The Baptism of infants.
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1250 Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called. (cf. Council Of Trent (1546): DS 1514; cf. Colossians 1:12-14) The sheer gratuitousness of the grace of salvation is particularly manifest in infant Baptism. The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth. (cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 867; (CCEO) Corpus Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium, Canons 681; 686, 1)

1251 Christian parents will recognize that this practice also accords with their role as nurturers of the life that God has entrusted to them. (cf. Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 11; 41; Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes 48; Code of Canon Law, Canon 868)

1252 The practice of infant Baptism is an immemorial tradition of the Church. There is explicit testimony to this practice from the second century on, and it is quite possible that, from the beginning of the apostolic preaching, when whole "households" received baptism, infants may also have been baptized. (cf. Acts 16:15, 33; Acts 18:8; 1 Corinthians 1:16; Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith, Instruction, Pastoralis actio: Acta Apostolicae Sedis 72 (1980) 1137-1156)

Faith and Baptism.

1253 Baptism is the sacrament of faith. (cf. Mark 16:16) But faith needs the community of believers. It is only within the faith of the Church that each of the faithful can believe. The faith required for Baptism is not a perfect and mature faith, but a beginning that is called to develop. The catechumen or the godparent is asked:

• "What do you ask of God's Church?" The response is: "Faith!"

1254 For all the baptized, children or adults, faith must grow after Baptism. For this reason the Church celebrates each year at the Easter Vigil the renewal of baptismal promises. Preparation for Baptism leads only to the threshold of new life. Baptism is the source of that new life in Christ from which the entire Christian life springs forth.

1255 For the grace of Baptism to unfold, the parents' help is important. So too is the role of the godfather and godmother, who must be firm believers, able and ready to help the newly baptized - child or adult on the road of Christian life. (cf. Code of Canon Law, Canons 872-874) Their task is a truly ecclesial function (officium). (cf. Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium 67) The whole ecclesial community bears some responsibility for the development and safeguarding of the grace given at Baptism.

Article 2

The Sacrament of Confirmation

1285 Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation, "whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. (cf. Roman Ritual, Rite of Confirmation (Ordo Confirmarionis), Introduction 1) For

"by the sacrament of Confirmation, (the baptized) are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed." (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 11; cf. Ordo Confirmarionis (Order of Confirmation), Introduction 2)

I. Confirmation in the Economy of Salvation

1286 In the Old Testament the prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on the hoped-for Messiah for his saving mission. (cf. Isaiah 11:2; Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:16-22) The descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus at his baptism by John was the sign that this was he who was to come, the Messiah, the Son of God. (cf. Matthew 3:13-17; John 1:33-34) He was conceived of the Holy Spirit; his whole life and his whole mission are carried out in total communion with the Holy Spirit whom the Father gives him "without measure." (John 3:34)

1287 This fullness of the Spirit was not to remain uniquely the Messiah's, but was to be communicated to the whole messianic people. (cf. Ezekiel 36:25-27; Joel 3:1-2) On several occasions Christ promised this outpouring of the Spirit, (cf. Luke 12:12; John 3:5-8; John 7:37-39; John 16:7-15; Acts 1:8) a promise which he fulfilled first on Easter Sunday and then more strikingly at Pentecost. (cf. John 20:22; Acts 2:1-14) Filled with the Holy Spirit the Apostles began to proclaim "the mighty works of God," and Peter declared this outpouring of the Spirit to be the sign of the messianic age. (Acts 2:11; cf. Acts 2:17-18) Those who believed in the apostolic preaching and were baptized received the gift of the Holy Spirit in their turn. (cf. Acts 2:38)

1288 "From that time on the Apostles, in fulfillment of Christ's will, imparted to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands the gift of the Spirit that completes the grace of Baptism. For this reason in the Letter to the Hebrews the doctrine concerning Baptism and the laying on of hands is listed among the first elements of Christian instruction. The imposition of hands is rightly recognized by the Catholic tradition as the origin of the sacrament of Confirmation, which in a certain way perpetuates the grace of Pentecost in the Church." (Pope St. Paul VI, Divinae Consortium Naturae, 659; cf. Acts 8:15-17; Acts 19:5-6; Hebrews 6:2)

1289 Very early, the better to signify the gift of the Holy Spirit, an anointing with perfumed oil (chrism) was added to the laying on of hands. This anointing highlights the name "Christian," which means "anointed" and derives from that of Christ himself whom God "anointed with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 10:38) This rite of anointing has continued ever since, in both East and West. For this reason the Eastern Churches call this sacrament Chrismation, anointing with chrism, or

which means "chrism." In the West, the term Confirmation suggests that this sacrament both confirms and strengthens baptismal grace.