2026-27 Confirmation Program Components
High School and Confirmation Prep
All aspects of high school Confirmation preparation are handled in the parish under the direction of the Pastor.
This is because Confirmation is a sacrament of the Catholic Church and a milestone within a student’s life of faith and his or her personal and individual relationship with God through Christ.
As such, all high school students participate in the same program under the same expectations, whether they attend public or Catholic high school.
REGISTRATION
To register for the Confirmation Program: Click the button below.
Please fill out Step 1 of the registration, then Step 2. Within Step 2, please select “Confirmation” as your class choice.
Overview
- Weekly Sunday (or Saturday pm) Mass attendance
- Working with a Sponsor
- Choosing a Confirmation Name
- In-person catechesis/formation
- “Romans 12 Project” – 4 hours per school year
- Demonstration of standard Catholic prayers
- A Confirmation Retreat
- Student’s Request to Receive the Sacrament of Confirmation
- A Letter to the Bishop
- A “Confirmation Conversation” (a Confirmation Interview)
Detailed View
1. Weekly Sunday (or Saturday pm) Mass attendance
Regular participation in Sunday Mass and Holy Days of Obligation is a basic expectation of those who are seeking the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Confirmation Sponsors should see that students/candidates are regularly participating in Sunday Mass and Holy Days of Obligation.
2. Working with a Sponsor
Students will work with the Sponsor they’ve already chosen during 9th or 10th Grade.
The Sponsor-Student relationship is one of mentoring. The Sponsor should make sure the student is participating regularly in Sunday Mass
and is progressing faithfully in the program requirements below.
Click HERE for a full description of the role of the Confirmation Sponsor.
3. Choosing a Confirmation Name
Students will have chosen a Confirmation Name during 9th or 10th Grade. Click HERE for more information on the Confirmation Name.
4. In-Person Catechesis & Formation
a. Our 11th Grade Confirmation students will be using the “Chosen” set of materials published by Ascension Press. This text and materials are
intended for use in a Catholic parish religious education program, and are designed specifically for high schoolers preparing to receive
the Sacrament of Confirmation.
b. The period of Immediate Confirmation Preparation is less oriented to lecture-style classes, and is geared more toward spiritual reflection and
personal preparedness to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.
5. Romans 12 Project – 4 hours per school year
The “Romans 12 Project” is an opportunity for high school students in Grades 9-11 to prayerfully consider the gifts and interests God has blessed
them with, and how their own giftedness can be exercised as members of the one Body of Christ for the building up of the Kingdom of God.
Students in Grades 9-10 and Confirmation (Grade 11) will complete 4 hours per school year toward a Romans 12 Project. Students may work
together, but each student is responsible for his or her own 4 hours.
By the end of September of each school year, the student will present his or her Romans 12 Project ideas/plans to the Faith Formation Office
for approval. *Please see the Romans 12 Project Idea Sheet for project ideas based on student interests.
Students should print THIS FORM and turn it in to the Faith Formation Office by the end of September for project approval.
6. Demonstration of standard Catholic prayers
Learning standard prayers of the Catholic faith is a cumulative effort.
Starting in 1st Grade, students learn new prayers each year, building up a repertoire of prayers they can draw upon from memory throughout life.
These prayers are learned with the help of parents and are reinforced during Faith Formation gatherings and Sunday Mass.
Click Here for a list of standard Catholic prayers and the year during which a student should be learning them.
11th Graders will be responsible for knowing the prayers up through 10th Grade,
and will be responsible for learning the Divine Mercy Chaplet during 11th Grade.
7. A Confirmation Retreat
More information will be coming in Fall 2026 regarding the Confirmation Retreat.
8. Student’s Request to Receive the Sacrament of Confirmation
The sacraments of the Church cannot ever be forced on an individual. Rather, the sacraments are freely requested and the Church responds.
Receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation requires the student to take on the adult responsibilities of being true to the faith, spreading the faith,
and following the sometimes-difficult road of being a faithful disciple of the Lord. The responsibility of the individual in living out the
Christian calling can only be taken up by the individual—with the help of the community and God’s grace.
If they desire to be confirmed, students should complete the “Confirmation Request” form found HERE, and submit it to Father.
This should be done by Jan. 1, 2027.
** If a student has any reservations about being confirmed, the student should please contact Father so they can talk through the student’s
questions. Father is more than happy to do this.
9. A Letter to the Bishop
The Sacraments of Christian Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist) are not automatically given. A person needs to request these and
all the sacraments of his or her own free will. God invites us into eternal friendship with him, but he does not force us to accept the invitation.
Writing a letter to the Bishop to request the Sacrament of Confirmation is one way the student expresses how he or she has freely chosen to be
more closely identified with Jesus Christ in the way they live life. That free choice is reaffirmed every Sunday when the student says “Amen”
to the Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Letters will be written during regular class times in Spring 2027, with catechists offering assistance.
The students’ letters will be grouped together and sent to the Bishop by Father.
10. A “Confirmation Conversation” (a Confirmation Interview)
This informal, casual conversation between the student and Father (or another catechist) is an opportunity for students to share how they personally
experience faith in Jesus, and how they personally live out that faith on a day-to-day basis. It should be approached as “faith sharing,” rather than
as a test (which it isn’t intended to be).
These “confirmation conversations” will take place during regular class times in the Spring of 2027.