Saturday, July 22, 2006

Confirmations

Tomorrow afternoon in little old Adelaide there will be about 20 people confirmed in my local Church. This isn't just any confirmation, but a confirmation in the old-rite. The Archbishop, Most. Rev. Phillip Wilson will preside and my sister Hannah is a candidate.

What I love about old-rite confirmations is that they are simple and not part of a Mass (Benediction will follow however). Oh and the candidates get slapped on the cheek by the bishop when he says Pax tecum. (The "slap of peace". Guess it's better than the "tongue of peace" - a line doing the rounds after WYD.)

Just seconds before that he dips his fingers in the chrism and gives the candidate a triple blessing: Signo te signo crucis + et confirmo te chrismate salutis, in nomine Patris + et Filii +et Spiritus + Sancti.

I'll be serving for the Archbishop. Holding the book or maybe even the crosier. Not sure as we will be down on servers because most are being confirmed!

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