'Didst prepare the disciples for the coming of the Comforter': classical Anglican teaching and the prayer for Confirmation candidates
The prayer embodies central features of the rich theology of Confirmation found in classical Anglican teaching. Before considering these, we might first address the slight changes found in the various versions of the prayer, in its central petition. Here is Walpole's prayer as found in Scotland 1929 and the Proposed Book 1927/28:
O God, who through the teaching of thy Son Jesus Christ didst prepare the disciples for the coming of the Comforter: Make ready, we beseech thee, the hearts and minds of thy servants who at this time are seeking the gift of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands, that, drawing near with penitent and faithful hearts, they may be filled with the power of his divine presence [1927/28: indwelling]; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ireland 1926 and Canada 1962 changed the central petition to "the gifts of the Holy Ghost". It is possible to regard the use of the plural as a means of distinguishing the concerns of Ireland 1926 from the more Anglo-Catholic emphasis of Scotland 1929. It is indeed the case that there were concerns in some quarters that Anglo-catholics were over-emphasising the role of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation to the detriment of the Sacrament of Baptism. Reading the texts alone, however, we need not regard this as a significant change.
The 1662 Baptismal rite is explicit in its acknowledgement of the gift and presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the baptized: "wash him/her and sanctify him/her with the Holy Ghost". Article 27 likewise declares that in Baptism we receive "our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost". The gift of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, then, cannot be regarded as obscuring the work, presence, and gift of the Spirit in Baptism. What is more, the gifts of the Holy Spirit cannot be received without the presence and power of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, the gift of the Holy Spirit is not present without bestowing gifts.
Whether it is "the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Proposed Book 1927/28, PECUSA 1928, Scotland 1929" or "the gifts of the Holy Ghost" (Ireland 1926, Canada 1962), the same point is made as seen in Secker's famous sermon: the purpose of Confirmation is "to communicate further measures of the Holy Ghost".
While PECUSA 1928 kept the singular "gift of the Holy Ghost", it did alter the words opening the petition: "thy servants who at this time are seeking to be strengthened by the gift of the Holy Spirit". Again, however, this can hardly be taken to alter the meaning of the prayer or of its understanding of Confirmation. All these various Prayer Book rites of Confirmation retain 1662's prayer before the laying on of hands, with its petition "Strengthen them, we beseech thee, O Lord, with the Holy Ghost the Comforter". The strengthening gift of the Holy Spirit is, therefore, fundamental to each of these rites, inherited from 1662. As Jeremy Taylor said of Confirmation:
in confirmation we may be renewed in the inner man, and strengthened in all our holy vows and purposes, by the Holy Ghost ministered according to God's ordinance.
In its central petition, then, Walpole's prayer - adopted and lightly revised by these various editions of the Book of Common Prayer - maintains the classical Anglican teaching on the work and gift of the Holy Spirit in the Rite of Confirmation.
The opening of the prayer - shared, without change, by each of these versions of the prayer - powerfully draws us to the heart of the classical Anglican teaching:
O God, who through the teaching of thy Son Jesus Christ didst prepare the disciples for the coming of the Comforter.
Confirmation, in other words, is understood in the context of the Pentecostal experience of the apostolic church. This itself is drawn from the locus classicus of the Anglican teaching on Confirmation, Acts 8:14-17: the Samaritans participating in the apostolic experience of Pentecost through the laying on of apostolic hands. The prayer's reference to "the Comforter" further emphasises this as it echoes the Prayer Book provision for Whitsunday:
leave us not comfortless; but send thine Holy Ghost to comfort us (collect for the Sunday after Ascension Day);
when the Comforter is come (the Gospel for the Sunday after Ascension Day);
and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort (the collect for Whitsunday);
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter (the Gospel for Whitsunday).
This also relates to the account in Acts 19:1-7, of Paul's encounter with "certain disciples" in Ephesus who had known only the baptism of John, leading to their reception of the Sacrament of Baptism followed by the laying on of Paul's hands, when "the Holy Ghost came on them". This further example of participation in the Pentecostal experience through the laying on of apostolic hands was invoked in Taylor's Perfective Unction (the work itself was prefaced by the Apostle's question to these disciples, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?"):
in the Acts of the Apostles we find another instance of the celebration of this Ritual and Mystery, for it is signally expressed of the Baptized Christians at Ephesus, that St. Paul first Baptized them, and then laid his hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost; and these Testimonies are the great warranty for this Holy Rite.
The opening sentence of Walpole's prayer captures this central affirmation of the classical Anglican teaching: that the Rite of Confirmation is the sign and assurance of our participation in the Pentecostal experience of the strengthening indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.
The more recent history of this prayer, however, points to the loss of this coherent and robust theology of Confirmation. TEC's BCP 1979 includes a version in its occasional prayers, under the title 'For those about to be Baptized or to renew their Baptismal Covenant'. The prayer's purpose as a summary of a rich body of teaching on Confirmation is erased. The rooting of this prayer in the "example of thy holy Apostles" - in the apostolic practice of Acts 8 and Acts 19 - is entirely lost. And Confirmation is thus left as 'a rite in search of a theology' because its theology has been stolen and misapplied.
One step towards renewing and restoring this theology would be to encourage use of this prayer - in parishes as Confirmation approaches; in the preparation of candidates for Confirmation; in parish teaching on the meaning of Confirmation. In a few lines, this finely constructed prayer summarises the rich classical Anglican theology of this Rite, of Confirmation as an apostolic ordinance, a sign of our partaking in the gift of the Comforter. It is, in other words, an excellent response to the contrived allegation that Confirmation is 'a rite in search of a theology'.
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The various versions of this prayer in addition to that of Scotland 1929, 'For Candidates for Confirmation':
Ireland 1926
For Candidates for Confirmation.
O GOD, who through the teaching of thy Son Jesus Christ didst prepare the disciples for the coming of the Comforter; Make ready, we beseech thee, the hearts and minds of thy servants who at this time are seeking the gifts of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands, that, drawing near with penitent and faithful hearts, they may be filled with the power of his divine presence; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
England Prayer Book as Proposed in 1927/1928
Let us pray for those who are being prepared for Confirmation.
O GOD, who through the teaching of thy Son Jesus Christ didst prepare the disciples for the coming of the Comforter: Make ready, we beseech thee, the hearts and minds of thy servants who at this time are seeking the gift of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, that, drawing near with penitent and faithful hearts, they may be filled with the power of his divine indwelling; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
PECUSA 1928
For Those About to be Confirmed.
O GOD, who through the teaching of thy Son Jesus Christ didst prepare the disciples for the coming of the Comforter; Make ready, we beseech thee, the hearts and minds of thy servants who at this time are seeking to be strengthened by the gift of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, that, drawing near with penitent and faithful hearts, they may evermore be filled with the power of his divine indwelling; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Canada 1962
For those being prepared for Confirmation.
O GOD, who through the teaching of thy Son Jesus Christ didst prepare the disciples for the coming of the Comforter: Make ready, we beseech thee, the hearts and minds of thy servants who at this time are seeking the gifts of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, that, drawing near with penitent and faithful hearts, they may be filled with his power; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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