First Communion Retreat
We offer a special time to prepare children for their first communion. This recollection is made for all the children preparing their first Communion. Parents are welcome to join the recollection and attend the classes.
Schedule
10:00 am Introduction
Welcome - Visit to the Blessed Sacrament
10:20 am Instruction I
Conditions to receive the Eucharist well
11:00 am Confessions | Mass
Noon Instruction II
Visit of the Sacristy - Practice of the First Communion
12:30 pm Rosary
1:00 pm Imposition of the Brown Scapular
Frequent Asked Questions
When is First Communion?
Typically, the reception of First Communion takes place on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (June 2nd) during the 9:30 am Sunday Mass. The Mass is followed by the procession of the Blessed Sacrament which the children participate in. At the end of the procession, all enter in the church to conclude the ceremony.
What are the expectations for attire for girls for the First Communion Mass?
Girls receiving the sacraments should wear a modest-cut dress, knee-length or longer. It should be white and cannot be see-through. The dress must also have sleeves. They also must wear a white veil. They should not carry purses or anything in their hands. This includes Bibles, rosaries, candles, and gloves.
What are the expectations for attire for boys for the First Communion Mass?
Boys receiving the sacraments should wear dress pants, dress shirt, and dress shoes. They should wear a suit and a tie. The color of the suit or pants can be traditional white or black, gray, or dark blue. The shirt must be white. It should be a dress shirt and not a polo. They should not wear earrings or carry anything in their hands. This includes Bibles, rosaries, candles, and gloves.
Can we take pictures/videos during Mass or hire a photographer/videographer?
No, pictures/videos may not be taken during the Mass. At their First Communion Mass, children are encountering Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time. This is first and foremost a sacred moment, therefore it is not appropriate for the family to take photos or video during Mass. It is especially inappropriate to stand or walk in the aisle for a photo while a child is receiving Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament for the first time. Professional videographers and photographers will not be permitted to set up any equipment, including tripods, to record or photograph the Mass.
When is the family allowed to take pictures?
As they exit for the second time from the church, after the procession, the children will pose all together with the clergy for pictures. The family may, at that moment, take more pictures.
Main Points about the First Communion
What St. Pius X wanted for the First Communion
In 1910, Pope St. Pius X, with his decree Quam Singulari, declared that children who have reached the “age of reason” (around seven years old) should be permitted to receive the Holy Eucharist. He hoped "that children even from their tender years may be united to Jesus Christ, may live His life, and obtain protection from all danger of corruption.”
1. The age of discretion, both for Confession and for Holy Communion, is the time when a child begins to reason, that is about the seventh year, more or less. From that time on begins the obligation of fulfilling the precept of both Confession and Communion.
2. A full and perfect knowledge of Christian doctrine is not necessary either for First Confession or for First Communion. Afterwards, however, the child will be obliged to learn gradually the entire Catechism according to his ability.
3. The knowledge of religion that is required in a child to be properly prepared to receive First Communion is such that he will understand according to his capacity those Mysteries of faith that are necessary as a means of salvation and that he can distinguish between the Bread of the Eucharist and ordinary, material bread, and thus he may receive Holy Communion with a devotion becoming his years.
4. The obligation of the precept of Confession and Communion which binds the child particularly affects those who have him in charge, namely, parents, confessors, teachers, and the Pastor. It belongs to the father, or the person taking his place, and to the confessor, according to the Roman Catechism, to admit a child to his First Communion.
5. The pastor should announce and hold a General Communion of the children once a year or more often, and he should on these occasions admit not only the First Communicants but also others who have already approached the Holy Table. Some days of instruction and preparation should be previously given to children.
6. Those who have charge of the children should zealously see to it that after their First Communion, these children frequently approach the Holy Table, even daily if possible, as Jesus Christ and Mother Church desire, and let this be done with a devotion becoming their age. They must also bear in mind that a very grave duty obliged them to have the children attend the public Catechism classes; if this is not done, then they must supply religious instruction in some other way.
7. The custom of not admitting children to Confession or of not giving them absolution when they have already attained the use of reason must be entirely abandoned.
8. The practice of not administering the Viaticum and Extreme Unction to children who have attained the use of reason, and of burying them with the rite used for infants is a most intolerable abuse.
