First Holy Communion and Confirmation on the same day?

[hope21]

My daughter will be doing the sacramental programme this year, and the priest wants to hold her first Holy Communion and Confirmation on the same day as part of the Sunday mass.

In my experience, the sacraments are usually done separately and something about this arrangement doesn’t feel right to me - it will be done by a visiting priest as our parish is very small and it feels like the sacraments are being crammed in to fit into his busy schedule.

I’m just looking for some opinions really - do you think it is better to have confirmation and first Holy Communion separate, or is it just me over-analysing it?

 

[RyanBlack]

The traditional ordering of the sacraments of initiation is baptism, followed by confirmation, followed by communion. I see nothing wrong with being confirmed and admitted to Holy Communion on the same Sunday.

 

[Phemie]

My daughter will be doing the sacramental programme this year, and the priest wants to hold her first Holy Communion and Confirmation on the same day as part of the Sunday mass.

In my experience, the sacraments are usually done separately and something about this arrangement doesn’t feel right to me - it will be done by a visiting priest as our parish is very small and it feels like the sacraments are being crammed in to fit into his busy schedule.

I’m just looking for some opinions really - do you think it is better to have confirmation and first Holy Communion separate, or is it just me over-analysing it?

More and more dioceses are returning the sacraments of initiation to their original order: Baptism, Confirmation, Communion. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. In our diocese we did this for 9 years and it worked very well.

 

[hope21]

Thanks for your replies. In our parish, Confirmation is always done before Communion.
It’s not the order of the sacraments which I feel uneasy with, or the fact that they are done within a few weeks of each other - it’s that I think my daughter might not get as much from the sacrament of confirmation if it is done at the same time as her communion. Whereas, if they were done separately, she could focus on first her confirmation and then her communion.

 

[CB_Catholic]

My daughter will be doing the sacramental programme this year, and the priest wants to hold her first Holy Communion and Confirmation on the same day as part of the Sunday mass.

In my experience, the sacraments are usually done separately and something about this arrangement doesn’t feel right to me - it will be done by a visiting priest as our parish is very small and it feels like the sacraments are being crammed in to fit into his busy schedule.

I’m just looking for some opinions really - do you think it is better to have confirmation and first Holy Communion separate, or is it just me over-analysing it?

That is how candidates and catechumens are brought into the Church through RCIA and how people who are not in RCIA are brought into the Church. That is how it was done historically, and that is how it is done in the East. The Bishop usually decides the age
and usually Confirms, but where there is a priest shortage things have to be done according to when a priest is available.

I am of the opinion that the Western Church should return to the Eastern practice of receiving all three Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist at the same time, starting with infants. I think people should be sealed with the Holy Spirit and be given Eucharist from the beginning of their lives. They can begin to understand these mysteries as they grow up , as most people, even in the current system don’t have a clue, even though they were older when they received the Sacraments. Eastern Catholics don’t suffer one bit in their understanding of the sacraments just because they started in infancy. But I am most likely in the minority.

 

[RileyG]

huh? I received confirmation almost a decade after I received first Holy Communion.
However, I see nothing wrong with receiving them at the both time, as someone else mentioned.

God Bless…

 

[Ragamuffingirl]

Yeah I’m confused when I was a kid First Communion was in 2nd grade and Confirmation was in 9th grade.

 

[Usige]

I was a candidate when I was received into the Church. I had been baptized twenty years earlier and received Confirmation and the Eucharist the same night after I had made my profession of faith. I can tell you that my Confirmation meant nothing less to me for having received it with the Eucharist. If nothing else it actually reminds me how closely these two sacraments are related along with baptism.

 

[Usige]

huh? I received confirmation almost a decade after I received first Holy Communion.
However, I see nothing wrong with receiving them at the both time, as someone else mentioned.

God Bless…

Yeah I’m confused when I was a kid First Communion was in 2nd grade and Confirmation was in 9th grade.

Before the early 20th century children did not receive the Eucharist until around 12 or 14, after having been confirmed. Pope Pius X lowered the age to around the age of reason (i.e. 7) but not much discussion was had about how this impacted the traditional ordering of the sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist). Vatican II called for the return of not only the permanent diaconate, but also the original order of the sacraments. As such there are a small number of diocese that have returned to the traditional order and now have confirmation at 7 or 8 followed a couple months to a year or two later by reception of the Eucharist.

 

[pensmama87]

That is how candidates and catechumens are brought into the Church through RCIA and how people who are not in RCIA are brought into the Church. That is how it was done historically, and that is how it is done in the East. The Bishop usually decides the age
and usually Confirms, but where there is a priest shortage things have to be done according to when a priest is available.

Not only was I confirmed the day I first received Holy Communion, I was baptized that day, too! I was a convert at 20 years old.

Convert question here: do Confirmations usually happen within the context of a Mass? If so, your child would be receiving grace from the Eucharist regardless of when Confirmation happened…the Eucharist is a sacrament that a person can receive many, many times. It is special the first time, of course, but I think primarily for sentimental reasons, not so much theological ones. The grace from one sacrament isn’t going to “take away from” the others.

 

[paperwight66]

Our Archdiocese has been having the two Sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation at the same ceremony with the children aged 8 for the past few years.

The catechists find it is a lot to teach, and for the children to take in, and it is difficult for them to distinguish between the graces received through Holy Communion and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

One good thing, though, it stops the depressing leakage of young people immediately they have been confirmed, and the hard slog that is the preparation of sometimes unwilling teenagers building up to it.

It is a wholly different way of seeing Confirmation, though, as with teenagers the emphasis was on making an adult choice, not just having something done to them. I can’t help feeling that they still need a definite choice-making moment. I suppose they could do it at Easter along with everyone else, though.

 

[Elizium23]

I don’t see how she could “get less out of it” by having it done in the same Mass. She will receive the same sanctifying graces, the same words of the Rite will be used, and the same Eucharist will be consecrated. Spiritually, it is exactly the same as having two ceremonies.

Now, she won’t have two parties or receive two sets of presents, but that is merely a matter of logistics and creativity on your part. Find another excuse to throw a party for her and she will not suffer much.

 

[JRS_88]

I am of the opinion that the Western Church should return to the Eastern practice of receiving all three Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist at the same time, starting with infants. I think people should be sealed with the Holy Spirit and be given Eucharist from the beginning of their lives. They can begin to understand these mysteries as they grow up , as most people, even in the current system don’t have a clue, even though they were older when they received the Sacraments. Eastern Catholics don’t suffer one bit in their understanding of the sacraments just because they started in infancy. But I am most likely in the minority.

 

[Convert2013]

As someone who received the Sacraments of Initiation last Easter, there’s nothing wrong with them being at the same time. I appreciate very much what those Sacraments are and the graces received from them. That being said, I am an adult who studied the faith a lot prior to the Easter vigil and more in-depth than the RCIA information that was provided (which was excellent btw).

If I may suggest …make sure you understand them fully yourself, if you don’t already, and have conversations with your child about them. Only you and your child will know if they understand and are ready. As far as I know, your child does not have to be Confirmed yet. Sacraments are not forced upon anyone. If you wish to have your child wait, then you can do so and wait.

 

[FrDavid96]

Before the early 20th century children did not receive the Eucharist until around 12 or 14, after having been confirmed. Pope Pius X lowered the age to around the age of reason (i.e. 7) but not much discussion was had about how this impacted the traditional ordering of the sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist). Vatican II called for the return of not only the permanent diaconate, but also the original order of the sacraments. As such there are a small number of diocese that have returned to the traditional order and now have confirmation at 7 or 8 followed a couple months to a year or two later by reception of the Eucharist.

I’ve never hear that before: the part about Vatican II changing the order of the sacraments.

I’d like to read more on this.

Can you tell me which Vatican II document(s) speak about changing the order of the sacraments? Could you give me the name of the document and the paragraph number, please?

Thanks.

 

[ChurchSoldier]

The catechists find it is a lot to teach, and for the children to take in, and it is difficult for them to distinguish between the graces received through Holy Communion and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

What are the differences as seen by the Catholic Church?

 

[ProVobis]

Now, she won’t have two parties or receive two sets of presents, but that is merely a matter of logistics and creativity on your part. Find another excuse to throw a party for her and she will not suffer much.

Yes, but how can one beat the thrill of having your bishop or cardinal, with gobs of acolytes, thurifers, master of ceremonies come to your parish and you and your sponsor have a chance to bond through the sacrament of Confirmation and a new confirmation name? I remember these confirmation services lasting several hours at our parish, almost always in the evening.

 

[teetee]

When I was a kid, I had First communion in the morning, confirmation in the evening.
I have always wondered about that too. All of us even had a common sponscer !

 

[coachdennis]

Yes, but how can one beat the thrill of having your bishop or cardinal, with gobs of acolytes, thurifers, master of ceremonies come to your parish and you and your sponsor have a chance to bond through the sacrament of Confirmation and a new confirmation name? I remember these confirmation services lasting several hours at our parish, almost always in the evening.

The sanctifying grace of the sacrament is more important.

 

[ProVobis]

The sanctifying grace of the sacrament is more important.

AFAIK, Baptism initiates and Penance restores sanctifying grace. I’m surprised Penance has not been mentioned in this thread. And if communion is allowed at a very early age, at what point do you teach that confession is necessary to receive? Because I’ve read that the Orthodox Church almost requires confession before communion.