Confirmation

From Awe

In the Christian churches, confirmation is a sacrament. It is seen, in western churches, as an adult sequel to the rite of Baptism, usually administered in infancy: in Confirmation, people who have reached maturity confirm the vows that were made on their behalf, and thus become full communicant members of their church. Confirmation usually follows a course of teaching of Christian doctrine: in many parishes, schools etc there is a set programme of confirmation classes. These are often based on the catechism, as a result of which candiadates for confirmation may be called 'catechumens'.

• In the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Confirmation is usually administered immediately (by a priest) after Baptism, allowing the sacrament of the Eucharist to be given, as it customarily is, even to the very young.
• In the Roman Catholic church, the appropriate age for Confirmation (by a Bishop or a Priest) is seen as the "age of reason", i.e. 7 years old.
• In the Anglican church, confirmation is performed by a Bishop), usually at around the age of puberty.

Confirmation is also called chrismation in the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, in reference to the practice of anointing the confirmand with chrism. or consecrated oil.

Confirmation is also used as a technical term in the study of Rhetoric: see Large-scale Figures of meaning. It also has technical meanings in the studies of Law, Logic and various financial fields.