Come Holy Spirit…
fill the hearts of your faithful.
And kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
And you will renew the face of the earth.
WELCOME TO CONFIRMATION DISCERNMENT AND PREPARATION
In Confirmation, the Christian becomes more closely united with Christ. With the strengthening of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit the Christian is able to accept new responsibilities for witnessing Jesus to the world.
Our Faith Formation staff collaborates with parents to prepare children & teens for the reception of Sacraments. What we have learned is that just as for adults, there should be a discernment process for children & teens and their parents as they prepare for the Sacraments. It doesn’t have to be and shouldn’t be a one size fits all; we all have a different path on the journey to discovering and encountering God’s love. When parents feel their teen is ready, they will enter the preparation period for sacraments. Teens can begin the discernment process in 8th grade and receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in 10th Grade and older. As you prepare your teen for the Sacrament of Confirmation and decide he/she is ready, please contact the Karen Paonessa, Confirmation Coordinator, kpaonessa@transfiguration.old.diocesanweb.org, to meet and discuss their preparation and schedule a date for the reception of Confirmation.
IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR CONFIRMATION CANDIDATES:
SAVE! SAVE! SAVE! Please note: All Confirmation materials can be submitted online or downloaded from this page.
When the online submissions work, it’s awesome; however, there have been some technical difficulties. Before you submit online, copy and paste your answers to a Word document in case there are submission issues.
After submitting online, you will receive a copy of your submission via email, from Ms. Karen Paonessa. Check your SPAM folder; especially if you use Gmail. You should have received emails from transfiguration.old.diocesanweb.org. Please change your settings so Transfiguration email doesn’t go to your spam/junk folder.
If you are having trouble submitting, please make sure that all required fields, marked with an * are completed.
Important Dates to Remember
Confirmation Preparation
Registration & Online Forms
Please feel free to submit forms before due dates.
You can start working on your Confirmation Journal (see button below) anytime… now is good.
Fill out your Confirmation Registration and Antioch form online HERE.
Confirmación Registración – Retiro Antioquía, click HERE.
Complete the Rite of Enrollment Form, click HERE.
Download Paper Forms
Sponsor Information
Being a sponsor is not just an honor given to a good friend or relative. Sponsorship implies a real appreciation of the faith, a practice of the same, and a sense of responsibility toward the person being confirmed.
A sponsor is required for the candidate being confirmed. Cannon 872 and 874 of the Code of Canon Law lists those requirements for the valid and lawful sponsorship in Confirmation:
• The sponsor’s role is to assist the person in Christian initiation.
• The sponsor’s role is, together with the parents, to present the child for the sacrament and help him/her to live a life befitting a baptized Catholic Christian.
A Sponsor:
1. Must be mature enough to undertake this responsibility.
2. Must have received the three sacraments of initiation, namely Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation.
3. Must be not less than 16 years of age.
4. Must know the fundamental truths of the Faith and be a practicing Catholic who goes to Mass on Sunday, receives the sacraments regularly, and sees to the religious instruction of
his/her family.
5. Must be a member of the Catholic Church, canonically free to carry out this office. (This would indicate that Catholics publicly living in an invalid marriage (not according to the
Church regulations) and those who are cohabiting (living together without marriage) are ineligible.)
6. Must not be father or mother of the one confirmed.
Requirements for a Proxy are the same as those listed above for a sponsor, with the exception of number six.
Parents cannot be sponsors for their own children because they are already the child’s most important teacher.
The first choice for a Confirmation sponsor would be one of the candidate’s godparents, to show the close connection between Baptism and Confirmation. If this is not possible, a second choice would be a confirmed Catholic whom the candidate admires and who bears witness to the Gospel in his or her everyday life. If the sponsor is a high school student, he or she must be participating in a formal faith formation program. It is important to lead by example.
There may be one or two sponsors, and sponsors do not have to be the same gender as the candidate. Ideally, the sponsor should be a member of the candidate’s parish. If the sponsor is NOT a member of Transfiguration, a Certificate of Eligibility is required with the candidate’s registration form. (see below for a sample certificate).
A sponsor also plays a vital role in the candidate’s continuing initiation into full membership in the Christian community. A sponsor of a Confirmation candidate:
• Supports the candidate in their commitment to a Christian life
• Must know the candidate and be willing to serve as a strong and long-lasting Christian influence on the candidate
• May help the candidate prepare for Confirmation
• Must be reasonably informed on current Church teachings
• Presents the candidate to the Archbishop/ Bishop during the Confirmation Mass
• When you invite someone to be your sponsor, share with them why you selected them.
• Share the dates and times of the rehearsal and the Confirmation Mass
• Share the expectations of sponsors