraments of initiation, it connects the recipient and reveals communion with God and his grace. “Confirmation is regarded as the perfection of Baptism, because, as the introduction to the Rite of Confirmation states: by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. They are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.”

In the Eastern Catholic churches, Confirmation is known as Christmation and confers a, “sacramental character that cannot be erased and predisposes the Christian person to receive the life of God and his division protection.” According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “A sacrament is which the Holy Ghost is given to those already baptized in order to make them strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus. Confirmation can be conferred only on those who have been baptized and have not yet been confirmed, and