Article — Gury-Ballerini, Compendium of Moral Theology (8th ed., 1884)
Article II. On the Form of Confirmation
- The form of the Sacrament of Confirmation consists in these words: I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. - Thus Eugene IV defined in the cited Decree. - It is also clear from the constant practice of the Church.
By the words I sign thee with the sign of the cross, it is signified that, as a soldier is accustomed to be adorned with the insignia of his leader, so a man through this Sacrament is signed exteriorly with the cross, and interiorly with an invisible character, as with the military sign of Christ. - By the words I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, it is expressed that a man through this Sacrament is anointed like an athlete, exteriorly with chrism, but interiorly with the grace and strength of the Holy Spirit. - But by the remaining words, in the name of the Father, etc., there is expressed the principal cause conferring the fullness of spiritual strength, which is the Most Holy Trinity; and at the same time the principal mystery of the Christian Faith, which both is proposed to men in Baptism to be believed and in this Sacrament to be held and openly professed. - St. Thomas, q. 72, art. 4.
- Questions. - QUESTION 1. Which words of this form are essential?
Resp. For validity the following are altogether essential: 1. the word confirm, unless it is supplied by another synonymous word; 2. the expression of the Most Holy Trinity, as in Baptism; 3. the word thee, by which the subject of the Sacrament is designated; 4. the words I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and also the words with the chrism of salvation. But to say I strengthen for I confirm, or of sanctification for of salvation, would be only an accidental change. - St. Ligorius, n. 168, with others commonly.
QUESTION 2. Whether the form used among the Greeks is valid: THE SEAL OF THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?
Resp. The answer is affirmative, with the common opinion of Theologians. For the sense is: by this sign the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given, with the verb omitted according to the custom of the Greeks. Otherwise one would have to say that the Greeks do not have the Sacrament of Confirmation, which is very hard. It is clear besides from the Declaration of Benedict XIV, in the encyclical letter Ex quo primum to the Bishops of the Greek rite, March 1, 1756. - In St. Ligorius, n. 164.