Final Arrangements for Confirmation
Dear Parents,
I hope that your final preparations for Confirmation are going well. The children have been very busy in school getting ready for the special day!
I wanted to remind you of arrangements for tomorrow:
- Time and Veue: Confirmation takes place in the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Huntstown at 11 o’clock. Candidates preparing for confirmation are asked to be in the church for 10:30am, in order to ensure that they are dressed in their robes and that they and their sponsors are seated in their correct positions for the start of the Mass.
- Seating arrangements: The confirmation candidates will be seated in the centre aisles of the church. Their sponsors will be seated in the rows behind them. This means that there are only two aisles remaining for parents and other visitors. The church has a capacity for 400 people. We have 73 children making Confirmation. When we include parents and sponsors, this brings the total to over 300. When we include the choir, staff and parish helpers, it will be clear to everyone that we do not have any capacity for any other guests on the day. We would ask parents to understand that we cannot accommodate other guests, including brothers and sisters, in the church and would appreciate your co-operation in this regard. The service will be at least an hour and a half in duration.
- Confirmation Robes: We are delighted this year that our children will be able to wear Confirmation robes tomorrow. The robes are the property of the parish and are used for all confirmations in the parish. Therefore, they need to be treated with great care. Please note that if these robes are stained with makeup or gel, they have to be sent for special dry-cleaning, which is very expensive. At the end of Confirmation please return robes to the meeting room.
- Use of cameras: The use of cameras and video recording equipment is not permitted in the church during the service. There will be ample opportunity for photographs at the end of the service. Please inform sponsors of this policy!
Role of the Sponsor
I have attached below information on the Role of the Sponsor. You may wish to share this with your child’s sponsor.
Wishing you every good wish and looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow.
Enda McGorman
The role of the CONFIRMATION SPONSOR
The confirmation candidate is brought forward for anointing by the Confirmation Sponsor. Just as there are usually sponsors to support those taking part in fasts or walks for charity, at Baptism and Confirmation there are sponsors who promise to help and support the child to grow as a follower of Jesus.
The sponsor promises to help the child to be a true worker for the Kingdom. The sponsors at Baptism are usually called the godparents. At Confirmation there is usually just one sponsor. Sometimes it is one of the godparents.
At Confirmation the sponsor presents the child to the bishop or priest administering the sacrament. The sponsor stands behind the child and places his or her hand on the child's shoulder as a sign of support. If the child has a long fringe, covering the forehead, the sponsor should hold the fringe back with his/her left hand, so that the Bishop or Celebrant can anoint the child’s head with chrism.
The Celebrant may say a few words of greeting to each child in advance of anointing them.
The Celebrant then dips his thumb into the Chrism and then traces the sign of the cross on the forehead of the person he is confirming while he says the words:
“BE SEALED WITH THE GIFT
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.”
The child responds Amen.
The Celebrant then shakes the child’s hand saying ‘Peace be with you’.
The child responds: ‘And with your spirit’.
The child and sponsor then return to their seats in reverence, with their hands joined.
