On Sunday April 28, 2013, our firstborn, John Francis, received his First Holy Communion! What a joyous day! Family who joined us were Grandmom and Pop-Pops from Georgia, Grampa Neil from California, and Aunt Erica from Oregon. The beloved godparents would have just about moved heaven and earth to be there, but had a (good) family matter come up that kept them at home.
Fifty-seven of the children received their First Holy Communion on Saturday at the Mass specifically for them. I took John to church that day to have individual photos taken and to join his classmates for the official group photo.
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| John is in the front row, second in from the left |
Three of the children had elected to receive at the Latin Mass on Sunday, the subsequent day.
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| John, Katherine, and Noah with Fr. Reid |
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| Family photo after Mass |
It was a stretch for me to keep 25-month-old Margaret in Mass the whole hour-and-a-half--and in the front pew no less! But I didn't want to miss a moment, so Grandmom and I worked hard to keep her quiet and entertained. Memorable moments were when she broke out singing the Wonder Pets theme song during the Consecration and when she heard the bells marking moments of the Consecration and she echoed with her words, "ding dong! ding dong!" . . . just in case we hadn't heard those bells.
Another incident I considered fondly as a "mom moment" was during the Mass when I glanced down at my only pair of nice shoes: light tan leather pumps I bought to be my Mass shoes. I noticed they were now speckled, like a leopard print, and I was momentarily confused. Then I remembered that an entire week ago, a child had dropped a cup of chocolate milk on my feet and, in all my busy-ness, I had yet to clean off my shoes, thus their being leopard printed now!
The three communicants' families held a reception in the parish hall after Mass. About sixty people joined us and it was a lovely, warm celebration.
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| The exquisite cake: what a baker! I highly recommend her: my local friends may contact me for her name, if interested. The decoration was beautiful and the cake itself was moist and delicious. |
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| The First Holy Communion-themed cookies made by a new company called Sweet Celeste. I recommend this company highly: they did a fabulous job, and they tithe on their profits to organizations that support pro-life or Down Syndrome endeavors. |
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| Fr. Reid talking to the children |
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| Auntie Erica, teary at Father's meaningful words: She will scold me for posting this (lovely!) picture of her, but it turns out to be the only photo I have of her from that most special day! |
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| Receiving Holy Communion does not mean one is too old to play with trucks! |
After the reception at church, we returned home and enjoyed dinner with one other family that joined us.
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| The menu: hot dogs and hamburgers, potato salad, coleslaw, green salad, macaroni and cheese, chips, and grapes. |
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| The cake: layers of ice cream sandwiches, Cool Whip, and crushed Oreo cookies |
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| Audrey, John, and Ariana |
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| John ended up opening his gifts over several days, which was so much more peaceful than doing it "birthday party style." Since each gift was holy and meaningful, it worked better that each gift-giver was able to pull John aside at a quiet moment and give him his gift, to talk through what it meant. |
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| Mary wrote this card for John: I realized that I have been looking at a lot of young children's writings as I was able to decipher her writing "First Communion" right away! |
Congratulations to John! Can't wait to see the official pictures!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to John!!! What an exciting day for him and your family, even more so to have been able to receive during the Latin Mass. Our Jack is receiving his First Holy Communion on May 11th. Does St. Ann's typically have their first grader's receive the sacrament? Our parish requires them to be finished 2nd grade. What a gorgeous cake too:-)
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations John! What a lovely cake, reception, home cake, and I love the first communion card memento; reminded me of mine!
ReplyDeleteAnd how nice that he was able to receive his first communion at the Latin mass that is so special to you.
Congratulations! I am so glad that your parish is "friendly" and that they did not have a problem with the children choosing to make their First Holy Communion at the Latin Mass. I, for one, am just hopeful that my son, John Joseph, will be allowed to receive his First Holy Communion on the tongue instead of in the hand. What a difference between your parish and mine.
ReplyDeleteKatherine: The standard at our parish is that the sacrament is received in second grade, but the Catholic Church has always allowed individual exceptions, and our priest follows that teaching.
ReplyDeleteAshley: Oh, I am sorry that this is a concern for you! I also hope that John Joseph is allowed to receive on the tongue. Frankly, we would go to the mattresses on that one. There is a letter from the Holy See that says any Catholic may not be denied Holy Communion for choosing to receive on the tongue. You could use that and you'd have the full force of the Vatican behind you.
ReplyDeleteIn our parish, the priest let the children know that it is licit to receive in the hands but then taught heavily that receiving on the tongue is by far preferred. The message was strongly delivered!
Congratulations to John! What a beautiful and special day!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, John!! That cake is Absolutely Fabulous - I mean WOW! Mary's picture is about the sweetest thing ever; it made me all teary-eyed... So glad you were able to sit through the entire Mass and not miss a moment! Congrats again!!
ReplyDeleteWow, I never knew receiving on the hand was looked down on!
ReplyDeleteAshley, it is always permissible to receive on the tongue. Just teach him on your own that is how he is to do it.
ReplyDeletePriscilla, the three main reasons for not receiving in the hand are that your hands are not consecrated; the priests are... and also you can get microscopic particles of the Body of Christ on your hands... what to do? Just brush them off? Finally, receiving in the hand gives room for desecration of the Eucharist. I personally have seen people walk off without consuming the Host, putting it in her pocket. I had to go chase down an usher to tell him!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to John! What a special day!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree; your aunt looks lovely in that picture. I can really see your resemblance to her!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to John on his special day! Were you teary-eyed?
Thank you Elaine. I understand. Deep down it's always felt wrong to receive from a layperson, I have always preferred the priest. I do usually receive in the hand because I didn't want anyone touching my tongue but I will change that. This has given me much to ponder.
ReplyDelete@Priscilla - It is possible (and preferable!)*not* to touch one's tongue when administering communion. (I remember being taught this many many years ago when I was an extraordinary minister.) But it does still happen sometimes. If you feel called to make a switch, hopefully you will find it a rare occurrence! I think it helps to stick out your tongue a bit too.
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