De Confermacio
The Meaning of Confirmation
Confirmation serves as the personal ratification of the baptismal vows made by godparents on one's behalf.
The Sacrament of Confirmation is, my son, the figure and the consent of the baptism you have received: Confirmation is when the Bishop, who is your spiritual father, confirms you and gives you a slap on the cheek so that you'll remember Confirmation, and ties a band on you so that it may be made plain to people that you are confirmed in the holy sacrament of baptism.12 The Sacrament of Confirmation was established so that children, once they’ve grown and gained understanding, can personally assent to what their godparents promised for them on the day of their baptism—a day when they didn't yet have the understanding to consent to the Sacrament of baptism themselves.3 Dear son, when you receive the sacrament of Confirmation, then the godparents who held you at the font and who, in your presence, promised to keep the sacrament of Baptism are released from that promise. And you, son, make a sacrifice of yourself to God and offer yourself to be a servant of God and a defender of the holy Christian faith.
Fidelity to the Sacraments
The author warns against the gravity of renouncing the faith and emphasizes the immense value God places on the sacraments of the Church.
Wicked Christians who, out of fear of death or because of poverty or false opinion or for any other reason, renounce and stop believing the holy Catholic faith—those people, my son, renounce and break the sacrament of baptism and all the other sacraments that belong to the Catholic faith; and for that reason they have no share in the power of baptism or in the other sacraments; and when they die, the demons carry them off to everlasting fire. Dear son, through the power of this sacrament and through all the other sacraments of Holy Church, you have a share in every good that is done in Holy Church: so for that reason, strive as hard as you can to keep and preserve this sacrament and all the others. If you break what you promise when you receive the Sacrament, then you make yourself a companion of the demons and of the damned sinners, and you leave the company of the angels and of the saints of glory. Son, remember how dear and pleasing the Sacraments of Holy Church were to our Lord God; for out of love for them, He sent His Son in human nature, in which He was crucified and died, so that Holy Church might be set in order and enlightened.✦4 Now, since this is so, if you, son, are against the Sacraments of Holy Church, you can realize what a great fault you commit and how deeply displeasing you are to our Lord God.5
Read the original Latin
Sagrament de confermacio es, fill, figura e consentiment del baptisme que has reebut: la qual confermacio es adoncs con lo Bisbe, qui es ton pare spiritual, te conferma et dona caxada, per so quet membre de la confermacio, e liguet una bena per so que sia manifestat a les gents que tu est confermat en lo sant sagrament del baptisme.
Aquest sagrament de confermacio es atrobat per so car los infants con son creeguts e han enteniment atorguen so que los padrins prometeren per ells, lo dia que foren batejats: en lo qual dia los infants no avíen enteniment per lo qual poguessen consentir al sagrament del baptisme.
Amable fill, con tu reebs lo sagrament de confermacio, adoncs ixen de la promessio los padrins quit tengren a les fonts e qui en presencia de tu prometeren a conservar lo sagrament del baptisme. E tu, fill, fas sacrifici a Deu de tu meteix e offers te a esser servidor de Deu e defenedor de la santa fe crestiana.
Los malvats crestians qui per paor de mort o per pobretat o per falsa oppinio o per alcuna altra cosa reneguen e descreen la sancta fe catholica, aquells, fill, reneguen e trenquen lo sagrament del babtisme e tots los altres sagraments quis covenen a la fe catholiqa; e per assó no han part en la vertut del baptisme ni en los altres sagraments; e con se moren, los demonis porten los a foch perdurable.
Amable fill, per la vertut daquest sagrament e per tots los altres sagraments de Sancta Esgleya has tu part en tots los bens quis son fets en la Sancta Esgleya: on per assó tesforsa aytant con pusques a tenir e a conservar aquest sagrament e tots los altres.
Si tu trenques so que promets con reebs lo sagrament, adonchs te fas companyó dels demonis e dels peccadors infemats, e ix de la companyía dels ángels e dels sants de gloria.
Remembrar pots, fill, con los Sagraments de Sancta Esgleya foren amables e agradables a nostro Senyor Deu; car per amor d aquells tramés son Fill en natura humana, en la qual fo crucificat e mort, per tal que la Sancta Esgleya fos ordonada e illuminada. On com assó sia enaxi, si tu, fill, est contra los sagraments de Sancta Esgleya, aesmar pots con gran falliment fas e con molt fortment est desagradable a nostro senyor Deu.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.3.16;Phil.2.6-Phil.2.8 — For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. Phil.2.6 — who, existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to exploit, Phil.2.7 — but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and appearing as a human being. Phil.2.8 — And he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Notes
- 1 ↩Catalan caxada is the traditional light blow (alapa) given at Confirmation; not a punishment, but a ritual reminder of the sacrament.
- 2 ↩figura e consentiment: figura as sacramental sign/image of baptism; consentiment as ratification/consent of the baptism already received (developed in the next section).
- 3 ↩Medieval Catalan «es atrobat» (from atrobar) rendered as «was established»: the sense is that the sacrament was instituted/ordained for the reason given, not that it is merely «found» or «discovered».
- 4 ↩Catalan 'ordonada e illuminada' rendered as 'set in order and enlightened' (institution/ordering of the Church and its spiritual illumination); 'ordonada' could also be read more narrowly as 'ordained/instituted'.
- 5 ↩'aesmar pots' = you can reckon/estimate/judge; rendered 'you can reckon' to keep the deliberative force without sounding archaic.
Doctrine for Children — Opening companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit