Confirmation classes, what to expect?

  • So I'm a roman catholic and I wasn't confirmed when I should have been because my parents were worried I would run off and marry someone without their permission if they confirmed me. Well I'm running off and marrying someone and now I need to be confirmed.

    I'm registering for confirmation classes this week and my question is: what should I expect? I know it's once a week, but that's about it. (My parents were very catholic-lite, so I don't really know too much about all things church-y)
  • I was raised Lutheran, and I got confirmed in 7th grade. Ours was just that, like a weekly religion class. We learned about the Bible and the history behind Lutheranism and what it meant to be a member of our church. Our class was awful and mostly consisted of the pastor telling us to hush because no one would pay attention and listen to what was being taught -- much like a 7th grade classroom full of whiny 12 year olds who don't give a crap. I'm sure yours will be a better experience because you're an adult and you actually want to be there and understand it to an extent. Hope it goes well!
  • Each church can have a different class. Strange as that may seem. Some catholic churches will have a few classes - one hour, one night a week for 2-3 weeks, other catholic churches might give you a home study with no classes. You understand all it's about is for you to accept what you've learned about your faith as a Catholic and be willing to support this faith in your adult life. It's not "mandatory" for anyone - unless you believe in the sacrament and want the sacrament.
  • My confirmation class was on sundays for 45 minutes and I was confirmed at the Easter Vigil, but you just might want to find out from your Religious Ed. or RCIA leaders.
  • I remember needing a sponsor (someone to help keep you on the path one you are confirmed. A friend, relative, etc.) and that you go to confession before you're confirmed. It was about a decade ago for me (gosh I'm old) so I don't remember much.
  • I didn't want to get confirmed, but my mom convinced me that my grandparents would be heartbroken if I didn't do it...for my church there was class once per week for about 8 weeks and they made us do busywork like picking a saint's name to add to ours as our "confirmation name" and reviewing all of the crap that we did at catechism in elementary school. Since I went to a Catholic high school and was forced to go to religion class every day any way, it was super redundant.

    Essentially they try to reinforce all of the beliefs that you're "confirming" to be yours, go through parts of the sacrament, and make you choose your confirmation name and sponsor.
  • Go talk to the priest where you are planning on attending and ask him!

    Most likely it's not that big a deal. Most are one or two nights a week for awhile.
  • I took confirmation classes but never went through with it. It basically sealed the deal with the split between religion and myself.

    Basically, it was very casual as an adult. Similar to bible study but really discussed a lot of the basic concepts.