nd the power
of the Most High keep you from sin." Then extending his hands over them
he prays that they may receive the Holy Ghost.

In the 6th verse of the 19th chapter of the Acts the sacred writer,
after telling about the baptism of the disciples at Ephesus, adds: "And
when Paul had laid his hands upon them the Holy Ghost came on them." In
the 6th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews St. Paul mentions
Confirmation, the laying on of hands, with Baptism and Penance, as among
the principal practices of Christianity.

The sacrament of Confirmation has been administered to the faithful of
every age from the time of Christ until the present. We learn this from
the Fathers and writers of the various ages. Among them St. Clement
says: "All must make haste to be confirmed by a bishop, and receive the
sevenfold grace of the Holy Ghost." The practice of administering
Confirmation is founded on tradition, then, as well as on Scripture. Is
it not reasonable to believe and practise that which the Christian
Church of every age believed and practised?

The apostles of Christ administered Confirmation by praying that the
faithful may receive the Holy Ghost and laying their hands upon them.
The successors of the apostles do likewise. Who will say that this
practice is not reasonable? Baptism gives spiritual life; Confirmation
increases it. Baptism makes persons children of God; Confirmation
strengthens them, causes them to grow, and makes them strong men and
soldiers of Jesus Christ.

All the morality of life is implied in the sacrament of Confirmation. It
strengthens man, it gives him courage to confess God; and as sin is the
denial of God, whoever has courage to confess _God will practise
virtue_.

V. Honoring the Blessed Virgin

"The angel Gabriel was sent from God . . . to a Virgin . . . and the
Virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in said to her: Hail,
full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women"
(_Luke_ i. 26, 28).

"From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" (_Luke_ i. 48).

THESE words from St. Luke show that the Catholic practice of honoring
Mary is scriptural. We alone fulfil the prophecy, "From henceforth all
generations shall call me blessed." If Mary was so pure that the
archangel Gabriel could salute her as full of grace; if she was so
perfect as to be honored, respected, and loved by her divine Son, Jesus
Christ, is it not reasonable that we, too, should hono