Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 205 – Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 205 - Part II. What happens in Confirmation?

(Youcat answer - repeated) In Confirmation the soul of a baptized Christian is imprinted with a permanent seal that can be received only once and marks this individual forever as a Christian. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the strength from above in which this individual puts the grace of his Baptism into practice through his life and acts as a “witness” for Christ.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1304) Like Baptism which it completes, Confirmation is given only once, for it too imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark, the "character," which is the sign that Jesus Christ has marked a Christian with the seal of his Spirit by clothing him with power from on high so that he may be his witness (Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1609; Lk 24:48-49). 

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) To be confirmed means to make a “covenant” with God. The confirmand says, “Yes, I believe in you, my God; give me your Holy Spirit, so that I might belong entirely to you and never be separated from you and may witness to you throughout my whole life, body and soul, in my words and deeds, on good days and bad.” And God says, “Yes, I believe in you, too, my child—and I will give you my Spirit, my very self. I will belong entirely to you. I will never separate myself from you, in this life or eternally in the next. I will be in your body and your soul, in your words and deeds. Even if you forget me, I will still be there—on good days and bad.”

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1305) This "character" perfects the common priesthood of the faithful, received in Baptism, and "the confirmed person receives the power to profess faith in Christ publicly and as it were officially (quasi ex officio)" (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 72, 5, ad 2). (CCC 1317) Confirmation, like Baptism, imprints a spiritual mark or indelible character on the Christian's soul; for this reason one can receive this sacrament only once in one's life.     

(The next question is:  Who can be confirmed, and what is required of a candidate for Confirmation?)