Heal Each Wound and Bend Each Will. By Fr. Bede Jarrett

However, every sacrament has both an outward sign and an inward grace.
What are these in Confirmation? First, the external thing, material instrument
of God’s grace to my soul, is the anointing of my forehead by the Bishop with
the consecrated oil. That is the essential outward sign. What is the inward
grace? Strength. In the East, oil, which is at once a food and a preservative of
the skin, is frequently used among athletes. It is, indeed, the source of the
strength of the toilers and is mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures as the symbol
of that which it helps to produce. Hence, the oil is the external representation
of that inner strength that the soul requires.

Usually, Confirmation is administered to children when they stand upon the
threshold of life, when they are beginning to feel that they will have to
overcome and endure many difficulties—when they are becoming conscious
that life grows not easier, but harder. Can I remember that at that age I
discovered that not everyone agreed with me regarding the duties owed to
God and all those duties entailed? I found that the things I held sacred and the
people I had been taught to reverence were now held up to my ridicule and the
things I had been afraid to do, afraid even to think about, were spoken of and
done openly before me without shame. Even my own inclinations began
suddenly to become stronger. Unsuspected instincts and hidden forces that I
did not yet understand began to be felt and to give pleasure.

Thus, the full practice of faith, hope, and love grew increasingly difficult to
observe. Then I was confirmed and these tendencies were henceforth to be
counteracted by the indwelling within me, not merely of grace, but of the very
Spirit of God. He Himself was to take charge of my soul.