§ 1. On the Matter

1493. Principles. I. The REMOTE matter of Confirmation is chrism made from olive oil and balsam, and blessed by a Bishop. This is established both from the Council of Florence in the decree of Eugene IV and from perpetual tradition and use of the Church. Wherefore we say:

1. OIL is of the necessity of the Sacrament, and indeed expressed from olives, as St. Thomas teaches,¹² because this is properly oil, through which is signified the grace of the Holy Spirit, which is poured out from Christ our Head into us.

2. BALSAM, by which is designated the good odor of Christ and immunity from the corruption of vices, is required by precept, and more probably also by necessity of the Sacrament. For it is said that those to be confirmed are to be anointed with chrism; but chrism denotes oil mixed with balsam. Yet the opposite opinion is also probable: wherefore, in a case of necessity, Confirmation can be administered with oil alone, for example with the oil of catechumens or of the sick, but under condition. But balsam of any region suffices, whether Palestinian or Indian, provided it is in such quantity that it gives its odor, although it is not mixed with each part of the oil.¹³

3. That chrism, by necessity of precept, must be BLESSED by a BISHOP is certain, and is established from the perpetual practice of the Church. But whether this blessing of a Bishop is of the very necessity of the Sacrament is indeed disputed, but the common and safer opinion, and therefore the one to be followed, affirms, from the decree of Eugene IV, where the matter of Confirmation is said to be chrism blessed by a Bishop. Yet the opinion which teaches that balsam can also be blessed by a simple priest, by permission of the Roman Pontiff, is not improbable. But chrism ought, from the precept of the Church, to be new, that is, of that year. Hence he who uses old chrism sins gravely; yet the Supreme Pontiff sometimes dispenses from this precept, when, for example, a simple priest must confirm in a distant region.¹⁴

1494. II. The PROXIMATE matter of Confirmation is the anointing of chrism made by the imposition of the Bishop's hand. Thus more commonly and more truly. But because there is a twofold imposition of hands in Confirmation, one which is premised to the anointing and is had when the Bishop extends his hands over those to be confirmed, invoking the Holy Spirit; the other, which is indistinct from the action of the Bishop's hand anointing the forehead: therefore theologians are not lacking who with Aureolus and Sambovius say that the first imposition, and not the second, is the matter of Confirmation; while others with Merbesius, Concina, etc., contend that each is necessary. Against these, St. Alphonsus in a longer dissertation demonstrates that the third opinion is most certain, and therefore to be held in practice, namely the opinion of St. Thomas, St. Bonaventure, Bellarmine, and others, which places the adequate, total, and necessary matter of Confirmation altogether in chrismation by the hand of the Bishop, or in the imposition of hands which is joined with the anointing of chrism.¹⁵

Especially relevant here is the axiom of St. Augustine: "what the whole Church holds, and has not been instituted by Councils, but has always been retained, is most rightly handed down as delivered by Apostolic authority." Now, from history it is proved that the anointing of chrism has always been employed in the Church, both Latin and Greek: which same thing cannot be said concerning that first imposition of hands. It is confirmed from the Roman Catechism, from the decree of Eugene IV to the Armenians, and finally from the Encyclical Letter of Benedict XIV Ex quo primum, given to the Archbishops

and Bishops of the Greek rite, in the year 1750, where mention is made only of the anointing of chrism carried out by the hand of the Bishop, as of the total or adequate matter. From all these things Sylvius concludes that this must be held as of faith.¹

1495. Hence it is inferred: 1. It is not necessary, for the value of the Sacrament, that those to be confirmed be present at the beginning of the rite, when the first and general imposition of hands is made; nor at the end, while the Bishop gives the final blessing: because these are mere ceremonies.

2. It is necessary for the value of the Sacrament that the anointing be made immediately by the hand of the minister, not through the mediation of an instrument, for example a brush; because then the imposition of the hand would be lacking, which is not necessary in Extreme Unction. Likewise, it is essential that the one to be confirmed be anointed on the forehead, for showing that he is not ashamed of Christ, and indeed in the form of a cross, that the form be verified: "I sign thee with the sign of the cross, etc."²

3. By precept, the anointing ought to be done with the right thumb of the Bishop, as the PONTIFICAL prescribes. Yet the anointing would be valid if it were done with another finger, and even if it were a finger of the left hand, because it would truly be done by the imposition of the Bishop's hand. But the Bishop would sin who would do this without necessity; because he would depart from the practice of the universal Church; although it does not appear that the inversion of the said ceremony reaches grave fault.

4. With respect to the quantity of chrism, that is required and suffices which is enough for anointing the forehead in the form of a cross; whence the Bishop should take care lest chrism fail on the thumb.³