What is do the laying on of hands and chrismation mean?

The laying on of hands is a sign of the transfer of power, not from one person to another, but from God, the source of all power and grace, to the one devoted to the divine work, just as Moses the prophet did by laying his hands on Joshua based on the Lord’s command (Num. 27:18). The apostles also did so for the Holy Spirit to descend upon those who had been baptized (Acts 8:17–18). This mystery is also called, the “seal of the Spirit,” the “sacrament of confirmation,” or “chrismation.” The laying of hands is used in ordinations (Acts 6:6; 2 Tim. 1:6; 1 Tim. 4:14); in absolutions (1 Tim. 5:22); and in the unction of the sick (Mark 16:18). St. Paul the Apostle considered “the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands” to be one of the elementary principles of Christ (Heb. 6:1–2) or one of the basics of the Christian life.

Paul the Apostle uses four Greek terms in 2 Corinthians regarding the anointing of the Holy Spirit: establishment (or confirmation); chrism; seal; and guarantee of the Spirit. He says, “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee ” (2 Cor. 1:21–22).

Tertullian in the second century talks about chrismation as an established custom in his days, connected to baptism and the laying of hands. He says, “After this, when we have issued from the font, we are thoroughly anointed with a blessed unction … the unction runs carnally, ( i.e. on the body,) but profits spiritually; in the same way as the act of baptism itself too is carnal, in that we are plunged in water, but the effect spiritual, in that we are freed from sins. In the next place the hand is laid on us, invoking and inviting the Holy Spirit through benediction.”¹³⁹⁰

St. Cyprian says, “For those who had believed in Samaria had believed in the true faith and had been baptized within by the deacon, Philip, whom the same Apostles had sent, in the Church, which is one and to which alone it is permitted to give the grace of baptism and to absolve sins (cf. Acts 8:14–17). And, therefore, it was not necessary for those who had

1389 See St. Augustine of Hippo, The Works of St. Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century: Part III— Sermons; Volume III: Sermons 51–94 , trans., Edmund Hill, ed., John E. Rotelle (New City Press, 1991) 71.19, 33: pp. 257–258, 266–267.

1390 Tertullian, On Baptism 7–8 (ANF 3:672).

received legitimate and ecclesiastical baptism to be baptized again, but only that which was lacking was supplied by Peter and John, after having prayed for them and imposed hands upon them that the Holy Spirit should be invoked and infused into them.”¹³⁹¹

St. Augustine also talks about the laying on of hands and chrismation in connection with the Holy Spirit as the gift of God, and not of the disciples personally, “For no one of His disciples gave the Holy Spirit, since they prayed that He might come upon those upon whom they laid their hands [Acts 19:6]: they did not give Him themselves.”¹³⁹²