First Holy Communion and First Penance

Registration for 2024-2025 is Open!

Joan Nelson, Director of Pastoral Ministries and Evangelization:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 804-864-4708 

Peggy Byers, Coordinator of Religious Education:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 804-864-4714

 

2024-2025 Schedule of Sessions

Requirements for students preparing for First Holy Communion and First Penance in 2024-2025

Students must be:

• Age 7 by September 30
• Older first graders are encouraged to wait until second grade so as to prepare and receive with their classmates.
• Currently enrolled and participating in religious education through a Catholic School or a parish program.  Requires separate registration from Religious Education (for those not attending Catholic School).
• Baptized Catholic or, if baptized in another Christian faith, must have been received into the Catholic Church through the Rite of Reception.

If your child is not in religious ed. or was not baptized in the Catholic Church, please contact Joan at 864-4708 as soon as possible.

 OVERVIEW 

It is our wish that preparation for First Penance and First Holy Communion will offer an opportunity for the candidate and his or her entire family to grow in their faith.  Given the often frantic pace of modern life, it can be difficult for parents to find the time to share their faith with their children.  Our sessions are designed to provide time for parents and children to reflect on how much God loves them, how much they love each other, and what it means to encounter Jesus Christ in the sacraments of His church. 

  PARENT ONLY ORIENTATION MEETINGS – JULY THROUGH MID SEPTEMBER

At least one parent and your First Penance and Communion candidate must attend a Family Orientation meeting prior to the first session in late September.  Some time after your registration, you will receive a link to a Sign Up Genius for the Family Orientation meetings.  

 PREPARATION – BEGINS IN LATE SEPTEMBER

The most important preparation for First Holy Communion is regular attendance at Mass.  This means every Sunday and all holy days.  The sacrament makes no sense to a child who is unfamiliar with the prayers and rituals of the liturgy.  Diocesan policy requires that candidates for First Penance and First Holy Communion be currently enrolled in religious education.  This religious education requirement can be fulfilled through Catholic school or attendance in a parish religious education program.  The Bishop requires that preparation for First Penance and First Holy Communion be separate from religious education and that it take place within the parish, including for children enrolled in Catholic school.  Classes will begin in LATE SEPTEMBER and each class will be offered twice: once on a Sunday afternoon and once on a Monday night. 

 SACRAMENTAL CELEBRATIONS – FIRST PENANCE

Children will receive the sacrament of Penance in November.  We have scheduled several small prayer services.  It is important once again to emphasize that Penance is a necessary step on the journey to Communion, and it MUST be done in person with the priest. 

 SACRAMENTAL CELEBRATIONS – FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

We will host several First Holy Communion Masses in early May 2025.   

2024-2025 SCHEDULE OF SESSIONS

Student and one parent/guardian will attend the following in-person sessions (either Sunday or Monday).

• Orientation meeting (individually parent and child) Sign up via Sign Up Genius link emailed to you some time after registration.
• First Penance Class
  • Sunday, September 29, 2024 at 1pm
  • Monday, October 7, 2024 at 6pm
• First Penance Service (Sign up via Sign Up Genius) 
  • in November 2024
• Three First Holy Communion Classes
  • Walk through the Mass
    • Sunday, January 12, 2025 at 1pm
    • Monday, January 27, 2025 at 6pm
  • Tour of the Church
    • Sunday, February 9, 2025 at 1pm
    • Monday, February 24, 2025 at 6pm
  • Mini Retreat
    • Sunday, March 16, 2025 at 1pm
    • Monday, March 24, 2025 at 6pm
• First Holy Communion Liturgies
  • Early May 2025.  Dates announced in January 2025

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A Parent’s Guide to Discerning Readiness of their Child Regarding First Penance 

Readiness to Begin Preparation for First Penance 

• Has the child been baptized and reached the age of reason (about seven years)? 
• Does the child know the difference between right and wrong? 
• Can the child distinguish between mistakes or accidents and deliberate wrongdoing?  
• Can the child express sorrow for sin? 
• Can the child forgive others? 
• Does the child pray at home and at Mass?  
• Does the child relate to Jesus as one who forgives? 

From the CDR Instruction for Sacraments - First Penance, page 12. 

Readiness to Celebrate First Penance 
“A full and perfect knowledge of Christian doctrine is not necessary” for children to receive their First Penance.  Rather, children need to: 

• Know the difference between right and wrong. 
• Know that accidents or mistakes are not sin. 
• Understand sin as deliberately choosing to do wrong, in violation of God’s commandments. 
• Recognize their need for forgiveness from other people and from God. 
• Know that God loves them unconditionally. 
• Know the person of Jesus and his message of forgiveness. 
• Understand the sacrament as a means of receiving forgiveness. 
• Know how to receive the sacrament, that is, how to participate in the “Rite of Reconciliation of Individual Penitents” and the “Rite of Reconciliation of Several Penitents with Individual Confession and Absolution.” 
• Understand the difference between simply telling God that one is sorry and receiving the sacrament of Penance. 

From the CDR Instruction for Sacraments - First Penance, page 23 

A Parent’s Guide to Discerning Readiness of their Child Regarding First Holy Communion

Readiness to Begin Preparation for First Holy Communion 

• Has the child been baptized Catholic (as corroborated by the parish’s baptismal record or by a baptismal certificate from another Catholic parish)?  Or if the child was baptized in another Christian faith, has the child been received into the Church? 
• Has the child reached the age of reason (about seven years)? 
• Is the child interested in receiving Holy Communion? 
• Does the child have a sense of belonging to the Catholic community? 
• Does the child participate in the Sunday Mass according to his or her ability? 
• Does the child pray at home?  
• Does the child relate to Jesus as one who loves and cares for him or her? 
• Does the child understand that he or she is to care for others? Has the child prepared for and had an opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Penance? (The testimony of the parents that the child has participated in the sacrament must suffice, since any other form of proof would compromise the seal of confession.) 

From the CDR Instruction for Sacraments - First Holy Communion, page 13. 

Readiness to Celebrate First Holy Communion 

• The child is a baptized Catholic and has reached the age of reason (about seven years), as requested above. 
• The celebration of First Holy Communion should follow the celebration of First Penance.  However, preparation for both sacraments can occur simultaneously.  
• Does the child participate in the Sunday Mass according to his or her ability? 
• Does the child understand and believe that Christ is present in the Eucharist? 
• Does the child realize the difference between the Eucharist and ordinary bread and wine?
• Does the child understand the importance of observing the Eucharistic fast? 
• Does the child know how to receive the Eucharist reverently? 

From the CDR Instruction for Sacraments - First Holy Communion, page 18.

 

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