Confirmation

This is a picture of a Confirmation ceremony at the Barnabee St. Joachim Church. 

Confirmation is a coming of age ceremony, in the eyes of the Church, all confirmed members are seen as adults. Its purpose is to confirm and strengthen the recipient in the Christian faith. Adults normally undergo the ceremony right after Baptism, while children must undergo a series of classes in order to earn the right. The one exception to this timeline is in the case of a gravely ill child whose death is imminent. The Columbia Plateau was very poorly supplied when it came to priests, so other than emergent situations, many people had to wait a long time to receive this sacrament.

In the photo to the left, we see a Bishop, and what seem to be several altar boys in the Barnabee St. Joachim Church, whose original site is currently under water. In the picture, they are reciting the prayers for the mass. After that portion of the Mass is finished, the bishop will anoint the children, shown at the bottom right, with consecrated oils so that they may be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.