Things that happened at First Communions

[SOP]

Along the lines of the thread 'things that happened at weddings'

Our First Communicants behaved very well, all together on the front benches. Their families were allocated benches at the front so it was the blind following the blind when it came to knowing what to do at Mass.

At the end, the priest said 'Go, the Mass is ended'. So the families picked up belongings, moved into the aisle, started chatting to each other, walking up to reclaim off sprin, hiding the coke cans under the seats, etc. Even when the final hymn started they treated it as background muzak and carried on talking/socialising.

Normally we have a procession led the altar servers down the centre aisle and the priest goes outside to talk to people. Because of the congestion in the centre aisle he had to go down the side aisle.

Later he was heard muttering "need a new form of dismissal". Bless!

[Sonoqui]

[ ..... so it was the blind following the blind when it came to knowing what to do at Mass.

You sound surprised. I thought that was par for the course!

Some years ago, I was in our Church Hall just before First Communion Mass when 'Mum', having prettified her daughter, pointed to a door and asked "Is that the way into Church?" I replied, quite honestly, bluntly and with a completely straight face, "No, that's the Gent's Loo!"

Sorry to lower the tone so soon after joining this site but - well, there you are!

[Merseysider]

This year was just par for the cours: the visitors talking so loudly during the Communion Psalm that I couldn't be heard balling into the mic.

Previous years have been memorable:
• The little girl who arrived in a pony and trap
• The proud dad who nudged me out the way so he could video little Kylie "gerrin' it for the first time".
• The mum who had a remote control which lit-up child's dress as she received Jesus for the first time. Bless!

Oh, and then there's the little girl who had a Full Monty-style stripper at her First Communion Party "because she wanted it". Her priest uncle was not amused.
[/list]

[Maz]

I don't think I can rival Merseysider in terms of entertainment value but my 2p's worth is:

-One girl who I am ashamed to be related to hadwith a dress with a long train at the back (isn't it difficult enough keeping the dress clean?)

-The humiliation of sctreaming at them all to be quiet from a microphone with a lead that had been 'taped' down so it was only 3 foot high) so I could teach them the 'new stuff' which was performed to the constant hum of conversation

-Our 'lovely' parish priest suggesting in the bulletin that people don't come to the 10.30 because it will be 'too full' and managing to talk about himself for at least two thirds of the homily[/list]

-The usual backless, strapless wedding type dresses (mothers, not children thankfully)

[Canonico]

Being part of the same 'Celebration' of First Holy Communion as SOP, but (I hasten to add) not the Priest Celebrant, merely a Concelebrant, I can add a little to it. There was the older sister (about 19 years of age) of one of the girls who constantly drank from a Coke bottle all the way through Mass; I suppose I can only be grateful that it wasn't 'Bud' or 'Stella'.
The children themselves were well behaved (even the majority who don't usually attend). It's always their 'inlaws' and 'outlaws' who make things difficult. They think its a picnic rather than a Banquet!
I did have a minor triumph in a former parish when I was speaking to the parents at a preparation meeting and asking them not to take photos during Holy Communion. One woman demanded a picture of her child at the moment of reception. I was still thinking of a reply when another parent said, "Well, if her first Holy Communion is going to be her last then you will want a picture of it, won't you!" Needless to say, I didn't have to think of a reply in the end!

[SOP]

First Communions today - I was pleased to see that the driver of the pink stretch limosine was able to park it on the road rather than blocking the whole car park.

The Mass itself was fine and it all went well but the pink limo ...

[Nick Baty]

Must be the latest fashion – we had a pink cadillac and four "bridesmaids" to carry the train.

[lesley wright]

Let's hope God has a sense of humour!

[oopsorganist]

So who prepares the children for this, the parish or the school? If it is the parish then something is going awry.
We have a Mass just for the kids and their families on the Saturday which works well with the kinder doing lots of the action and PP letting folk now what to do and when. So by Sunday in the parish it is a bit calmer and none of such madness happens. PP makes everyone come up to the altar at Communion time and blesses those not in the church. There's method in his madness. Sometimes. Apart from falling out with the school over the readings for the Sunday. But even that led to our school HT and other staff doing the readings, which was a bit good really. Made everyone behave. That stood out as a wise move and should be repeated.

I always wished when a mum that we could lose the white dresses though. It's not as if they get another outing for the May Procession is it? This is a bit of a waste. It's very distracting for everybody.

[docmattc]

So who prepares the children for this, the parish or the school? If it is the parish then something is going awry.

Equally so if its the school. When the sacrament is getting lost in the frippery and parents are trying do outdo one another in the "my daughter's wearing a bigger meringue/ came in a bigger car than yours" stakes, then we really should take stock and do something.

Peter Stanford had a column in the Tablet (24th May) on exactly this. He finished as follows:

"...there is something about the incidentals[ ] that is making me uncomfortable. ... What the children wear really doesn't matter. Its what they do and are embarking on. But perhaps the Church too needs to be sending out that message louder and clearer"


Is First Communion a completion of Christian Initiation (CCC 1322), the summit of Christian life, or another point towards the entry requirements of Catholic secondary school?

[johnquinn39]

Let's be honest about First Communions.
They are Last Communions.

[gwyn]

Were First Holy Communion celebrations approached so glibly before the misinterpretation of the Vat II Council documents thinned everything down? As a convert I have no pre Vat II recollections.

[VML]

At our F H C Mass on Sunday, as the congregation stood for the Creed, and we usually have the Farnworth Mass booklets so everyone can see, follow and join in, this week we just had a booklet with only what was being sung, so the families who come to Mass ‘regularly’ - once a year at Christmas or thereabouts - were lost.

When is the best time to focus on the place of Mass every Sunday, and our obligation?
‘See you next week!’ might be a start.
It should be part of the First Communion Mass.

There is a deeper question: What is it that people perceive as the benefit of a Catholic education? And what is the point of a Catholic school when so few of the families come anywhere near the church from year to year?

[lesley wright]

Do you remember, when you were a child, not being prepared to admit to there being no Santa Claus in case you didn't receive any presents? It seems to me there's something of the same sort of superstition going on here - the parents aren't prepared to admit that they don't believe in God in case God then won't believe in them either. But just occasionally there are children we do see again, and who are we to deny anyone?
L

[oopsorganist]

off thread

but to do with Santa

a friend of mine, an evangelical Christian, tells her infants there is no Santa, for the same reasons but reversed. Such a mix up over Christmas, with Santa and the Nativity play combined you see. Sows the seeds of doubt you see.