EUCHARIST
In September each year we begin our First Holy Communion programme for parents and children leading up to the special day at the beginning of the summer when your child receives Our Lord in Holy Communion for the first time.
The programme that we run at St Ignatius Church is a wonderful experience for both the children and the parents, in which your faith is reawakened and strengthened, and you grow in your love of the Lord and of your family. Each child is a sacred blessing from God, with gifts that God has given each one in order that they may praise and worship God faithfully, and build up the Christian community as they mature.
It is worth remembering that bringing your child for First Holy Communion is the fulfilling of a special promise that parents make at your child’s baptism, to be the “first and best teachers of their child in the ways of faith”. Now is the best time to put this promise into practice.
The celebration of First Holy Communion every year is always a very special occasion in this parish. It is the fulfilment of the child’s hopes as they come closer to the altar, and it is wonderful for them to be able to join their Catholic parents, brothers, sisters and friends in receiving the Lord from then on at every Mass they attend.
Our parish has a well-developed programme that has run successfully for several years, in which the parents are fully involved with the preparation of their children for the sacraments of First Reconciliation, in which they learn about God’s forgiveness and go to Confession with a priest, and of First Holy Communion. We have a well-trained group of enthusiastic helpers (Catechists) many of whom have been through the programme in a previous year and who are very enthusiastic about the good effects that it has for parents as well as children.
We encourage you please to enrol for the programme now if you child is in Year 3 or above. You will not regret it. Although there is a fee, we are happy to help you, in total confidence, to find ways to cover this if there is any difficulty.
The Sessions run on Saturdays for Polish-speaking parents and children, and on Sundays for English-speaking parents and children.