We started practising and learning about Confirmation many months in advance with our first lesson being on the second Thursday of the Lent term. Our meetings were held in Upper schools where Father Heap talked to us about matters of the Confirmation and important aspects of being a member of the Catholic Church. He asked us to discuss with our friends the idea of being a Catholic and what it means to us, so that we could increase our own knowledge about the morals and values of the Catholic Church and how they apply to us. Most importantly he would intermittently pass out Krispy Kreme doughnuts to increase our blood sugar and concentration levels. I found that the lessons we had were very good because they taught everyone something new as the topics discussed were applicable to both those who had been born and raised into the faith as well as those who had become members only recently. Furthermore, Father Heap managed to keep everyone interested and listening throughout the meetings; something that is rare to find in a normal div.
Our first Confirmation outing as a group was to St. Mary’s Ascot for evening discussions, Communion and dinner. To start off the evening we were taken to a small Chapel in the middle of the school where we were introduced to all the teachers and split up into groups for conversations. Once in our groups the different teachers taught us about the Catholic Church and its impact on the world. To finish off the evening we met again in the school Chapel and received Communion before being given a filling dinner and packed off back to Eton.
Our second outing was in the lead up to the big day in what is formally known as the Catholic Confirmation Quiet Day. We left for the Sacred Heart Church in Sunningdale having already sadly informed our devastated teachers that we would not be attending any school lessons that day. Instead, we focused on Catholic lessons intermingled with football and we had a more than satisfactory Domino’s pizza for lunch. However, the day was more than just fun and a great way to miss school lessons because we also all made our Confession with the priest and learnt some important teachings on how to pray and to be a Catholic. To sum it all up, at the end of the day we were taught how to use and subsequently given our own rosary beads that we happily strung around our necks before thanking the priests and departing back home.
The big day happened four days later on the 1st of May 2016. Having already had a practice the day before, everyone was prepared and 100% ready for the grand event. The 40 boys and 11 girls were confirmed by the Rt. Rev. Peter Doyle, Bishop of Northampton. The service took place in the high halls of College Chapel and for many of the boys in F block this was the first time that they had been at a service in College Chapel. The outstanding Eton College Choir sung beautifully. The service lasted an hour and a half and the College Chapel was packed with family, friends, those to be confirmed and their sponsors, housemasters, dames and the odd boy who didn’t realize there wasn’t going to be a register at the end of the service!
Looking back, I feel immense gratitude to Father Heap and to Mr. Gavin Rice who worked incredibly hard to prepare us exceptionally well for our Confirmation. Lastly, I would like to thank the Rt. Rev. Peter Doyle, who stayed afterwards to chat to the boys and families and happily took photographs with many of us on the College steps.