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Prayers · Children and Youth

Prayer of the adolescent in preparation for Confirmation

The Confirmation, or Sacrament of the Chrism, is the sacrament by which the baptised, in adolescence, receives the fullness of the Holy Spirit with his seven gifts — wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of God (Is 11:2-3 according to the Vulgate) — to become a public witness of Christ in adult life. The rite has its origin in the Apostles: «Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost» (Acts 8:17). The Council of Florence (Decretum pro Armeniis, 22.11.1439, full DP) and the Council of Trent (Session VII, 3.03.1547, full DP) defined it as a true Sacrament of the New Law, conferred by anointing with the chrism oil (consecrated by the Bishop on Holy Thursday) on the forehead of the confirmand, with the words Accipe signaculum Doni Spiritus Sancti — Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit (form renewed by St Paul VI, Divinae Consortium Naturae, 15.08.1971). Confirmation marks the end of the catechesis of childhood and the beginning of adult Christian life — not in the chronological sense (we keep growing all our life) but in the responsible sense: the confirmed is no longer a Christian by the faith of the parents, but by his own personal choice. This prayer is for the adolescent to pray during the weeks of preparation for the sacrament. It complements the general prayer for the Sacrament of Confirmation already present in this portal under Sacraments.

(The adolescent prays, on his knees before the Crucifix or the Blessed Sacrament:)

Lord my God, today I come before you as an adolescent. I am no longer a child, and I am not yet a complete adult. I am at this difficult age when everything calls me — friends, discoveries, passions, fears, choices. You know what is happening within me, better than I myself know.

I come to prepare myself to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, the seal of your Holy Spirit. When I was baptised, it was my parents who spoke for me. Now the hour has come for me, with my mouth and with my heart, to say before the Bishop, before the Church, before you: I believe; I renounce Satan; I follow Christ.

Holy Spirit, Lord and giver of life, come upon me. As you descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost in the form of tongues of fire (Acts 2:3) — descend also upon me at Confirmation, with your seven gifts:

  • The gift of Wisdom — that I may relish the things of God more than the things of the world;
  • The gift of Understanding — that I may comprehend in depth the truths of the faith I learned in the Catechism;
  • The gift of Counsel — that I may know how to choose the good in the difficult decisions of my life, especially at this age when so many choices begin;
  • The gift of Fortitude — that I may have the courage to confess Christ before my peers, without shame nor fear;
  • The gift of Knowledge — that I may see, behind every creature, the Creator;
  • The gift of Piety — that I may love you as a son loves his Father, with trust and tenderness;
  • The gift of the Fear of God — not the fear of a slave, but filial reverence which has horror of sin out of love for you.

Holy Spirit, make of me, on the day of Confirmation, an adult and responsible Christian. May I not be ashamed to call myself Catholic at school, at the university, in sport, on social networks. May I not let myself be carried by the current of the world on the question of purity, of honesty, of respect for parents, of future fidelity in marriage or in consecrated life. May I be a witness — as the etymology of the word martyr requires — of Christ, all the days of my life.

Most Holy Mary, Mother of the Church, you who with the Apostles in the Cenacle awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 1:14) — await also with me the coming of the Holy Spirit at my Confirmation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

«Come, Creator Spirit» — Veni Creator Spiritus (full hymn in this portal under Hymns).

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