It is almost First Holy Communion season! It is such an exciting sacrament to watch our children experience. You may be feeling unsure of what to do next. For most of us, it has been a long time since we received our First Holy Communion! In this post, I will be discussing the sacrament of First Holy Communion — specifically what we as parents can do to prepare our children and give some ideas on how to make it extra special for them. I will also mention what they should wear, as well as offer some gift and celebration ideas.
ways to prepare
Read the Catechism with your child. I truly believe that there is nothing more important as parents than to teach and bring our children up in the Catholic faith. In an effort to teach Jacob more about the faith, my husband walked through the Baltimore Catechism every night with Jacob. They started this in the beginning of the school year, and it continued up until he made his sacrament. If you don’t know much about the Baltimore Catechism, ask your grandparents. I bet they do! It was extremely common for our grandparents’ generation to know the Baltimore Catechism inside and out. I love this book because it’s a great first step at learning the Catechism. It explains things really easily, and it’s perfect for children. I recommend that everyone start with the Baltimore Catechism before reading the original version!
Go to Confession. Our family goes to Confession together every First Saturday (click here to learn about the First Saturday devotion). Everyone who has received the sacrament (Thomas and Jacob) will receive confession. The First Saturday devotion is not only an incredible devotion, but it is also a great reminder to go to Confession once a month! Pope John Paul the Second went to Confession every single day! The cleaner our souls, the more of God’s graces are within us. The same holds true and is important for our children! As a family unit, we should encourage each other to go to Confession regularly. Make a special event out of it! After every First Saturday Confession, we go do something fun afterwards (park, brunch, movie!)
Write a letter to your child on the day of their First Communion. Pour your heart out to them on paper. Tell them how much you love them, how proud you are, and how excited you are to see them grown in their relationship with Christ. Our school encouraged us to write letters before Thomas’ First Communion, and it was such an awesome experience. He loved it. It also gives them something that they can have forever to remember the special day!
Gift Ideas
Some fun gift ideas include a bible, a sacramental (saint statue or icon), rosary beads, or a book. Think of something that will encourage them in their Catholic faith journey! Here are my ideas for girl gifts for First Communion and First Communion gift ideas for boys.
What to wear
Since white is a symbol of purity, girls wear all things white: white gowns, white shoes, and white veils (if they choose to.) Boys get equally as fancy and wear suits: button-up white shirt, shirt jacket, nice pants, and (often) a tie. Both boys and girls wear nice shoes! Here are some First Communion outfits to check out. After Mass is over, don’t forget to snap a couple pictures of them with the priest and your family! Here is my son Jacob’s First Communion (he is in the front middle) he was so excited to be able to recieve Jesus!
Who to invite
It is best to invite family, God Parents and close friends! to celebrate such a big event! Below is a sweet party invite you could share with those you want to attend. Click HERE to make it your own.
it's party time
Of course, every family does different things to celebrate the special occasion. These decorations I found are adorable! I have included links to everything in the picture below HERE. Guests brought over little gifts and we bought a cake to share! It was super sweet!
Here is a free First Communion Party Planner. Shown below!
10 Responses
My little sister will be making her 1st Communion on Sunday!
My younger sister is 13 and will be finially making her First Holy Communion this comming May 19,2024 in the class of 2nd graders.Our parish is very strict and all of the girls have to wear a poofy,short sleeve,knee length communion dress and veil with the lace anklets and white maryjane shoes and under their dresses a white tee shirt with a cloth diaper and plastic pants.She all ready has her dress and veil along with her tee shirt and the diaper and plastic pants.We have to get her the lace anklets and the shoes yet.Our parish considers the communion dress as an extension of the baptism gown the girls wore for their baptisms as babies,so they have to wear the diaper,plastic pants and tee shirt under their communion dresses to symbolize their purity of their baptisms for First Communion.
My grandson Michael will make his holy communion next year in the 2nd grade . He’s so excited to receive The Eucharist . We give him host that hasn’t been blessed yet our msgr said it was ok . We are preparing him as best as we can and all your ideas are so helpful ty for all you do
To Gracie L.-Our daughter is 14 and will be making her First Holy Communion on May 19th in the class of 2024.Our parish is like yours,the girls have to wear the poofy,knee length,short sleeve communion dress and veil with a white tee shirt,cloth diaper,rubberpants,white tights and the white maryjane shoes.The daughter has the full outfit all ready.I got the required cloth diaper and rubberpants from the recommended website and got the white tights from a dance wear store.She wore the diaper,rubberpants and tights yesterday on Easter sunday with her pink easter dress.
She only needs to wear a white dress for her first communion
Our daughter is 14 and was just baptized this past Easter sunday at Easter mass.It is a tradition for the girls being baptized to wear the all white,’babygirl’ type outfits which consist of the white,poofy,short sleeve,knee length baptism dress with the matching bonnet,lace socks and white maryjane shoes and under their dresses,a white cloth baptism diaper and rubberpants with a tee shirt as their top.I loved dressing the daughter in the outfit and she looked so cute and pure!Her and all of the other girls baptized with her will be making their First Holy Communions on May 26 and have to wear their baptism diaper and rubberpants again under their communion dresses.
Heather-Our daughter and Gracies sister had to follow the dress code for their First Communions!
When our daughter Faith,made her FHC at age 11,our parish,St.Jeromes,required the white under shirt,cloth diaper,rubberpants and tights with the communion dresses.I found a pair of xl super size white rubberpants in a thrift store and they fit her over the diaper.The tights had to be the high waist kind to cover the belly buttion.
Our daughter was 12,going on 13 when she made her FHC in the class of 2 graders.The dress code was the poofy,short sleeve,knee length communion dress and veil with the lace anklets and white mary jane shoes and a white tee shirt with the cloth diaper and rubberpants under the dress.I got the cloth diaper,diaper pins and the rubberpants from the recommended website the parish used,Babypants.com in the teen size.I was excited about having her dressed like a ‘bride’ for the day,and after her shower,she laid on her bed,i slid the folded diaper under her,applied babypowder,then pinned the diaper on her,then put the rubberpants on her over the diaper.Her tee shirt went on next,then the lace anklets and the maryjanes,then the dress and veil.She looked very cute and pure like a baby,and i was one happy mom!
Some parishes are different than others and have more requirements for First Communion!