Confirmation: What is it?

1303 From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace: 
- it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry, "Abba! Father!";115 
- it unites us more firmly to Christ; 
- it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us; 
- it renders our bond with the Church more perfect;116 
- it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross:117


Confirmation is one of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church. When someone receives confirmation, the Holy Spirit bears its Gifts to the recipient, and they truly enter the Catholic faith. Normally, the ceremony consists  of symbolic gestures such as spoken prayer, laying of hands, and anointing with oil. Now, these are all facts most Catholics already know, but there is one question barely any know at all: what are the origins of this Sacrament, and when was it first used?

Let's start off by going a bit further in depth as to what exactly happens when one is confirmed. The primary aspect from which all the others originate is the fact that Confirmation makes us "Soldiers of Christ" and "strictly obligates us to spread and defend the faith by both word and deed". So, it is a ceremony enforcing our faithfulness to God. Where we were given ample opportunity to stray from the faith after Baptism, Confirmation is like a yearly checkup at the doctor's office. Confirmation re-enforces our understanding and devotion to the faith as we go down the road of what it means to be Catholic, and how we are to achieve Salvation.