Expert: Fr. Michael - 4/12/2010

Question
I understand that a valid sacrament requires the correct form and matter. In the case of Confirmation, the form, "Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit" and the matter, chrism oil must be present. I have witnessed a Confirmation whereby the priest said "Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" instead of "Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit" and would like to ask if the sacrament is still valid despite the difference in the words used. Thank you in advance for your answer.

Answer
You are clearly speaking not of the traditional Catholic Sacrament of Confirmation, but the Novus Ordo (New Order) version that has been modified to invalidity.  Nor are the traditional Sacraments impared in vulgar tongues, but in the Sacred Language of Latin.  Moreover, a priest (you are actually referring here to a Novus Ordo presbyter) is not the ordinary minister of Confirmation.  Thus, there are obviously more invalidating factors in what you describe than a few words in English.   For further information, consult Fr. Dr. Rama Coomaraswamy's book, "The Problem with the Other Sacraments," downloadable in PDF format from  http://www.traditio.com/tradlib/problem.txt