The Confirmation program at St. Mary’s Catholic Church is a three year program that involves several different parts. The first two years of our program is content rich. The teachers use Faith First, Liturgy and Mortality for Junior High produced by Resources for Christian Living. The third year of the program is a journey of faith using a discussion and critical skills method. All three years of the program involve a once a month seventy-five minute class followed by a teaching mass with Fr. John Rosson. After mass all are invited to a pizza party to enjoy socialization time. Each year all three classes have a four panel discussion with members of the parish who share their spiritual journey from their hearts and souls. At the end of the three year program, the students will have heard from twelve different parishioners about their Catholic faith. This is often the highlight of the program for the young people. Each year ends with a pinning ceremony for the ninth grade class who will be confirmed in November. This is followed by a family picnic for all Confirmation students and their families.
After the final year of the students’ Confirmation classes, each student has a personal interview during the summer with Fr. John and the Confirmation teachers to discuss their faith and the Confirmation Program. These students also participate in a one-day retreat during the fall at the Shrine at Auriesville with Fr. Peter Murray who follows up by supporting them at their Confirmation as a concelebrant. Each Confirmandi is featured in our parish bulletin with a summary of their faith journey and a picture during the month before Confirmation. This enables all of our Parishioners to get to know the young people choosing to be confirmed and become a full member of the church. Students celebrate their Confirmation with a beautiful family dinner that is held after the rehearsal for Confirmations and again at a social reception after Confirmation.
We are very proud of our Confirmation Program. It involves the students, their families, their sponsors, their teachers, and our parish priest Fr. John Rosson. The classes, teaching masses, panels, picnics, interviews, retreats, and dinners all lead to the welcoming of these young people to our church with the beautiful Confirmandi with Bishop Howard Hubbard in November each year.