What do you remember about your First Holy Communion?

  • Thread starter Thread starter nodito
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
We boys were required to dress all in white, shirt, tie, suit, shoes. The thing I remember the most is how much the shoes hurt my feet!!
 
I was in 2nd grade and we were moving to another state before the rest of the children made their First Holy Communion. (It was Pre Vatican II some months before Pope John Paul became our pope.)
My mom told me to get in line and I was the last person. I remember feeling really uncomfortable. I think the priest or someone made an announcement and everyone was looking at me! 😊 No white dress, no other children, just me! 😊 😊😊 😊

Afterward, my parents had a party at the house. We had a big “First Communion” cake and my grandparents, aunt (my godmother), uncle, and cousins were there. They had a three and a half hour drive! (This was probably the last time I saw my grandpa; he passed away late that Summer.)

I honestly don’t remember Reconciliation prior! Could this be possible? I usually have a good memory for such things. I remember after the move, attending the second half of 2nd grade at a Catholic school, going to Confession, and feeling very nervous!
 
I still have the statue of Mary that my grandmother sent me as a gift, fifty-five years ago. :rolleyes:
 
  1. My mom didn’t let me choose my dress – she bought some horrible thing that didn’t have lace, chiffon, bows, and absolutely no twirl potential. :inset barfing smiley here:
  2. Being last in line because I was the tallest.
  3. Isabelle being taller than me on the day because she was dressed like a REAL PRINCESS, with lace that went on for miles, an actual tiara, and high heel shoes! But I still had to walk behind her, making my dress look even more like a white pillow case with sleeves. Actually, I think our pillowcases were prettier and more feminine than that dress.
  4. Patrick fainted during the consecration, poor kid.
Not one spiritual memory at all. But those moments came later.

And I have always remembered the date: May 10, 1975 😃
 
I only remember my dress and veil because I have seen photos. I most likely wore the dress my sister wore the year before, but I did have my own veil. 👍
White shoes, white socks, no stockings for girls back then…no makeup. :rolleyes:

There were probably about 75-100 children, girls on one side, boys on the other. We walked up the aisle with our hands pressed together like we were praying on our way to our seats. (Oh yes, we were such angels, haha!) I received communion while kneeling at the altar rail. (Boom! Now you know I am vaguely old…:D)

Afterward, I received cards with money from my relatives, maybe a medal I no longer have, and an unusual statue that I have not seen very many of. It is an all white Hummel, of The Child Jesus. Yes, I still have the statue, it is a treasured item from my childhood. And I also have my white plastic rectangular purse and the white missal with a girl receiving communion on the cover, and maybe the plastic rosary beads too.

We had a meal with family and a couple of aunts, and I remember that when I was told to change out of the dress, the day felt a little less special. (Oh, what a girl!)
 
christofirst said:
I was in 2nd grade, over 45 years ago, and I have no specific memory of that day. I do still remember the photographs taken on that day, however, in my parents’ old photo album, even though I haven’t looked at those pictures in over 20 years.
Click to expand...
Sorry to say, I don’t remember it, either; I was too young to appreciate the importance of it.
 
Irishmom2 said:
I only remember my dress and veil because I have seen photos. I most likely wore the dress my sister wore the year before, but I did have my own veil. 👍
White shoes, white socks, no stockings for girls back then…no makeup. :rolleyes:

There were probably about 75-100 children, girls on one side, boys on the other. We walked up the aisle with our hands pressed together like we were praying on our way to our seats. (Oh yes, we were such angels, haha!) I received communion while kneeling at the altar rail. (Boom! Now you know I am vaguely old…:D)

Afterward, I received cards with money from my relatives, maybe a medal I no longer have, and an unusual statue that I have not seen very many of. It is an all white Hummel, of The Child Jesus. Yes, I still have the statue, it is a treasured item from my childhood. And I also have my white plastic rectangular purse and the white missal with a girl receiving communion on the cover, and maybe the plastic rosary beads too.

We had a meal with family and a couple of aunts, and I remember that when I was told to change out of the dress, the day felt a little less special. (Oh, what a girl!)
Click to expand...
I remember fondly the little white plastic purse. Mine I think had a little faux patent sheen. 🙂 My first Communion was mid 70’s, so my missal had pictures from the late '60’s. Horn rimmed glasses must have been fashionable for teachers, and priests as well. 😃

I remember that all the girls had to purchase the same veil. It was very simple with lace trim, and an elastic to go under your hair to keep it in place. I wanted a tiara. 😦
 
Nothing much. I don’t remember much about 2nd grade. I’m pretty young so this was in 2000. I only remember a few externals. Our Church’s carpet and a couple other minor renovations to the Church were being done, so my First Holy Communion was in the gymnasium next door. I also remember having a kneeler just for our first communicants, with each parent standing on each side. I guess the only other thing I really remember is who the cantor was…and (I guess this sounds a little uncharitable) later on me and my siblings always made fun of her vibrato. :o Lol.
 
Funny how most of us seem to remember the external gifts rather than the spiritual gifts.

I’m no different.

I remember my dress and getting to wear a veil. It had been my mother’s veil and my grandmother had it cleaned so I could use it. Somehow the cleaner managed to not destroy it and get the yellow out.

Come to think of it, I wonder if the veil still exists somewhere in my mother’s house. Maybe my daughter could wear it.

For some reason, now looking back I find it odd we dress the girls up like little brides.

I know, I know, it’s traditional but as much as I love a good tradition there’s something that hints of creepy for me when I see girls lined up like this.
 
utah_rose said:
We also had first grade girls dressed as angels that proceeded us when we received.
Click to expand...
Yeah, my parish had that too. It doesn’t seem to have been that common, though, so I wonder where that tradition came from.
 
Sunbreak said:
Yeah, my parish had that too. It doesn’t seem to have been that common, though, so I wonder where that tradition came from.
Click to expand...
I’m not sure tradition is the best word to describe that.
 
I hated my dress. It was extremely uncomfortable, and to this day, I think it looks ridiculous. The veil was held in place by a headband that looked more like part of a dance costume… It looked equally ridiculous. The only other thing I remember is a rather obese boy wearing an olive green suit that was several sizes too small for him.
 
I remember my mom made my dress for me. I wasn’t wild about the dress, to be frank, but Mom put a lot of work into it and that impressed me, because she was so incredibly busy taking care of all of us. I remember my godparents gave me a statue of Our Lady that I still have. It was a very “grown up” life-long piece of art, not a childish thing, and that impressed me.

I don’t remember having an intense spiritual experience, but I didn’t have an intense experience at my wedding, either. Both were more of a ceremonial high point in an ongoing relationship. The most directly-felt high points came on other days, without prior warning, but those resulted from the ceremonies that changed the actual nature of the relationship, an actual change whose importance took some time to sink in.
 
I remember us practicing to receive with unconsecrated hosts in our classrooms before the FHC. During the actual event, I was with my baby sitter and my parents weren’t there. After the Mass, there were snacks in the school dining hall and the server asked me how many chicken/ham sandwiches she’d be giving me. I said one. This went on for a while, as it seemed like she had to give me two or three (one child and a parent, or child with both parents).

Anyhow, at that time, I didn’t know that the Eucharist was actually Jesus. I only learned about the term “Real Presence” when I started viewing EWTN in college. Weird, coz’ my brother who went to the same school as I, knew that it’s really the Body of Christ, and they were told not to chew the Host.
 
nodito said:
We had a First Holy Communion in our parish this week and it got me thinking about mine. My most vivid memory is of messing up the song we were supposed to sing during the processional. A friend said she best recollects tasting the Eucharist and wondering what she possibly could have done wrong to make the sublime “Bread of Heaven” taste the way it did.

If you received FHC as a child, what are your most vivid memories of the day?
Click to expand...
Oh my. What an interesting question.

I have so very many memories of a day that I had so longed for and looked forward to. It was a lifetime ago and yet I can see it all as clearly as if it were yesterday…I was kneeling at the communion rail and near the side altar of Saint Joseph. I can still see the priest, who was so dear to me, pause in front of me and hold up the Host. It seemed that time stood still in that moment. I also remember family and friends who, in one way or another, celebrated the day with me. I celebrate the anniversary of the day every year, as I do the anniversaries of my ordinations and the anniversary of my Confirmation.

I suppose, for me, what makes the memories especially poignant are the memories of those to whom I was close then – and who are all gone to God now. As I think back to that day, there is the sense that it is He and I who remain…and how much longer until my pilgrimage ends, only He knows…it is in His Hands.
 
I remember that my mother–despite my pleading and my tears–pulled my hair back as far as she could into a tight ponytail so that, after the veil was put on my head, I ended up looking like a bald boy in a First Communion dress. 😦
 
From the actual Mass, one of the things I remember most is that they didn’t want us drinking the wine. There were concerns that some of us might drink too much, or something like that. We’d tried the unconsecrated hosts in class already but not the wine. Despite the admonitions, I knew nobody would actually stop me, so when the time came I gulped down what seemed like half the chalice. I didn’t get in trouble but I never drank that much Communion wine again.

Other than that, what I remember most were the gifts at my party after. I knew I’d be getting the same things my older brother had gotten for the most part, and it turned out I was right. The one gift I know I don’t have anymore which I really regret was a really nice rosary, possibly engraved. During my fallen away period back in college I threw out a lot of my old sacramentals while cleaning my room one time. I’m pretty sure my First Communion rosary was part of that.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top