Fr. Z's Blog

UPDATE 25 May:

Another response rolled in from a bishop whose name you would recognize.

Thanks for the invitation. Here as some thoughts.

1. Yes, I was slapped when I was confirmed – although, it was just a tap. And yes, we were quizzed. We were called on by the bishop, he did not ask for volunteers.

2. I do not slap when I do Confirmations because it is not called for in the rite (although the other auxiliary bishop in ___ when I was there did, and he wasn’t really a traditionalist – I think it was just a hang-over from former days). I do, though, sometimes talk about it in my Confirmation homily, and what it means. As for quizzing, I used to do that, in fact, did it for years. Then I realized that that was the reason my homilies were so long. The confirmandi are always shy to answer, and I would work hard to coax answers out of them. Not even questions that they know the answers to better than anyone else are they willing to answer (what school do you go to? What did you do in preparing for Confirmation?). So, for the last several years I do not quiz. I do sometimes meet with the Confirmandi before the Mass starts, and then I will ask questions.

Back to the slap: some years ago there was a proposal before the USCCB to restore it to the rite for our country. Needless to say, it failed to pass. There seems to be a lot of resistance to “change”.

UPDATE 23 May:

In light of the many comments and interest in the topic, I reached out to a few bishops with whom I have some correspondence about quizzing and slapping at confirmation.  I received three responses back, though I hope for a couple more.

Here’s what I received, somewhat edited to preserve anonymity:

Bishop 1

Good to hear from you. Hope you are well in these chaotic times.

I was confirmed in the old rite – in second grade. We were slapped. The Bishop did not, to my recollection, ask us questions. We were prepared ahead of time in Catechism at the Catholic school, of course.

As a parish priest, most the times the Bishop came to the parish for Confirmation. They did ask questions during the ‘homily time.’ No slap (although I heard that auxiliary Bishop X used to use the slap).

I have confirmed in the old Rite a few times. I slapped them as called for by the rubric. In the Novus Ordo, I did not use a slap. I anoint them and afterwards say “peace be with you” and handshake.

Most all times I confirmed, I met the candidates with their sponsors before the Mass, usually in the parish hall or wherever they were getting ready. I would ask some questions. I didn’t do it during the Confirmation itself, because it had not been the local custom.

Bishop 2

By my recollection, we were quizzed at the time of the homily, but the questions were all softballs. We were not slapped, but I do remember the bishop being somewhat cranky!

In practice, I never quiz the candidates, basically for the reasons outlined in the article. It is a Mass (usually) and the conferral of a Sacrament. I prefer to use the time that I have with the candidates and their sponsors before the Mass to connect with them, and then of course, in the homily to exhort them to understand the effects of the Sacrament , and to encourage the candidates to really live their Faith. By extension, I always hope that the message is heard by all of the rest of the “Catholics.” All in all, I think it’s a great opportunity to put a good face on the Church. Attitude, eye contact, joyfulness all are important.

And the only time I have slapped is when conferring the Sacrament in the traditional form.

Bishop3

When I was confirmed in 1962, a priest was assigned to question the confirmands before the bishop conferred upon us the Sacrament of Confirmation.

In confirming us, after the anointing with the Sacred Chrism, the bishop gave us a slight blow to the cheek while saying “Peace be with you.”
I do not question the confirmands when I administer the Sacrament of Confirmation, whether according to the old rite or the new rite. Since I require that the pastor of each confirmand formally declare that the confirmand is prepared to receive the Sacrament, I do not see the need to question them further.
When confirming according to the old rite, a give a slight blow to the cheek of the confirmand, as is prescribed in the Roman Pontifical.
When confirming according to the new rite, the gesture is not prescribed and, therefore, I do not give the slight blow to the cheek. In this, I follow the discipline of not mixing elements of the two uses but, rather, respecting the integrity of each use.
I hope that the above is of some help to you.

Be assured of a daily remembrance in my prayers.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED May 20, 2024 at 16:35

I went to Fishwrap (aka National Sodomitic Reporter) to see if there were any spittle-flecked nutties about Harrison Butker.  They didn’t disappoint, which is itself a disappointment.

I found an opinion piece stating that bishops should not quiz confirmands about any fundamentals of the Catholic Faith.  You know, old, backward stuff like, “What is a sacrament?” and “Who are the three persons of the Trinity?”.

You laugh.   Don’t.  I was in a midwestern suburban parish and I was given the chore of checking on the preparation of confirmands.  These were, essentially middle school and high school kids.  The results were terrifying.  Worse was the 1st Communion prep, which elicited a response from a boy about the Eucharist: “You mean that piece of bread thing?”

At Fishwrap, Confirmation seems to be about feeling good.

It is a liturgy, a moment in which we ask the Holy Spirit to come down and fill the hearts of the confirmands. Creating a situation which causes them to enter in with anxiety or worse undermines their ability to experience that.

Construing confirmation as a kind of culminating exam also demeans all of the prior work that the confirmands have done.

The old formula “fill the hearts of your faithful” is the from the Veni, Sancte Spiritus, which has unfathomably rich vocabulary – in Latin – when properly understood.  In the antiphon and the oration the Latin word for “heart” is used twice, especially in “light” (illusratio) of the rational soul (recta sapere).   We ask the the hearts (minds, intellect which under the operation of the will seeks to understand and, in knowing and understanding, seeks the more in love and be in the union of peace with the beloved) be enflamed with the Spirit, which is the Spirit of Love and of Truth (which has content).

Also, these days there is great interest in doing things the way that ancient Christians did, provided that it doesn’t involve anything “traditional”.  Hence, those being prepared for sacraments have to jump through lots of hoopy stages and endure being sent out during Mass etc.   Never mind that in ancient times there were exorcisms and scrutinies.   Yes, they were expected to know something.

When I was brought into the Church, I was expected to know things.  And I did.  When I was ordained, I was expected to know things, and I was grilled by various Roman profs on many theses we had to prepare.  It is reasonable to expect that we know the Faith. You can’t love what you don’t know.  You can’t pass on what you don’t know either.  As my old pastor used to say: Nemo dat quod non ‘got’!

When I was brought into the Church, the old pastor delayed confirming me because he thought it would be better for me to be confirmed by a bishop, in this case a former pastor of the same parish who had retired from being the first bishop of New Ulm, a lovely man, Bp. Alphonse Schladweiler.  He quizzed me, a little, and slapped me too, and rightly so.

Anyway, there is a funny story about old Schlady and a confirmation during which he quizzed.  At a confirmation he once said, in his booming voice, “Now children, the bishop has been asking you questions.  Do you have any questions for the bishop?”  Always dangerous.  One lad piped up, “What’s a Monsignor?”  The priest at the place was a Monsignor.  Without missing a beat the old bishop said “Why, sonny, a Monsignor is the cross that hangs around the bishop’s neck!”

There’s a lot more to say about Confirmation and about Monsignors.

Were you quizzed?  Were you slapped?  Do you have recollections of your Confirmation?

Meanwhile, check out this prayer.  HERE