This year your child is eligible to enter a program of preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Baptism, Confirmation, and First Communion comprise the Sacraments of Initiation. With the completion of the Sacrament of Confirmation, your child becomes a fully initiated member of the Catholic Church.
Our parish based instruction program prepares your child for the reception of the sacrament. It assumes that your child has been learning about the faith at home, in religious education classes, and through the weekly parish celebrations of the Eucharist. This registration package has been distributed to each student by the priest and pastoral associates of the parish. Any lost packages can be replaced by coming directly to the church, not the school.
We recognize that not every student who attends one of our parish schools worships at St. Justin, Martyr. If you are worshiping at another Catholic parish on Sundays, such as St. Patrick’s, St. Thomas the Apostle, Chinese Martyrs or St. Agnes, your child should be confirmed at that parish. Because our Confirmation program is a parish based program and not taught in the schools, your child must be prepared by the church that you worship in each Sunday. If your family attends a Protestant church on Sundays, even though your child may have been baptized as a Catholic, this program is not for you. You may want to check with your Protestant minister. Confirmation is a sacrament of full initiation into the Catholic Church.
Important Notice for Children Baptized in an
Orthodox Church or in an Eastern Rite Catholic Church
The Roman Rite is one of twenty-two rites in the universal Catholic Church. Many Catholics in the Archdiocese of Toronto were baptized in one of the various Eastern Rite Churches that constitute the Catholic Church. It is the tradition of most of the Catholic Eastern Rite and Orthodox churches that those being initiated are confirmed and receive the Eucharist at the time of baptism. Please check your child’s baptism certificate to verify if your child received Confirmation at baptism.
When the parish in conjunction with the Catholic schools prepares the candidates for the Confirmation, those Eastern Rite Catholic students are welcomed to take an active part in all aspects of the program of the parish and school. When the Roman Catholic candidates are being confirmed, those of the Eastern Rite may participate as well but there must be a clear intention and action that they are not being confirmed. The Eastern Rite students will be called forward with a brief explanation for the assembly and receive a blessing from the pastor as an act of recognition of their previous confirmation and a prayer for its fruitfulness in their lives.
Orthodox Rite students are also welcome to participate in the lessons and retreats but the Orthodox bishops have asked that their students not be publicly recognized at the Confirmation Masses.
The Confirmation Registration Deadline is Saturday, October 24th, 2009
This deadline is needed to allow us time to properly plan the Confirmation program with the large number of students we are expecting. The completed Confirmation registration forms should be brought to your family’s Confirmation interview on Saturday, October 24th in the church hall; do not return forms to your child’s school. When you return the forms please ensure that the following SIX items are included:
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Completed “Confirmation Registration Form”
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Completed and signed “Catechism Contract”
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A copy of your child’s Baptismal Certificate
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Fee of $60.00 to cover the cost of the preparation materials, books, rental of the Confirmation gown; make cheque payable to: “St. Justin, Martyr Church”
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“Parent Volunteer Opportunity Form”
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Your child’s letter to Fr. Joe explaining “Why I Want to be Confirmed”.
Questions About Confirmation
What Is Confirmation?
Confirmation is one of the three sacraments of initiation. These sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist) welcome a person into the Church which is the community of believers in Jesus Christ. At Baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit. Confirmation strengthens and celebrates the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. “By signing us with the gift of the Spirit, Confirmation makes us more completely the image of the Lord and fills us with the Holy Spirit, so that we may bear witness to Him before all the world and work to bring the Body of Christ to fullness as soon as possible”.
Christian initiation is completed by the Eucharist. By means of the Eucharist those who have been signed by Baptism and Confirmation “are incorporated fully into the Body of Christ” by participation in the Eucharist.
At what age should Confirmation be received?
Church law allows a candidate to be confirmed at “the age of discretion”, which is believed to be age seven. Canadian bishops are permitted to set the age for Confirmation in their own diocese, and it is usually between the ages of seven and sixteen. Adults who were not confirmed as children, or who are just becoming Catholic, enter the process known as RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) and receive Confirmation during the Easter Vigil liturgy. In some Eastern Rite Catholic churches, infants are confirmed when they are baptized, to stress the connection between these two sacraments. All ages have their advantages for being confirmed, and the debate continues about what age is best for receiving the sacrament. In the Archdiocese of Toronto, the age for Confirmation is 13 years old, or Grade 8. In no way is Confirmation to be associated with graduation or with a coming-of-age. Confirmation is NOT a sacrament of maturity in terms of “age”. Candidates must not feel pressured into receiving Confirmation simply because their peers are. The decision for Confirmation is a serious one, and should be made after careful discernment and sincere prayer. God’s love is a gift; we don’t earn it. The gift of the Holy Spirit given in Confirmation helps us to grow in our faith throughout our lifetime. We have the choice of accepting or rejecting the gift. Candidates are encouraged to discuss this very important decision with their parents, and if necessary, with their teacher and/or one of our parish priests.