catechism of the sacrament of confirmation

Who is the Holy Spirit?: The Holy Spirit is God, and the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity.
When was the Holy Spirit sent to the Church?: The Holy Spirit was sent to the Church on Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus rose from dead.
Who sent the Holy Spirit to live in the Church?: God the Father and God the Son sent the Holy Spirit to live in the Church.
What does the Holy Spirit do for you?: The Holy Spirit makes my soul holy through the gift of His grace.
When did the Holy Spirit first come to you?: The Holy Spirit came to me when I received the Sacrament of Baptism.
How does the Holy Spirit still live in your soul?: The Holy Spirit still lives in my soul through sanctifying grace.
What is sanctifying grace?: Sanctifying grace is a gift from God that gives to my soul a new life, a sharing in the life and love of God himself.
What does sanctifying grace do for you?: Sanctifying grace makes my soul holy and pleasing to God, it makes me a child of God and an heir of heaven.
What is virtue?: A virtue is a habit that comes with God’s grace and helps us to do good deeds more easily.
What are the three divine virtues, which the Holy Spirit gives us through sanctifying grace?: The three divine virtues, which the Holy Spirit gives us through sanctifying grace are, faith, hope and charity.
What is faith?: Faith is the divine virtue by which we firmly believe, on the Word of God, all the truths he has made known.
What is hope?: Hope is the divine virtue by which we firmly trust that God will give us eternal happiness and the help we need to obtain it.
What is charity?: Charity is the divine virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.
What other kind of grace does the Holy Spirit give you?: The Holy Spirit also gives me actual grace.
What is actual grace?: Actual grace is the help that the Holy Spirit gives me to know what I must do to please God and to want to do it.
How does the Holy Spirit help your mind and will?: The Holy Spirit helps my mind by giving me light, and He helps my will by giving me strength to do good and to avoid evil.
How long does actual grace stay in your soul?: Actual grace stays in my soul as long as I need it to help me to do good actions and to avoid doing evil ones.
What does the Holy Spirit give you along with His grace?: Along with His grace, the Holy Spirit give me His Seven Gifts.
What are the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit?: The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
What does the Gift of wisdom do for you?: The Gift of Wisdom helps me to seek God and make Him the center of my life, so that His love may grow in my soul.
What does the Gift of Understanding do for you?: The Gift of Understanding gives light to my mind, that I may know and love the truths of faith and live by them.
What does the Gift of Counsel or Right Judgment do for you?: The Gift of Counsel guides me in all actions, that I may always know and do God’s holy will and act with prudence.
What does the Gif t of Fortitude or Courage do for you?: The Gift of Fortitude strengthens my soul in my troubles and temptations, and gives me confidence in God.
What does the Gift of Knowledge do for you?: The Gift of Knowledge teaches me to know good from evil and to do what is right in the sight of God.
What does the Gift of Piety or Reverence do for you?: The Gift of Piety helps me to remember God’s presence in my soul and gives me a deep reverence for God and for my fellow human beings.
What does the Gift of the Fear of the Lord or Wonder and Awe in God’s Presence do for you?: The gift of the Fear of the Lord helps me to avoid displeasing God by sin because of my love and respect for Him.
What do grace and the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit help you to do?: Grace and the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit help me to do what God wants me to do and in this way save my soul.
What does God want you to do?: God wants me to know, love and serve Him, and someday be with Him in heaven.
How do you know God?: I know God if I study (1) what Jesus taught in the Gospels, (2) how the saints who followed Jesus have lived, and (3) especially what the Catholic Church teaches about God.
How do you love God?: I love God by obeying His commandments and hating sin, and by following the example of Jesus in His love for God and all people.
How do you serve God?: I serve God by doing His holy will and worshiping Him.
How do you do God’s Holy Will?: I do God’s Will by keeping His Ten Commandments and the laws of the Catholic Church.
How do you worship God?: I worship God by going to Holy Mass every Sunday and receiving Holy Communion at Mass; by receiving the sacrament of penance regularly, if possible, each month; by saying prayers many times a day, especially in the morning and at night.
What are some of the effects of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in us?: Some effects of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us are the fruits of the Holy Spirit and the beatitudes.
What is meant by “fruits of the Holy Spirit”?: The Fruits of the Holy Spirit are acts of virtue good works, desires, and sentiments inspired in us by the Holy Spirit.
The twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit are: Charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, long-suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, continence and chastity.: Charity--causes us to perform our actions out of love of God.
Joy—keeps us happily aware of God’s infinite goodness.
Peace—results from joy, and renders us tranquil.
Patience—resigns us to endure the disagreeable circumstances of life and the sufferings of death.
Goodness—inclines us to wish to do good to everyone, without distinction.
Benignity—results from goodness; it is goodness in word and action.
Long-suffering—preserves patience over a long period, even though no encouragement is to be seen.
Mildness—restrains anger.
Faith or Fidelity—makes one faithful and upright in dealings with others.
Modesty—produces moderation in external actions.
Continence—represses the passions.
Chastity—helps one guard his senses so that they will not cause him to sin; it helps one regard his own body and those of others as temples of the Holy Spirit.
What is Confirmation?: Confirmation is the sacrament that completes Baptism and gives us the Holy Spirit to make us witnesses and apostles of Jesus Christ.
What is a sacrament?: A sacrament is an outward sign made by Christ to give grace.
What do sacraments do for us?: The sacraments make us holy, build up the Church, which is the body of Christ, and give worship to God.
How do the sacraments make us holy?: The sacraments make us holy by giving us grace to help us to worship God as we should and to love God and our neighbor.
How do the sacraments strengthen and express our faith?: The sacraments strengthen and express our faith by words, signs or objects.
Why is confirmation a sacrament?: Confirmation is a sacrament because it is an outward sign of grace and made by Christ.
How do we know that Confirmation was “made by Christ”?: We know that confirmation was “made by Christ” because (1) Jesus often spoke of sending the Holy Spirit upon His followers, (2) the Book of Acts of the Apostles tells of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Did the Apostles ever give the Holy Spirit to the people?: The Apostles Peter and John placed their hands upon the people who were baptized to give them the Holy Spirit, and the other Apostles did so also.
What do the bishops of the Catholic Church do?: Following the example of the Apostles, the bishops of the Catholic Church, in union with the bishop of Rome, the successor of Peter, used various prayers and actions to give the Holy Spirit.
Who is the ordinary minister of confirmation?: The ordinary minister of confirmation is the bishop.
Can a priest be a minister of confirmation?: The bishop may give priest the authority to be a minister of confirmation especially in danger of death, or when the number of people who are to be confirmed is very large.
What is the sign of grace in the sacrament of confirmation?: The sign of grace in the sacrament of confirmation is (1) the placing on of hands, (2) the sign of the Cross, (3) the anointing with holy oil.
What does the bishop say while making these signs?: While making these signs the bishop say: “N(name), be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.”
What does the sign of the Cross mean in confirmation?: The sign of the Cross in Confirmation means that we believe (1) that we have been delivered from sin and restored to God’s grace through Christ’s death on the Cross, and (2) that we are willing to share in the suffering of Christ and to fight against sin with the help of the grace Jesus won for us on the Cross.
What is the oil of anointing called?: The oil of anointing is called holy chrism.
What is holy chrism?: Holy Chrism is a mixture of olive oil and perfume called balm or balsam; it is blessed by the bishop on Holy Thursday.
What does the word confirmation mean?: The word "confirmation means "making strong or "strengthening."