First Holy Eucharist

The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. It is a participation with the whole community in the Lord’s own sacrifice.

 At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.

The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.

 The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God’s action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship people offer to Christ and through him to the father in the Holy Spirit.

 Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.

 In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: “Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1322-1327).

First Eucharist preparation for those children in the 2nd grade begins in the fall of each year. Children are required to attend the Parish School of Religion (PSR) classes each week, in addition to special gatherings throughout the year related to the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist.

 Catholic school children are not required to attend PSR. The schedule and registration for this program will be posted in August, as the program will begin in September each year.

Children over the age of 7 and adults who Special sessions are held for those who are 7 years old and older, including adults, who are seeking to receive their First Communion.

Please call Gina Rensi , the Director of Religious Education, at (440)256-1412 for more information.