Salisbury Cathedral

[nicolab6]

I am very proud to say that my son was Confirmed yesterday at Salisbury Cathedral. A lovely service, but the most amazing thing was the font. A huge font, capable of being used for a full submersion baptism and a 'living' feed of water. Well worth the visit if you are in the area.

[mike11111]

I know not of the work of which you speak, Ma'am, but the Lord of The Flies chap was William Golding.
I must confess to being a little confused, as fonts are for baptism, not confirmation. However I assume that you are remarking upon the architecture, divorced from the ceremony. I remember the good old days when the bishop would visit each parish in his diocese once a year to perform confirmations. It was a pretty awesome occasion; boys were dressed in their best suits and the girls all wore white with veils on their heads.

[nicolab6]

Trim, no problem! This was entirely his own choice. I would not describe us as regular church goers (I.e. Not every week) but we have raised our kids as Christians. At our Primary school, our vicar offers confirmation classes to all yr 6 pupils. This year 5 from a class of 21 decided to do this. They have had classes every week since the start of May, discussing what they are doing / why and preparing for their confirmation. As I said, our Vicar is great to the kids and he has played a huge part in generating their interest.

[tinkerbell23]

thats lovely to hear nicolab6...i remember mine well and was very excited!! lovely service i think personally. i felt quite grown up as it was my last sacrament before marriage...if anyone ever wants me!!!!!! hhaha but i made my communion at aged 7 ...i will look online at the font. sounds amazing....and mammy how lovely !! what an achievement for your grandson to deal with a large ceromony you must be so proud x

[nicolab6]

Fonts are for baptism and you need to be baptised to then be confirmed. 3 of the candidates were both baptised then confirmed yesterday. The service at Salisbury is a 'moving' service (physically). They start at the entrance of the church, move to the font to be reminded of their baptism (sprinkled with water from the font) then move to the alter to be confirmed by the Bishop.

[nicolab6]

Mamy, congratulations to you too!

[Mamyalynne]

Well Trim in our case all the Grandchildren have been baptised RC, these things are seen as a natural progression within the faith, he will make his first Holy Communion later this month.
So to answer your question, no it wasn't his choice as such but he was taught about it and has relished all the ceremonies involved thus far. What he does as an adult is of course completely up to him.

[mike11111]

I was confirmed at the age of 11 though though normal age range was 12-14. The rubrics of The Book of Common Prayer state that no person shall be admitted to Holy Communion unless he be of an age of discretion and shall have been confirmed by the bishop, though this has gone by the board. Funnily enough the RCs never had a problem with this, admitting children to communion long before they were confirmed. I prefer the Anglican way; it made you feel grown-up and able to do grown-up things.

[Mamyalynne]

As a Catholics we used to have Communion around 7 years and Confirmation at about 14 years, it has all been altered as is the new Mass they are going to meddle with.

[mike11111]

Everything has changed across the board. I knew a few people in the late 60s/early 70s who left Canterbury for Rome, only to find that they couldn't have the Latin Mass any more. Same with the C of E. Mention the BCP now and people laugh at you, even though 50 years ago it was the only permitted ritual allowed in the church.

[tinkerbell23]

i was aged7 when i made communion and 11 when i made my confirmation . about 5-6 when i made my 1st confession x

[mike11111]

Although auricular confession is practised in the High Church of England, I have never availed myself of that facility. Some things are better left unsaid, and spoken only unto God.