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with him, and coaxing him, and wrestling with him, in the forlorn hope that he may consent to join the confirmation class.

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So far as preparation for Confirmation is concerned, the Prayer Book has little to say. It simply insists that the candidates should be baptized, should be in a state of grace, and should have learned the Church Catechism. subtitle of the Catechism is as follows: 'An instruction, to be learned by every person before he be brought to be confirmed by the Bishop." The Prayer Book makes no provision for a class of elaborate instruction in Church doctrine, continuing for many weeks. No doubt such instruction is most desirable and necessary for such adults as have been prevented by Protestantism or unbelief from being confirmed at an earlier age. But the point I am now insisting upon is that for children the Church ideal is a life-long instruction in the Catechism by their parents at home, supplemented by public catechising by the parish priest in church. We have departed a long way from that ideal.

That the Church lays great stress upon the spiritual state of the child or adult who is about to be confirmed is clear from the prayer the Bishop is directed to use in the Confirmation Office just before the laying on of hands. These words

particularly are of great significance: "Almighty and everliving 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; Strengthen them, we beseech Thee, O Lord, with the Holy Ghost the Comforter." These words imply of course that they have already been baptized. That is plain on the face of it. But they also imply that they have been absolved from all sins which they may have committed since their Baptism. In the mind of the Church therefore it is most essential that before one is confirmed, all obstacles of sin must be removed from the soul, in order that the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit may have full sway.

At the present time, in our preparation of children for Confirmation, we are inclined to lay too much stress on the intellectual side of religion and too little on the spiritual side. The result is that many children have come to regard Confirmation as the completion of their religious education, corresponding to commencement exercises in the grammar school,—with which indeed it often synchronizes. In consequence they not only drop out of the Sunday School, but they often fall away from the Church entirely. This is particularly true of children who have been brought up under the influence of Lutheran

traditions. It is absolutely necessary for the future well-being of the Church that we should teach our children to regard Confirmation as a most opportune gift of Divine grace which is given to them at the precise time when they begin to feel the power of temptation.

A priest once told a boy of about the age of twelve that he was old enough to be confirmed. The boy said he would ask his father if he would give his permission. The father told the boy that it would be better to wait a few years until after he had had his good time! It is to be feared that this is altogether too common an attitude among American fathers. May we not teach them to adopt as their ideal what Bishop Jeremy Taylor lays down as the rule "which the Church of England and Ireland follows, that after infancy but yet before they understand too much of sin, and when they can competently understand the fundamentals of religion, then it is good to bring them to be confirmed, that the Spirit of God may prevent their youthful lusts, and that Christ by His word and by His spirit may enter and take possession at the same time "?

XV

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CON-
FIRMED AND UNCONFIRMED

Я

MAN who had been brought up a Presby

terian, but had for some time attended the services of the Episcopal Church with his wife, went with her to an early communion service on Christmas. It was the first time he had been to an early celebration of the Holy Communion; and when the time came for the people to go to the altar rail to receive the Blessed Sacrament, he arose to go forward with his wife. He was much astonished and somewhat hurt to be told by her that he could not receive because he had never been confirmed: especially as he had been in other Episcopal Churches when all those present were invited to come forward and receive the Sacrament.

Now one cannot but feel a certain sympathy for this man. He was a devout Christian, according to his light; and an eminently respectable and decent member of society. Why was he not

quite as fit to receive Holy Communion as the other men in the congregation? Or if he was as fit, why was he barred out?

The answer is supplied by a simple and clear-cut provision in the Prayer Book. At the end of the office for Confirmation there is a rubric which says: "There shall none be admitted to the Holy Communion until such time as he be confirmed, or be ready and desirous to be confirmed." This does not mean that readiness and desire for Confirmation in themselves constitute a ground for admission to Holy Communion. It is intended merely to provide for extraordinary cases, as when a person is dying. Bishop Wheatly, in commenting on this rubric says, "This is exactly conformable to the practice of the Primitive Church, which always ordered that Confirmation should precede the Eucharist, except when there was extraordinary cause to the contrary: such as was the case of Clinical Baptism, or the absence of a Bishop, or the like; in which cases the Eucharist is allowed before Confirmation."

But there are clergy in the Church who invite all Christians to receive the Blessed Sacrament, whether they have been confirmed or not. How do they justify their action, in view of the above rubric? They say it is simply a rule the Church has adopted for her own children, for such as

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