"Circa Aetatem Discretionis": A Proposal in Favor of Restored Order Confirmation

Abstract

"Circa Aetatem Discretionis"A Proposal in Favor of Restored Order Confirmation Joshua Madden (bio) The source for the title of this essay comes from canon 891 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which deals with the age of the recipient of the sacrament of confirmation. It states: "The sacrament of confirmation is to be conferred upon the faithful at about the age of discretion (circa aetatem discretionis), unless the conference of Bishops has determined another age, or there is danger of death, or in the judgment of the minister a grave cause suggests otherwise."1 It will perhaps be helpful to note first what this essay is not and will not do: it will not examine the biblical or patristic evidence for the sacrament of confirmation, but will assume that confirmation is indeed a sacrament of the Church that finds its place within the mysteries of Christian initiation. There has indeed been much written upon the former,2 and the latter is affirmed by countless magisterial pronouncements.3 [End Page 228] The purpose of this essay is to put forth a canonical and theological argument for what has been commonly known as "restored order confirmation," that is, to restore the logical order of the sacraments of initiation: baptism, confirmation, Eucharist. It is my hope that this proposal will make certain things clear: the place which confirmation holds in the process of Christian initiation; its integral connection to baptism; and its fundamental ordering toward the Eucharist. I am convinced that a renewal of the theology of the sacrament will lead to the following conclusion: that confirmation should be conferred upon the faithful in childhood, upon reaching the age of reason, before they have received their first Holy Communion. Further, I believe that the fruit plucked from this investigation is both consistent with the tradition and a faithful outworking of the universal call to holiness emphasized by the Second Vatican Council. I. POINTS OF CONTACT IN THE MAGISTERIUM: LEO XIII AND ST. PIUS X As a preliminary step in our investigation, it will be helpful to examine briefly the teachings of Pope Leo XIII and Pope St. Pius X on the reception of the sacraments of confirmation and the Eucharist, respectively. As the reigns of these two pontiffs span both sides of the turn of the 20th century, their teachings benefit our inquiry in two ways. First, both Leo XIII and Pius X address the sacraments of initiation explicitly, and refer specifically to the benefits they bestow upon the faithful with regard to the age of the recipient. Second, they have the historical advantage of preceding by many decades the numerous contentious debates about the liturgy and sacraments that occurred in the wake of Vatican II. [End Page 229] Pope Leo XIII's Letter Abrogata In a letter to the bishop of Marseilles, Pope Leo XIII praises the decision to ensure that young people receive the sacrament of confirmation "prior to their being refreshed by the divine banquet of the Eucharist (antequam divino Eucharistiae epulo reficiantur)."4 The pontiff goes on to criticize the custom of delaying confirmation and lays out the numerous benefits of the process the bishop has established: We therefore greatly praise your proposal. For that custom which had grown strong where you are, and in other places, is congruent neither with the ancient and constant institution of the Church, nor to the welfare of the faithful. For the elements of cupidity are found in the souls of the young, which, unless they are eradicated most quickly, grow gradually stronger, captivate the inexperienced in things, and drag them headfirst into danger. On account of which, even from a tender age, the faithful have need "to be clothed with strength from on high," which the sacrament of Confirmation was brought forth to bear. . . . Furthermore, adolescents who have been confirmed are made to take hold of precepts in a more impressionable manner, and afterwards of receiving the Eucharist in a more fitting way. . . . Hence we desire those things which have been most wisely established by you to be held faithfully and perpetually.5 Pope Leo's statement against that custom of inverting the order of the reception of the sacraments...