Confirmation for children , OcXAj^l W, Cy^ ^Utlc/tQn^ ^ (Tcii.U) \'^L// WtH ' / / \ \ ^ ymurniHiiuit tar Confirmation makes us strong and perfect Christians. TO THE BOYS AND GIRLS WHO USE THIS BOOK My Dear Boys and Girls: God is very good to us. He is al- ways giving us things. One of His greatest gifts is LIFE. How wonder- ful to be , alive! How people love to keep young! It means that they want to keep FULL OF LIFE! God wants our souls to be always young. He wants them always to be FULL OF LIFE! This LIFE of our souls is called GRACE. We get it through His gifts, the Sacraments. This little book will help you to get ready for the Sacrament of Confirma- tion. You will receive this Sacrament only once in your life, It makes a sign on your soul that tells God that you belong to His army, that you are fight- ing against sin. It is so important to get ready for f3] Confirmation. If you went to gather berries, and your pail was half-full of sand, you would get only a half pail of berries. If you had an empty pail, you could fill it with berries. If our souls are empty of other things, the Holy Ghost will fill it with His gifts. That is why this book was written. If you think of the things you read here, your mind will be empty of other things. It will be ready for the Holy Ghost. Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, whom you call the Little Flower, said before her Confirmation, “I cannot • think of anyone not preparing for this Sacrament with the greatest love.” Her own sister tells us that Confirma- tion made a big change in Therese. She was ready for it. It helped her to be brave. It helped her to be a saint. May Jesus Who sent the Holy Ghost to the Apostles, send Him to you! May your hearts and minds be ready for His coming! [ 4 ] I Confirmation makes us strong and per- fect Christians. The word “firm” means “strong.” The word “confirm” means “to make strong.” Here are two trees, when the wind is blowing on them. One is firm; the other is not firm. If I want to make the weak tree strong, I can put a pole on either side. When I make it strong, I am “con- firming” the tree. [S] When we are confirmed, our souls are made strong. They are made strong, so that they will not be weak when we feel like doing something wrong. Our feelings are like the wind. They make our souls unsteady. On Sunday, a boy or a girl may jeel like staying in bed. God’s law tells us to go to Holy Mass. ; If our feelings win, then we sin. If our souls are strong, our minds will remind us of God’s law. Then, we will choose God’s law. We will go to Holy Mass. [ 6 ] The same is true for all God's laws. Sometimes we feel like being unfair; . we want to take something that does not belong to us. Perhaps we feel like saying bad words, or keeping in our minds a wrong thought. Or we feel like listening to something wrong. If our souls are weak, they will bend before our feelings. They will do the wrong thing. We will sin. Confirmation makes us strong and per- fect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ. II How Our Souls Are Made Strong in Confirmation We cannot see our souls. But we know that we have minds that think. We know that we have wills that choose. [ 7 ] The mind and the will are powers of the soul. When we are confirmed, the Holv / •r' Ghost makes our minds strong to think right, and our wills strong to choose right. The Holy Ghost does this by giving us seven gifts: Four gifts to make our minds strong ; Three gifts to make our wills strong. We shall see later in the book just what these gifts are. Ill Confirmation is a Sacrament in which we receive the Holy Ghost to make us strong and perfect Christians. Here is a story about some weak souls that were made strong by the Holy Ghost. [ 8 ] When Our Lord was on earth, He had friends who loved Him very much. They helped Him in His work. They were His Apostles. They told Our Lord they would always be true to Him. But several times, they were afraid and weak. When Our Lord needed them the night before He died, they ran away. When Our Lord rose from the dead. He came to see them. They were hid- ing, in fear of the Jews. He did not scold them for being weak. He told them He would send the HOLY GHOST to make them strong. And sure enough, one day the Holy Ghost came. They were sitting in the house, and a sound came from heaven. It was like a great wind, and it filled the whole house. And then, they saw tongues like fire, sitting over every one of them. At the same time, in their souls the HOLY GHOST began to do His great work. Their souls began to [ 9 ] grow strong. They were being con- firmed. And they went right out bravely, to tell everybody about Our Lord. They were not afraid any more. They did not fear even to die for the love of Our Lord. They were real soldiers of Jesus Christ. IV Confirmation is a Sacrament. A Sacrament is an outward sign insti- tuted by Christ to give grace. In every Sacrament, the outward sign is something we can see, or hear, or taste, or feel. It is something hap- pening outside (to the body) which shows, in a way, what is really tak- ing place inside (in the soul). This is what happens outside in Con- firmation ; [ 10 ] The Holy Ghost came down upon them in the form of tongues of fire. ' What We See, and Hear, and Feel Persons and Things 1. A Bishop who confirms. 2. Someone who is confirmed. 3. Holy oils which are being used. Actions and Words 1. The Bishop extends his hands over those to be confirmed, and prays that they may receive the Holy Ghost. 2. He puts Holy Oil called Chrism, on the forehead of each in the form of a Cross. 3. He says at the same time: ‘T sign thee with the Sign of the Cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of . salvation, in the Name of the Fa- ther, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” [ 12 ] 4. Then he strikes the person gently on the cheek, and says: “Peace be to thee.” This is what happens inside, in our souls: In Confirmation our souls get new power. Our souls are made strong. God gives seven spe- cial gifts to make our minds and wills strong. These are the names of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost: Wisdom—Understanding—Coun- sel — Knowledge. (For the mind.) Fortitude Piety—Fear of the Lord. (For the will.) These are big words, but we have no others which tell so well the mean- ing of such great gifts. The words will not seem so big as you read in this book what they mean. [ 13 ] V Wisdom WISDOM is the gift that makes us see that we must love God above al) things. When we have this Gift and use it, our minds do not have selfish ideas. We think first of God, and of others. Here is a story from the life of Saint John, one of the Apostles. It will help you to see what Wisdom means. One time. Saint John and his brother came to Jesus. They put themselves before the others, and said to Our Lord: “Grant us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand and the other on Thy left hand, in Thy glory.” Saint John, of course, was thinking just of himself then. He did not see that God’s plan comes first. Our Lord made John understand that such ways [ 14 ] of thinking were not right. The Holy Ghost was making John wise. We know that Saint John really had the Gift of Wisdom, because, when he was an old man, he was always telling the people these words: “Let us love God because God hath first loved us.” “Little children, love one an- other.” Prayer for Wisdom Dear Holy Ghost, when You come to me in Confirmation, please give me the Gift of Wisdom which will help me to be wise in loving God above all things, and my neighbor as myself. Then, I shall not think as the world thinks, but I shall always want the things that please You. Amen. [IS] VI Understanding UNDERSTANDING is the gift that helps us to have a clear Faith. It helps us to see more plainly all the truths which God has told to us. Saint Matthew the Apostle was a man who had the Gift of Understand- ing. Saint Matthew was a tax-gatherer. He worked for the Romans at collect- ing money from the Jews. He was very rich, and had a nice way of living. One day Our Lord came along. He said to Matthew, “Come, follow Me!” Matthew changed. He put away the money, and all things, and went with Jesus. Matthew understood. The Holy Ghost helped him to un- derstand that to be allowed to work for God is greater than all the money in the world. ( 16 ] The Son of Man came not to destroy souls but to save them. Prayer for Understanding Dear Holy Ghost, when You come to my soul in Confirmation, help me always to understand well the truths of my holy faith, so that I may serve You well. Amen. VII Knowledge KNOWLEDGE is the gift which helps our mind to see clearly the dif- ference between right and wrong, be- tween what is really great and what only appears to be great. So many people do not know enough about God and His Church and their own souls. They make many mis- takes. They sin by choosing the wrong thing. In the life of Saint James the Greater, we see the Gift of Knowledge at work. Once, Our Lord was going on a [ 18 ] preaching journey. He sent mes- sengers ahead to a town, to tell the people that He was coming. But the people would not receive Our Lord. This made Saint James very angry, and he said to Jesus: “Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” Our Lord said to him: “You know not of what spirit you are. The Son of Man came not to de- stroy souls, but to save them.” Then Saint James began to know plainly what Jesus wanted. Prayer for Knowledge Dear Holy Ghost, when You come to me in Confirmation, give to me the Gift of Knowledge, which will help me to know what things I ought to choose, and what to reject, so that I may get safely to heaven. Amen. [ 19 ] VIII Counsel COUNSEL is the gift that helps us to see and to choose what will help to give glory to God, and to save our souls. By this gift, the Holy Ghost gives us advice as to the proper thing to do, when it is hard to decide. This story will help you to see what it means. Before Our Lord went back to heaven He told the Apostles to teach all nations. Jesus wanted all people to know the truth. But it was hard for the Apostles, who were Jews, to decide how to do the work. Some thought it better to keep the Jews, who had be- come Christians, away from other Christians. Some wanted the Chris- tians, who had not been Jews, to fol- low Jewish manners. It looked for a while as though everything would be upset, and the [ 20 ] plans of Jesus would not be carried out. Then, at a meeting, one of the Apos- tles, James the Less, spoke up. The Holy Ghost gave him the Gift of Counsel, because his plan helped to settle things. * ' Prayer for .Counsel Dear Holy Ghost, when You come to me in Confirmation, give me this great Gift of Couiisel, which will help me always to pick c^t and choose only what will give glory t5 i^od, and help me to save my soul. Ameil.||v C IX Fortitude FORTITUDE is the gift for our will. It helps us to be brave against all dangers that would keep us from doing our duties, and obeying God. [21 ] Our Lord Himself told us that if we want to follow Him, we must carry the Cross. Our Lord Himself told us that if we want to follow Him, we must carry the cross. He meant that it is hard to be a Christian. It is much easier to be bad. The Holy Ghost gives the Gift of Fortitude so that we will not be afraid to do the hard things God asks. Saint Andrew shows us how the Gift of Fortitude works in our lives. Andrew heard Jesus say, “Take up your cross! ” He lived the hard life of the Apostles. After Jesus died, An- drew went about preaching. He tried to give people thoughts about Jesus. He was made to suffer often, by people who did not like Jesus. Finally, An- drew was nailed to a cross to die. It was a very hard thing for him. But he looked upon it almost as a prize, because he had learned to love the Cross. For three days he remained on the Cross before he died. What a long [ 23 ] and a hard time! But, think of it, all the while he kept on telling people about Jesus. He was able to do this because he had the Gift of Fortitude. Prayer for Fortitude Dear Holy Ghost, help me when You come in Confirmation, to have the Gift of Fortitude which will enable me to be brave. I shall need this es- pecially when it is hard to do the right thing, when I am tempted to go the easy way into sin. Amen. X Piety PIETY is the gift that makes us do all our duties to God and to our neigh- bor because we love God. Piety helps us to do hard things out of love of God, our good Father. Saint Therese, the Little Flower, is [ 24 ] Saint Therese, the Little Flower, loved God very much. one who shows in her life the Gift of Piety. Therese knew that God the Father loved her very much. She knew that He loved all the people. He sent His Son Jesus into the world to suffer, and to save them from sin. She told God the Father that she would like to be like Jesus. She told Him she would like to suffer for the sins of people. Of course, by herself, she was afraid to suffer. But she trusted God the Fa- ther so much that He gave her power to do much good. She knew that she loved God the Father very much, and that He would give her anything she wanted. That is why she said before she died, “I will spend my heaven do- ing good on earth.” The Gift of Piety helped her to love God very much. We need it too, be- cause there are so many things about us to love. They sometimes make us forget God. [ 26 ] Prayer for Piety Dear Holy Ghost, help me when You come to me in Confirmation, to have the Gift of Piety. Then I shall love God as my Father, and Jesus as my loving Brother, and You as my best Friend. Then I shall be always ready to do hard things for You and others’, because my heart is filled with love. Amen. XI Fear of the Lord FEAR OF THE LORD is the Gift that makes us afraid to lose God by sin. It is not worry, or foolish fear. It makes us so afraid of sin, that we hold on to God by hope in His good- ness. In the Life of Saint Peter, we can see the Gift of the Fear of the Lord at work. [ 27 ] At first, Peter was very sure of him- self. He boasted that he would never be untrue to Jesus. He kept his word pretty much, too. But the night be- fore Our Lord died, when Jesus needed His friends most, Peter denied that he knew Jesus. Instead of being afraid of losing God, he was afraid of losing his own life. So he told everyone who asked him that he did not know Jesus. Our Lord forgave Peter for this. And Peter knew enough never to trust himself again. He was always watch- ing out for sins, and in one of his let- ters, he wrote: “Cast all your care on God, for He hath care of you. Be- cause your enemy, the devil, as a roar- ing lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour.” Prayer for the Fear of the Lord Dear Holy Ghost, when You come to my soul in Confirmation, give me [ 28 ] i t \ this Gift of Fear of the Lord, so that I may^ never trust to myself. May I always be afraid of sin, afraid of los- ing God. Then will I be strong ever to serve You well. Amen. [ 30 ] O Mary, Mother of Jesus, teach me to pray. 0 My dear Boys and' Girls: Once, like you, the Apostles were waiting for the Holy Ghost to come. They wanted Him very much. They needed to be made strong. It was not easy for them to forget other things, and think only of His coming. But someone helped them to get ready. She will help us, too. She is Mary, the Mother of Jesus. We read that the Apostles kept praying “with Mary, the Mother of Jesus.” She showed them how to think of God. She showed them how to pray. O Mary, Mother of Jesus, stay with me as I get ready for Confirmation. Teach me to pray for the gifts of the Holy Ghost. I want to be a brave sol- dier of Jesus ; to win the battle against sin. I want always to be true to my faith; to help Jesus to do His work in my heart, and in the hearts of others. [32 ] PiiJ't'.W.'iPii-iiii HUifp lit