Confirmation
The Sacrament of Confirmation can be described as the sacrament of
spiritual maturity. It enriches the soul of the person with deep
graces of the Spirit. Confirmation is the sacrament that calls
recipients to witness courageously the gift of faith by word and,
especially, by the example of their lives. The Vatican II’s
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church states that Catholics “are
more perfectly bound to the Church by the Sacrament of Confirmation
and the Holy Spirit endows
Confirmation ~ Grades 7-8 & High School
Preparation for Confirmation is a two-year program administered by our Religious Education Office. The program begins in 7th grade and continues through 8th grade. Classes are held weekly and students are placed in Confirmation Teams that complete spiritual and corporal works of mercy as acts of service to the Church and local community. We also have specific classes for high school students preparing for Confirmation.
The sacrament of Confirmation is celebrated annually when the Bishop
visits the parish. The actual dates are not determined by St. Mary
but given to us by the Bishop’s office, usually in the spring.
To register for Confirmation classes, contact the Religious
Education Office at 540-373-7770.
Why Confirmation Teams?
As
part of our Confirmation program, all teen candidates are required
to be involved in a Confirmation Team. As teens move from middle
school and into high school it is crucial for them to establish
faith based friendships with their peers. It is also important for
them to have a sense of what serving others is like. By combining
service with friendship teens are more inclined to get involved in
serving the community—its no longer a chore—it’s a thing to do with
your friends. Each teen is placed in a team of 10 youth broken up
according to the neighborhoods that they live in.
It is our desire that as these teens serve together and grow
in friendship they will continue to be involved in service
throughout their teenage years. The solid, faith filled friendships
that they established through these Confirmation Teams will also
give our Catholic teens an established community that they can carry
into high school.
Each team will have at least one adult leader to serve as a mentor
for our young people, providing inspiration for serving in the
Church and wider community and emphasizing ones need to develop a
deeper prayer life and relationship with God.
What do they do in these Confirmation Teams?
Each Candidate must complete three Spiritual Works of Mercy and
three Corporal Works of Mercy together as a team. These Works are a
primary component of the Confirmation preparation program.
The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy
Fulfilling the Works of Mercy for each of us is a lifelong
commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 25:32-46
tells us that when we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty,
welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, take care of the sick, and
visit the imprisoned, we care for Christ himself.
Corporal Works of Mercy:
recognizes the sacredness of human life.
We learn through fulfilling these Works of Mercy for others
that we are our brother's keeper.
Our feelings of love for our brothers and sisters must be
accompanied by acts of charity. As teams we will reach out to
members of our parish and the wider community and allow Christ to be
reflected in us by our compassion for our neighbor.
Spiritual Works of Mercy:
recognize sin, ignorance, doubt, sorrow and other human conditions
where we need to reach out in faith and love to others.
The purpose of our program at St. Mary is for our teen
Candidates to pray together, experiencing different liturgical
activities in the spiritual life of the parish.
Vatican II challenges us to “be fully conscience and active
participants” in the prayer life “of the Church” and this is a good
way to engage our teens into that participation.
Confirmation Retreat
As part of the Confirmation journey all Confirmation Teams are
required to attend a Confirmation retreat to the National Shrine of
the Immaculate Conception, in Washington, D.C. This retreat will
help our teen candidates to better enter into the mystery of Gods
love presented to them through the sacrament of Confirmation. Fr.
Rooney, the Pastor of
For more details regarding what is expected from each teen Candidate and for our policy for corporal and spiritual works please see our Confirmation Parent and Candidate Handbook.