St. Francis-St Maxmilian Parish at 23965 Twenty-Three Mile Rd., Macomb, MI 48042 US - First Eucharist

The process toward this Celebration actually begins with Baptism, as the parents promise to see that this child will be instructed in their faith...this instruction occurs in three places: home, liturgy, and school.  Practically speaking the parents promise to teach the child to pray and to give good example in this home, bring the child to 'Mass' on Saturday/Sunday, and bring the child to religion class.  When the child has experienced faith in these three areas then in most cases by the time the end of his/her seventh or eighth year, he or she is ready to come to the 'Table of the Lord' during the time of Communion.  Although all children do not mature at the same time, some may be ready to be 'Welcomed to the Table' at age six while others may not be ready until they are ten!  Sacraments should not be 'stuck' into grade or age groups.

The process for all the Sacraments is guided by Rome and the Archdiocese.  Basically, the guidelines say that the family should spend a specified time of preparation to insure that both the family and the child understands 'what the Sacrament is all about'.  And this preparation must occur outside of the 'regular' religion class.  Parents, of course, are expected to understand the theology and the practice of the Sacrament more than their child.  However, the child too, should have an elementary understanding of both. Further, the Archdiocesan guidelines specify that the age of most children should be at least seven and must have experience at least one year of religion class.

At St. Francis-Maximilian we ask that the child have attended first grade of religion and then at the beginning of grade two we schedule a parent session.  This session reviews the theology and practice of the Sacrament.  This is followed by a parent interview with the pastor or pastoral associate in order to converse about the families faith life and the parents feeling about the child's readiness.  The parents then ask the parish community to accept their child as a candidate for the Sacrament and in the name of the parish the pastor accepts them and a cross is place on them.  This Rite of Acceptance occurs at all the weekend Masses of the First Sunday of Advent.

In January, the children are taken out of Saturday/Sunday Mass during the readings where they begin their preparation to celebrate the Sacrament of First Eucharist.  This activity will occur three more times; another time in January and twice during Lent.  The celebration of the Sacrament usually occurs on the Third or Fourth Sunday of Easter.  There is a practice before.