Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Wistful Wednesday: Confirmation 1944

I know when my Mother was confirmed.  Not sure about my Dad I am certain he was confirmed but I have no photo to prove it.

Madeline Confirmation Class 1944 (2)

This is my mothers confirmation class in 1944.  Mom would have been 15 years old. She is third from the right in the back row.  Note that most all the girls have some kind of curly hairstyle and are most likely wearing a white dress.

My mothers can still recite most of Luther’s Small Catechism….probably first in German and then in English.  

I was thankful that when I studied Luther’s Small Catechism that they didn’t require the Large Catechism too…I memorized verses and the “What does this mean” parts only long enough to repeat them in a group…then it was out of my brain ready for the next what does this mean.

Since 1529 the Lutheran Church has been using Luther’s Small Catechism to teach its Doctrine to the children…it is often called a short course in the Christian Faith.

I am reasonably thankful that my parents made me go to Confirmation every Saturday morning for two years. ( At the time I wasn’t too thrilled.) The end result was a firm faith foundation even though I wasn’t very good at memorization.

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15 comments:

Intense Guy said...

The girl to the right of your mom looks like a young Hazel Booth.

Tom said...

my confirmation was years ago

linda m said...

I was confirmed in 1960. Since I went to a parochial school I only remember intense study in the eighth grade. Luther's Small Catechism was our staple. I also had a large class of 42. Wow, that was a long time ago.

DJan said...

Everybody looks so serious in that picture, and the hair style is almost identical on each girl. I can't help but remember pincurls and know most of these curls were created by them. Wonderful picture, though. :-)

Red said...

Well, your catechism paid off and was well worth while. It gave you a solid grounding in your faith.

Anonymous said...

Good post! We had to memorize stuff too. I would have rather been at the playground. But in the end, maybe some of what we learn sticks and gives us a firm foundation. BTW, thanks for the nice comment you left on Paul'a blog at Smidgens, Snippets, and Bits about the daybook posts. I saw what you wrote and thought that was a nice thing to say. So thanks.

Tired Teacher said...

I was confirmed as an adult, using Luther's Small Catechism, and fortunately no memorization was required.

Paula said...

Such a wonderful picture of your mom's confirmation. I just love these old pictures.

Rita said...

I went to confirmation classes and was confirmed a Methodist. Mostly I remember annoying the hell (pardon my French) out of the instructors with all my questions about things that didn't make sense to me and being told to sit and be quiet. I also was a temporary memorizer--all through school, too. Regardless of my still unanswered questions, it gave me a foundation for good and bad or positive and negative behavior. I was already deeply spiritual before I ever went to confirmation. I sure do remember pin curls, though. And later...Spoolies! :)

Granny Marigold said...

Lovely picture. I remember my Mom had an old German Catechism with the strange script ( Fraktur ???)and I pored over it trying to figure it out.

Sam I Am...... said...

What a great picture and look at all the bows in their hair too. I was Methodist but we had confirmation classes and I am really glad as it was truly the beginning of my own personal faith.

Jacqi Stevens said...

Well, I don't think I have a photograph to prove it either, but I did go through confirmation. Maybe your dad's church didn't have that custom, either...unless, um, he went to the same church as your mom did...

L. D. said...

When we had my wife's father living with us, we were treated to hearing him at night reciting all of them. He was hard of hearing and didn't really care if we were sleeping at night at all. So in the middle of the night he would begin. I always smiled when he would end the memory words by saying. "there I did it." I think he was concerned he was going to forget and not do them at all.

zooperson said...

I can still recite, "What does this mean?" 87 years later. Well, not quite that long but you get the drift. Actually, those "explanations" were excellent--lost on a 13 year old but as an adult one can appreciate the standards that were set. I think of the caution to not lie or slander our neighbor. Not all that hard, but the second standard is much more demanding. " ...but apologize for him, speak well of him, and put the most charitable construction on all that he does." Whew!
😨

thecrazysheeplady said...

I was confirmed in the Lutheran church too, but I don't remember it being two years of study. I'm probably "forgetting" that part ;-).