Yes? OK. Now can you explain what each means?

For many young Catholics, confirmation means choosing a saint's name and picking their favorite relative to be their sponsor. But in the Catholic Church, confirmation has a much deeper meaning.,”

The seven sacraments. Can you name them all?

Yes? OK. Now can you explain what each means?

For many young Catholics, confirmation means choosing a saint's name and picking their favorite relative to be their sponsor. But in the Catholic Church, confirmation has a much deeper meaning.

"Confirmation is a twofold initiation," said Gretchen Baumgardt, assistant director of University Ministry. "It brings the confirmant into the Catholic faith and strengthens their faith."

Angela Ryan, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, was confirmed in eighth grade. She attended Catholic school and said she doesn't remember much from her confirmation, other than bringing her sponsor – her great -aunt – to school one day.

"It wasn't really a choice. Everyone was doing it," Ryan said. "I don't know if I have any deeper appreciation for it now that I'm older. I don't really remember what we talked about."

Laura Hague, another College Arts & Sciences sophomore, remembers talking about Catholic faith and wearing red robes in her confirmation ceremony when she was 14 years old.

"I kind of felt like if I didn't do it, I'd be excluded," Hague said. "I felt obligated."

A major component of confirmation is choosing a sponsor. A sponsor is generally a relative – though not a parent – and a practicing Catholic.

Hague chose her cousin as her sponsor but doesn't remember why.

"I think even then I had no idea why I picked her," she said. "It's hard to remember because it was so long ago. It was seven years ago and it was one night."

According to Baumgardt, the sacrament of confirmation grew out of a situation many early Catholic communities found themselves in when the fledgling religion was just beginning to take root. Traditionally, the bishop would travel around to different Catholic communities, baptizing and giving post-baptismal anointing. With so many Catholic parishes to reach and so few bishops traveling, the anointing had to be delayed until the bishop made it back around.

"The sacraments separated and developed into the sacraments we know today," Baumgardt said.

Most bishops still visit parishes in their diocese to perform confirmation, but some parishes opt to have their local pastor ask the bishop for permission to perform confirmation. Usually this happens when there is a scheduling conflict, such as the confirmation of adults at Easter Mass.

The Church has no official rule about when confirmation takes place. Each bishop and diocese decides when to confirm. Some individuals are confirmed in elementary school, some when they are a little older. In Milwaukee, confirmation typically occurs when the candidate is a junior in high school.

In the early Church, confirmation was a sacrament received early in life, close to the other sacraments of initiation – baptism and First Communion.

"The theology is the same," Baumgardt said. "But the emphasis can be different."

Each diocese decides if it wants to stress that the sacraments of initiation are received together or that confirmation assists older children and adolescents in making a decision about their faith.

Confirmation preparation differs depending on the candidate's age, but Baumgardt said the preparation usually lasts for one academic year.

"We want to use materials that are age-appropriate in explaining the faith," Baumgardt said. "But the theology in them is the same."

Five Marquette students and two alumni were confirmed April 15 in the Chapel of the Holy Family in the Alumni Memorial Union. The Marquette students began preparing in November and worked with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Baumgardt called Marquette's way of preparing a "melding of Scripture and tradition."

At Mary, Queen of Heaven parish, 2322 S. 106th St., in West Allis, candidates are confirmed at age 16 after preparing for two years.

Mary, Queen of Heaven and its two sister parishes confirmed 45 students on Sunday, according to Linda Koch, director of youth ministry at the parishes.

Their preparation included community, parish and liturgical service, retreats and studying the Catholic faith.

"Basically my goal is to expose them to as much as I can to what it means to be Catholic and the truth of what the Church teaches," Koch said. "They have to know what it is and then they can own it."

She said the person chosen to be a candidate's sponsor is an essential part of the confirmaiton process.

"I explain to them that a sponsor is a lifelong faith companion, someone most Christ-like in their world," Koch said. "A lot of times it's one of most difficult choices that they make."

Koch said Mary, Queen of Heaven confirms later because the parish wants its candidates to choose confirmation.

"This really, truly is a choice that they make on their part. I always have confirmation interviews to make sure this is really something they want," Koch said. "Mom and Dad can't make them be confirmed, it has to be their choice."

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