Sacrament of Confirmation
Confirmation Course
The Sacrament of Confirmation is usually offered to young people who are around 13 years of age, after they have been baptised and made both their First Holy Communion and First Confession.
Candidates will be expected to take part in a Confirmation Preparation Course organised by the parish and be willing to commit themselves to being an active and very important part of the Church’s life.
There are 12 sessions in the Confirmation Preparation Course that start after Easter, usually in May, and finish the following year after Easter. Candidates will be provided a copy of The New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism No. 1. which will be followed throughout the course.
Please note that it is never too late to be confirmed, so if you missed out as a teenager, you can still be confirmed, via Adult RCIA, RCIA Youth or by making an appointment via the Parish Office to speak to the Parish Priest.
Course Dates
Sessions normally take place at the Parish Hall at St Mary Magdalene Church in Stony Stratford on a Sunday afternoon between 4 pm - 6pm.
The dates for the next course will always be found on the Confirmation Course Dates under Latest News.
Confirmation Course Application
To register your interest in attending the next course, please complete the Confirmation Course Application Form, shown below.
What is Confirmation?
The Sacrament of Confirmation belongs to the Sacraments of Initiation by which we are made full members of the Body of Christ, the Church.
It is vital for the Life of Grace, essential to exercise a ministry in the Church and gives us the necessary gifts and strength to witness, to fight, and even die for Christ.
Confirmation seals us in the Holy Spirit, hence its name, “Sacrament of the Seal.”
Because this seal is a permanent gift to the soul, the Sacrament, like Baptism and Holy Orders, may be received only once.
The Sacrament of Confirmation gives us the grace to become perfect Christians and true soldiers of Christ, well-armed to defend Christ as King, His Mother as Queen, and the Church Militant as His Kingdom on earth. God confirms us (strengthens us) so we may do spiritual battle.
The moral life of Christians is sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit (CCC 1830). These are permanent dispositions that make man docile to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
This Sacrament imparts to us the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit (CCC 1831):
Wisdom
Understanding
Counsel
Fortitude
Knowledge
Piety
Fear of the Lord
"Remember, then, that you received a spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear. Keep safe what you received. God the Father sealed you, Christ the Lord strengthened you and sent the Spirit into your hearts as the pledge of what is to come."
St. Ambrose