THE CONFIRMATION TEST FOR ENGLISH CHITROHMANSHIP.
[TO TER EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR,"] Srx,—The letter of "A Parish Minister" in your last issue needs a brief answer. The matter of Confirmation from the earliest times seems to have been (1) the laying on of hands ; (2) unction ; or (3) both. The Bishop is the ordinary minister of Confirmation ; thus in the West he himself confirms, in the East priests confirm with unguent episcopally consecrated, and it is under this condition that priests in the Roman Church are in very rare instances allowed to administer this Sacrament. The only difficulty in the way of Confirmation by priests in the Anglican Church is the modern disuse of unction. And, at any rate amongst High Churchmen, "A Parish Minister" will find little prejudice in favour of the Anglican method as against the Eastern or the Latin, for we believe that the grace of Confirmation is equally conferred by all three. If the Eastern method would conciliate Presby- terians, that alternative might well be admitted in any revision of the Book of Common Prayer.—I am, Sir, Ix.,
Previous page
