626 Willard Ave
Newington, CT 06110
(860) 666-1591
Confirmation Program
HS Graduating Class of 2029: https://classroom.google.com/c/ODM0OTQ4MzQ0NDk4?cjc=swxx3ulu​
The Confirmation program at Annunciation Parish is a one year program for students in 10th grade.  
​As stated in The National Directory for Catechesis:

"The most effective catechetical program for adolescents are integrated into a comprehensive program of pastoral ministry for youth that includes catechesis, community life, evangelization, justice and service, leadership development, pastoral care, and prayer and worship. Such programs aim to empower young people to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in our world today; to draw young people to responsible participation in the life, mission, and work of the Catholic faith community; and to foster the total personal and spiritual growth of each young person." (p, 201)

This is the environment we strive to provide for the youth of Annunciation Parish, to prepare them to enter into a mature role in the Catholic Church.  

Deacon Jim Blanchette, Director of Religious Education and Confirmation
​[email protected]

Requirements

Confirmation - What Is It?
CONFIRMATION REQUIREMENTS 
  1. CONFIRMATION NAME: You should choose the name of a Saint who you admire & whose lifestyle & witness to the Catholic faith means something special to you. . An essay is required on that Saint chosen for Confirmation and why you desire to be Confirmed.
  2. SPONSOR FOR CONFIRMATION/AFFIRMATION: The laws of the Catholic Church require that a Confirmation sponsor be baptized, Confirmed over sixteen and be a practicing Catholic. Your Confirmation sponsor should be someone committed to helping you in your faith journey. Parents cannot be their child’s Confirmation sponsor. A sponsor certificate is required for ALL sponsors. Sponsors should contact the Catholic parish they attend and request the Confirmation sponsor certificate. 
  3. COMMUNITY SERVICE REQUIREMENT: All Confirmation candidates are required to complete 20 hours of community service. Helping others is an integral part of our Catholic identity. Opportunities for service to others uncovers & responds to basic human needs, while demonstrating Jesus’ understanding of and responses to humans in need. If you need some help/ ideas as to how to proceed with this requirement contact Deacon Jim Blanchette at 860.729.5032 or [email protected].  
  4. ATTENDANCE – 10th grade Confirmation preparation is still in progress of being planned. It will be an accelerated course since Confirmation occurs in November. Within these meeting dates a Confirmation retreat is scheduled and the sacrament of Reconciliation is scheduled as well prior to Confirmation. All 10th Grade students are required to be in attendance each week.  
  5. CONFIRMATION RETREAT – A Confirmation retreat is required and is an afternoon or evening of prayer, reflection with some emphasis on the sacrament of Confirmation. 
  6. CONFIRMATION DATES: The date of Confirmation is assigned by the Chancery office of the Archdiocese of Hartford. We are asked for some dates for Confirmation, they are submitted to the chancery and then we are notified of the date for Confirmation. Once the date for Confirmation has been given to Father Janusz and Deacon Jim Blanchette then all students & parents are informed.
  7. ​CONFIRMATION FEES / APPLICATION – Please return form with appropriate information and fee.
The sacrament of Confirmation completes the action that was begun at Baptism with the gift of the Holy Spirit. In New Testament times, the coming of the Spirit upon believers was a separate action from Baptism – related to it and built upon it, but separate. It still is. Sometimes Confirmation is celebrated immediately after Baptism and sometimes there is an interim of several years.  We return to the sign of the sacrament for an understanding of what was happening. Like Baptism, Confirmation is a complex ritual, but the essential sign is threefold; anointing with chrism, laying on of hands, and speaking the words, “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
 
Chrism is a blessed, fragrant, oil-like substance, and anointing is an ancient religious ritual. It signifies being chosen and strengthened for a special role. Placing hands upon the head signifies a conferring of power.  A seal indicates a final, confirmed belonging to something or someone (ever hear of a seal of approval?). All of these happen in the sacrament of Confirmation.
 
What role? What power? What belonging? The role of being a fully functioning member of the Body of Christ, the Church. The power of God’s grace to move from the role of a child to the role of an adult.   A confirmed Catholic is now permanently different, just as he or she was permanently different through Baptism, but now in a fuller, more mature way. Who brings this about? The Holy Spirit. Confirmation is known as the “sacrament of the Spirit.” We can understand more the Spirit’s relationship to us by studying the strange and wonderful word which Jesus used in promising the Spirit.