Sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit: Confirmation and Our Young People
There is a moment at a Confirmation Mass that is easy to miss if you are watching for the photographs. The bishop places his hand on a young person’s head, marks their forehead with sacred chrism, and says their name followed by eight words: “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The candidate usually looks faintly startled. Something has just been done to them that cannot be undone, and most of them can feel it.
What Confirmation Actually Does
Confirmation is not a graduation. It is not the moment a young Catholic has finished with religion and may now be excused from Mass. We say this plainly because, sadly, that is how some families have come to treat it.
Confirmation completes the grace of Baptism. At the font a child was claimed by God and made His son or daughter. At Confirmation that same person is strengthened and sealed by the Holy Spirit for the life that follows. The Church teaches that it imprints a permanent spiritual mark, which is why, like Baptism, it is received only once. Whatever a person does afterwards, that seal remains on their soul.
If Baptism is birth, Confirmation is being handed your armour.
What Happened at Pentecost Still Happens
To understand this sacrament, look at the apostles. After the Resurrection they were hiding in an upper room with the doors locked, frightened of the authorities and unsure what to do next. These were not bold men.
Then the Holy Spirit came upon them, and the same frightened men walked out into a crowded street and preached so convincingly that three thousand people were baptised that day (Acts 2). Nothing about their circumstances had improved. The danger was exactly the same. What had changed was inside them.
That is what is being asked for over your son or daughter. Not a certificate. Courage.
The Seven Gifts
The Church names seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. That last one is easily misunderstood. It does not mean being frightened of God. It means holding Him in such reverence that you would not willingly offend Him.
Read through that list again and think about what a fifteen year old is walking into. They will need wisdom to tell the difference between what is popular and what is good. They will need counsel when the advice around them is poor. They will need fortitude on the day it costs them something to be known as a Catholic, and that day will come.
These are not abstractions. They are survival equipment.
Claiming the Faith as Their Own
Parents sometimes wonder whether it is right to have made the decision for their child at Baptism. Confirmation is the Church’s answer to that question.
At the Confirmation Mass the candidates are asked to renew for themselves the promises their parents and godparents made on their behalf years earlier. They stand, in front of the bishop and the whole congregation, and they renounce sin and profess the faith in their own voice. It is the moment the faith stops being something they inherited and becomes something they have chosen.
That choice deserves to be prepared for properly, which is why we ask for real commitment during the programme rather than attendance in name only.
The Part Parents Play
By applying, you commit yourself and your child to the Confirmation Programme. We ask parents to support their children in attending the preparation and in coming to one of our weekend Masses regularly.
We know these are busy years. Between school, exams and everything else, Sunday can feel like the one morning there is room to breathe. But a young person preparing for Confirmation while rarely seeing the inside of a church is being asked to take seriously something the adults around them appear not to. Children notice that. They always do.
Applying at St Anthony’s
Preparation is open to candidates who have completed their eleventh birthday by the time of registration.
You can apply online in a few minutes:
Apply online for Confirmation →
Registration for 2026/2027 is now closed. The cut-off date for submission was Tuesday 20th October 2026. Any applications received after this date will be referred to the following year.
The form is the first step only. The place is confirmed when you come to the Parish Office in person with photocopies of the Baptism and First Holy Communion certificates and the offering of £70 in cash, which covers teaching materials, books and a bible. Applications without those certificates cannot be accepted. Candidates aged thirteen or over are asked to counter-sign the application, and they can do this when you bring the documents in.
The Parish Office is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.
If anything is unclear, contact the Parish Office on 01753 267 918, or catch one of us after a weekend Mass.
Do Not Let Them Drift
If your son or daughter is of an age for Confirmation, this is worth your effort. The world will offer them a great many things over the next ten years, and almost none of it will love them.
Bring them to the bishop. Let them be sealed. Then keep bringing them, because the Spirit given in that moment is meant to be fed at the altar every week for the rest of their lives.
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses.” (Acts 1:8)
Written by parishioners of St Anthony of Padua, Slough.