V. Dominus vobiscum. Oremus. DEUS, cui proprium V. The Lord be with you. Let us pray. GOD, whose proper est misereri semper ty is always to have et parcere: suscipe depre- mercy and to spare: gracationem nostram, ut hunc ciously receive our supplifamulum tuum, quem ex- cation, that this Thy sercommunicationis catena vant, whom the bonds of constringit, miseratio tuæ excommunication do hold pietatis clementer absol- a prisoner, the compassion vat. Per Dominum nos- of Thy loving-kindness trum Jesum Christum Fili- may now mercifully abum tuum, qui tecum vivit solve. Through our Lord et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum. R. Amen. Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. R. Amen. Then the Priest, sitting, and turned towards the kneeling convert, absolves him from his heresy, saying: UCTORITATE apo stolica, qua fungor Y the Apostolic au thority, which I excommunication in hac parte, absolvo te here do exercise, I absolve a vinculo excommunicati- thee from the bond of onis quam (forsan) incurwhich risti, et restituo te sacro- (perchance) * thou hast insanctis Ecclesiæ Sacramen- curred; and I restore thee tis, communioni et unitati to the holy Sacraments of fidelium, in nomine Pa- the Church, and to the tris,et Filii, et Spiritus communion and unity of Sancti. Amen. the faithful, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. (* In doubt whether the penitent has incurred excommunication or no, the Priest shall insert this word perchance.) In fine, the Priest enjoins upon the new convert some salutary penance-e.g., prayers, visits to churches, and the like. The Sacrament of Confirmation. When the Apostles had heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Feter and John, who, when they were come, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He was come upon none of them; but they were only baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.-Acts viii. 14-17. INSTRUCTIONS. ONFIRMATION is a Sacrament by which the faithful, who have already been made children of God by their Baptism, receive the Holy Ghost by the prayer and the imposition of the hands of the Bishops, the successors of the Apostles, in order to their being made strong and perfect Christians and valiant soldiers of Jesus Christ. It is called CONFIRMATION from its effect, which is to confirm or strengthen those that receive it in the profession of the true faith; to give them such courage and resolution as to be willing rather to die than to turn from it; and to arm them in general against all their spiritual ene mies. 2 This Sacrament was designed and instituted by our Lord for all Christians, and consequently is a divine ordi nance. 3. The principal effects of this Sacrament are a fortifying grace in order to strengthen the soul against all the visible and invisible enemies of the faith; and a certain dedication and consecration of the soul by the Holy Ghost, the mark of which dedication and consecration is left in the soul as a character, which can never be effaced. 4. Hence this Sacrament can be received but once, and it would be a sacrilege to attempt to receive it a second time; for which reason also the faithful are bound to take extreme care to come to this Sacrament duly disposed, lest, if they should be so unhappy as to receive it in mortal sin, they should receive their own condemnation, and run the risk of being deprived for ever of its grace. 5. Now, the dispositions which the Christian must bring with him to receive worthily the Sacrament of Confirmation are, a purity of conscience, at least from all mortal sin; for which reason he ought to go to confession before he is confirmed, for the Holy Ghost will not come to a soul in which Satan reigns by mortal sin; secondly, a sincere desire of giving himself up to the Holy Ghost, to follow the influence of His divine grace, to be His temple for ever, and, by His assistance, to fulfil all the obligations of a Soldier of Christ. All these were 6. Hence a Christian ought to prepare himself for this Sacrament by fervent prayer, as we find the Apostles prepared themselves for the receiving of the Holy Ghost. persevering with one mind in prayer, says St. Luke (speaking of the ten days that passed between the Ascension of our Lord aud Pentecost). How happy shall they be, who like them prepare themselves for the Holy Ghost by these spiritual exercises! 7. The obligations which accompany the character of Confirmation, and which a Christian takes upon himself when he receives this Sacrament, are, to bear a loyal and perpetual allegiance to the great King in whose service he enlists himself as a soldier; to be true to His standard, the Cross of Christ, the mark of which he receives on his forehead; to fight His battles against His enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil; to be faithful unto death; and rather to die than desert from the service, or go over to the enemy by wilful sin-in fine, to live up to the glorious Icharacter of a Soldier of Christ, and to maintain that interior purity and sanctity which becomes the Temple of the Holy Ghost, by a life of prayer and a life of love. Confirmation, when we shall bring it before the judgment-seat of Christ, shall be found to have been accompanied with such a life as this, it will shine most gloriously in our souls for all eternity; but if, instead of living up to it, we should be found to have been deserters and rebels, and to have violated this sacred character by a life of sin, it will certainly rise up in judgment against us, it will condemn us at the bar of divine justice, it will Where the character of our fant's head, in the form of a Cross; and at the same time, pronouncing the words once only, distinctly and attentively, he says: I baptize thee in the name of the Fa ther [he pours the first time], and of the Son [he pours the second time], and of the Holy Ghost [he pours the third time]. He then dips his thumb in the holy chrism, and anoints the infant upon the crown of the head in the form of a Cross, saying: EUS omnipotens, Pa- D R. Amen. S. Pax tibi. R. Et cum spiritu tuo. AY Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, He who hath regenerated thee by water and the Holy Ghost, and given thee remission of all thy sins, anoint thee with the chrism of salvation, in the same Christ Jesus our Lord, unto life everlasting. R. Amen. P. Peace be with thee. Then with cotton, or something similar, he wipes his thumb and the place anointed, and puts upon the head of the infant a white linen cloth, saying: CCIPE vestem can- quam - R ECEIVE this white which garment, |