Patrick Fernie, Aidan Colla, and Jonathon Shiel-Dick received the Sacrament of Confirmation, emphasising their public commitment to following Jesus, at St Canice’s on Sunday 23rd November.

The Sacrament of Confirmation implies service and a generous sharing of their gifts to build the Kingdom of God. We invoke the Holy Spirit to inspire them with gifts of WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING, COUNSEL, FORTITUDE, KNOWLEDGE, PIETY, and AWE. We pray for their families and sponsors, and especially Helen who has prepared them for today.

In confirming the boys, Fr Chris Jenkins SJ welcomed them into an adult community of faith. Each of the young men showed a maturity in their choice of Confirmation names. Patrick chose St Edmund Campion, an English Jesuit priest and martyr; Aidan liked St Michael the Archangel; protector and the leader of the army of God against the forces of evil; and Jonathon admired St Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan friar, who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz.