First Communion

[ibetheone]

Hello all.

Is it common is some area’s to have multiple First Communions in small area’s? Also, is it common to insert them into a mass vs their own service? I guess I should ask “is it becoming common”?

Thanks,

Erik

 

[1ke]

I don’t understand the question.

 

[Wackotrad]

I think you’re asking about individual First Communions throughout the year as opposed to a single large group each year?

Our parish used to do that when it was smaller. Parents would simply notify the priest when they felt their child was ready, the priest would quiz the child, and the child would have his or her First Communion during the regular Sunday Mass. Our son actually had his First Communion in February.

Now that our parish has grown quite a bit, our pastor has decreed that all children receive First Communion on the same Sunday, though the parents can choose which of the three weekend Masses their children can receive. We don’t have a special Mass for First Communions, but I know that a lot of big suburban parishes do that, because otherwise there’s no way they could accommodate everyone who wanted to attend. My nephew’s First Communion group was over 80 kids.

 

[ibetheone]

Thank you. You understood my question exactly. The way you explained it sounds sensible. I guess I was a little taken since we always did one Communion. I was a member of a large church and now a small one. The small one has had a single one until now. It’s all I knew. Ahh change. :knight2:

My wife is from the Caribbean and she really does not understand the change when there are about a dozen children

As trivial as this might sound it will take us sometime to accept it.

I think you’re asking about individual First Communions throughout the year as opposed to a single large group each year?

Our parish used to do that when it was smaller. Parents would simply notify the priest when they felt their child was ready, the priest would quiz the child, and the child would have his or her First Communion during the regular Sunday Mass. Our son actually had his First Communion in February.

Now that our parish has grown quite a bit, our pastor has decreed that all children receive First Communion on the same Sunday, though the parents can choose which of the three weekend Masses their children can receive. We don’t have a special Mass for First Communions, but I know that a lot of big suburban parishes do that, because otherwise there’s no way they could accommodate everyone who wanted to attend. My nephew’s First Communion group was over 80 kids.

 

[PatriceA]

I think you’re asking about individual First Communions throughout the year as opposed to a single large group each year?

Our parish used to do that when it was smaller. Parents would simply notify the priest when they felt their child was ready, the priest would quiz the child, and the child would have his or her First Communion during the regular Sunday Mass. Our son actually had his First Communion in February.

Now that our parish has grown quite a bit, our pastor has decreed that all children receive First Communion on the same Sunday, though the parents can choose which of the three weekend Masses their children can receive. We don’t have a special Mass for First Communions, but I know that a lot of big suburban parishes do that, because otherwise there’s no way they could accommodate everyone who wanted to attend. My nephew’s First Communion group was over 80 kids.

I would consider 80 kids “small” in my neck of the woods. My daughter’s First Communion mass had 230 kids. I actually would have liked breaking up into smaller groups. It was too chaotic, too many people trying to take pictures, trying to get the best seat in the house, etc
For those reasons alone, some of the bigger parishes near me are going towards the children being able to receive their First Communion over the course of the scheduled masses on a particular weekend instead of one big massive stand alone mass for all the children and their families.
.

 

[mfrances]

During 2 weekends in April and May, my parish will have 4 special Masses for First Communion. Each Mass will have about 30 First Communicants.

 

[ibetheone]

That is massive, PatriceA! 230 kids IS a lot. I presume your church has a school attached? Our church only has a about a dozen kids going forward. I can see the need to accommodate many. My feeling is we don’t have that many.

I consider myself a thinking man but I never thought about this. I made up reasons as to why it was done as a group. I saw it as all the children going forth “together”. Receiving Christ for the first time at the same time. All equal. This was a mass with the every community coming together. White, Black, Hispanic, Asian. All our children would start together.

I know that (never forgot) the most important aspect is receiving communion but man did I embellish… :dancing:

While writing this, I saw a picture of Sacramental Bread in Poland. Now I realize that my embellishment was very “American” Lol

I would consider 80 kids “small” in my neck of the woods. My daughter’s First Communion mass had 230 kids. I actually would have liked breaking up into smaller groups. It was too chaotic, too many people trying to take pictures, trying to get the best seat in the house, etc
For those reasons alone, some of the bigger parishes near me are going towards the children being able to receive their First Communion over the course of the scheduled masses on a particular weekend instead of one big massive stand alone mass for all the children and their families.
.

 

[PatriceA]

That is massive, PatriceA! 230 kids IS a lot. I presume your church has a school attached? Our church only has a about a dozen kids going forward. I can see the need to accommodate many. My feeling is we don’t have that many.

I consider myself a thinking man but I never thought about this. I made up reasons as to why it was done as a group. I saw it as all the children going forth “together”. Receiving Christ for the first time at the same time. All equal. This was a mass with the every community coming together. White, Black, Hispanic, Asian. All our children would start together.

I know that (never forgot) the most important aspect is receiving communion but man did I embellish… :dancing:

While writing this, I saw a picture of Sacramental Bread in Poland. Now I realize that my embellishment was very “American” Lol

We did have a school attached, but the parish school children only came to a grand total of 15 children. And our parish is NOT one of the bigger parishes around the diocese. First Communion masses can be huge around my area. My daughter is preparing to be confirmed next fall, so we’re looking once again at another group mass with the bishop officiating this time. They are combining four parishes for the confirmation mass so its going to be quite crowded.

 

[CruceSignati]

My daughter’s First Communion mass had 230 kids.
.

Holy cow! Thats a lot At our parish, we usually have a dozen kids or so each year, and sometimes if there are also kids for Confirmation, they are done on the same Sunday. The total number of kids is often less than 25.

 

[Phemie]

Holy cow! Thats a lot At our parish, we usually have a dozen kids or so each year, and sometimes if there are also kids for Confirmation, they are done on the same Sunday. The total number of kids is often less than 25.

Yes, our First Communion groups are usually between 12 & 20 and it’s usually at the Sunday Mass, although two years ago Fr. opted for the Saturday evening Sunday Mass.

Confirmation? Well, we haven’t had one in 4 years now. Our diocese used to confirm around the age of 7: children were confirmed and received their First Communion in the same ceremony. When our diocese was merged with another that confirmed in grade 10, the bishop decreed that in future Confirmation would be only for children in grades 6 to 10. That meant that we had about 4 years with no candidates. This year we’re starting again with catechesis for Confirmation.

In the parish where we were living when our oldest was ready for First Communion, it was our duty to prepare our own kids, with a bit of help from the parish. There was the catechesis that we as parents were to do, then there were the community gatherings throughout the year to meet certain themes of the preparation, and finally there was the children’s interview with the Pastor once they had finished their workbook. If at that interview Fr. determined that they knew what they were about to undertake, he would hear their confession and then they could go and receive at the next Mass that they attended. It put the responsibility squarely on the parents’ shoulders, where it should be.

For ten years or more in my present parish the children who were receiving sat with their parents and came to Communion with their family – again to put the emphasis on the parents as the primary catechists. The children’s only responsibility was to properly respond with the congregation.

For the past two years they sat the kids all together and it’s been a free-for-all. They also make them into readers, even though the primary job of a reader is to be understood, not to be cute. They split the one reading between two or more kids and the general intercessions between 5 or 6 of them. The kids are more focused on the fact that they will be reading than on the fact that they will be receiving Jesus for the first time. Drives me nuts!