The Form

In Common Worship, the form of Confirmation, that is, the form of words used in administering the Sacrament, is:

“Confirm, O Lord, your servant with your Holy Spirit”. (2)

In the Roman Catholic Church the form is, "I sign you with the sign of the Cross and I confirm you with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."  In the Eastern Church the form is, “The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit”.

The inward grace

The point of the word “seal” is this: just as a merchant, who has bought some goods but has not yet moved them to his own premises, puts his seal on them to show that they are now his; so God, in the Sacrament of Confirmation, puts his mark or seal on our souls to show that we now belong to him, even though he has not yet brought us to Heaven.

From our point of view, God’s gift of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation is his first instalment to us of the blessings of Heaven, and by it we can be sure that all the other blessings of Heaven, which he has promised us, are waiting for us to have in due time (Ephesians 1:13,14).

The inward grace of Confirmation is the full gift of God the Holy Spirit to arm and equip us as Soldiers of Christ for our life in the world.  And this gift also makes us full members of God’s Church.  In the majority of parishes in the Church of England people are confirmed before they receive Holy Communion.  So Confirmation also enables them to take their full part in the Eucharist by making their Communion.

Baptism and Confirmation make a mark on the soul which can never be removed.  We call this the ‘indelible character’.  In other words, once you are baptised and confirmed, you are always baptised and confirmed and can never be baptised and confirmed again.