CONFIRMATION.

§ 42. After an address to the candidates, the Bishop lays aside his mitre; the candidates kneel down. The Bishop, folding his hands on his breast, shall turn towards them and say;

May the Holy Ghost come down upon you, and the power of the Most Highest preserve you from sin. Amen.

§ 43. Bishop (crossing himself). Our help is in the Name of the Lord.

People. Who hath made heaven and earth.

Bishop. Lord, hear my prayer.

People. And let my prayer come unto thee.

Bishop. The Lord be with you.

People. And with thy spirit.

§ 44. Bishop (extending his hands over the candidates).

Let us pray.

Almighty and everlasting God, who hast vouchsafed to regenerate these thy servants by water and the Holy Ghost, and hast given unto them forgiveness of all their sins, send down upon them thy Holy Ghost in all his fulness, the Comforter from heaven.

People. Amen.

Bishop. The spirit of wisdom and understanding.

People. Amen.

Bishop. The spirit of counsel and ghostly strength.

People. Amen.

Bishop. The spirit of knowledge and godliness.

People. Amen.

Bishop. Fill them with the spirit of thy fear, and sign them with the sign of the cross + of Christ in thy mercy unto life eternal, through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, God world without end. Amen.

§ 45. The Bishop shall put his mitre on, and approaching the candidates, who are to be standing or kneeling before him, shall anoint the forehead of each singly, in the form of a cross, with his right thumb dipped in the chrism. The candidate himself, or the priest or the layman who holds the vessel of chrism, or the godparent, shall inform the Bishop beforehand of the Christian name of each candidate separately. While the Bishop anoints them he shall say;

N. 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 Ghost.

The Bishop’s assistant. Amen.

§ 46. At the first name the candidate is anointed, at the next the sign of the cross is made over him. Then the Bishop shall strike him gently on the cheek, saying,

Peace be with thee.

§ 47. The oil is then wiped of the forehead with cotton wool by a priest or layman.

§ 48. When all have been confirmed, the Bishop wipes his thumbs with bread-crumbs or salt, and washes his hands. At the same time the following antiphon may be said by the Bishop, or some of the assistants;

Stablish the thing, O God, that thou hast wrought in us, for thy temple’s sake at Jerusalem.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Stablish the thing, &c.

§ 49. Bishop (laying aside his mitre). Shew us thy mercy, O Lord.

People. And grant us thy salvation.

Bishop. Lord, hear my prayer.

People. And let my cry come unto thee.

Bishop. The Lord be with you.

People. And with thy spirit.

Bishop. Let us pray.

§ 51. O God, who didst give to thine Apostles the Holy Spirit, and didst ordain that by them and their successors he should be delivered to the rest of the faithful, look mercifully on this our humble service; and grant that the hearts of those whose foreheads we have anointed with the sacred chrism, and signed with the sign of the holy cross, may, by the same Holy Spirit descending upon them, and vouchsafing to dwell in them, be made the temple of his glory, who with the Father and the same Holy Spirit livest and reignest, God world without end. Amen.

Bishop. Behold, thus shall every man be blessed that feareth the Lord.

§ 52. And turning to the persons confirmed,

May the Lord from out of Sion so bless you, that ye may see the salvation of Jerusalem all the days of your life, and may have life everlasting. Amen.