Infant Confirmation and Comment on a Milestone

On someone else's blog, I mentioned that our youngest daughter had been confirmed as an infant. The question was raised as to why we did that. I quote the Catechism of the Catholic Church, copied off the Vatican website :

1307 For centuries, Latin custom has indicated "the age of discretion" as the reference point for receiving Confirmation. But in danger of death children should be confirmed even if they have not yet attained the age of discretion.125

We really thought our little girl was in danger of death, with the potential for recurrence of this type of infection. I care for sick infants every day, and I was shocked at how fast she got sick. We also figured that if she died we wanted her to go with all the graces her precious little body could carry.

Once again, I quote the Catechism:

1303 From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace:

- it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry, "Abba! Father!";117

- it unites us more firmly to Christ;

- it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us;

- it renders our bond with the Church more perfect;118

- it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross:119

"Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in God's presence. Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with his sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed his pledge, the Spirit, in your hearts."

- St. Ambrose

I would also argue that having these graces as she goes through childhood will be graces that she can use as she matures.


Depending on where one is in the USA, confirmation can be anywhere from the age of reason to 18 years of age.


I liken the graces we receive as 'money in the bank' in the sense that graces we receive can be built on, and over time make us stronger. In the example above, we now have a child who has been strengthened in her faith at a very early age, and all that we do to foster her Faith will be set on the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation.


Of course, when she is older, we will explain how she already received this indelible mark on her soul..

But not so seriously....

In other news, January marks the first month with over 1,000 visits for Scorpion Stalking Duck. That is especially noteworthy when you realize that my total hits are now just over 4,000. That strikes me as a bit odd, when I started out January with the idea of doing more 'quality' blogs than 'quantity' blogs. Granted, I did not plan on spending two weeks on the road(with the nightly appearance of Mr. Moose and friends), and it was hard getting any meaningful blogs together and sent off via my cell phone PDA.





So I shall resolve once again to produce fewer blogs, but hopefully higher quality blogs....











....tomorrow.