Preparation for First Holy Communion, First Reconciliation, and the Sacrament of Confirmation

CONTACT

 

Father Shawn Hughes

Phone: (613) 546-5521 ext. 4

Email: rector@stmaryscathedral.ca

 

Letter to Parents and Candidates

The following is for those who attend St. Mary’s Cathedral Parish on Sundays or live in the parish or who do not attend another parish in Kingston.

 

     For those who attend or live in St. Mary’s Cathedral Parish or for those who are not attending anywhere else you are asked to contact Father Shawn for a brief appointment.   This gives us a time to sit down and briefly go over the program for each of the Sacraments for which your child will be preparing.  This will give me a chance to meet and discuss with each of you, their parents,  your daughter’s/ son’s Sacramental Preparation and your role in it.  This is a meeting with you. Please make arrangements so that you can attend without your child/ children.  The meeting, as mentioned, will be brief. 

 

  All students in grade two or three, and anyone older who is Catholic and has not received their First Holy Communion is encouraged to prepare for the reception of First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion.  If your daughter/son is in grade one and is particularly mature in their Faith and keen to receive these Sacraments they are warmly welcomed and encouraged to do so.   

 

    All students in grade seven or eight or older, who have not received their Sacrament of Confirmation are encouraged to prepare to do so.  If your son/daughter is in grades 5 or 6 and is particularly mature in their Faith and keen to be Confirmed they are warmly welcomed and encouraged to do so. 

 

    After preparation your daughter/son, together with you and myself, will decide if they are ready to receive these very important Sacraments.  Only when they fully feel prepared and desire to receive the Sacraments are they encouraged to ask the Church to grant them these Sacraments. 

 

     At that point you would contact me  by email to arrange a date for the celebration of First Reconciliation, just as you would for Baptism.   I would hear their First Confession at a private time in the cathedral, with the rest of you, their family,  present.   It is also a great opportunity for you to receive the Sacrament as well.  After First Confession your daughter/son would complete their preparation for First Holy Communion.  You would then contact me and they would receive their First Holy Communion, not as a group or a class, but individually, together with you and the rest of the parish community,  at one of our Sunday Celebrations of the Eucharist. 

The 'Blessed' Program

The Dynamic Catholic First Communion and First Reconciliation Experience. First Communion and First Reconciliation prep finally meets children where they are and leads them, step-by-step, to where God is calling them to be.

'Decision Point' Confirmation Program

DECISION POINT is the first Confirmation program specifically developed to engage young Catholics in a meaningful conversation about the genius of Catholicism. It teaches and inspires teens to respond to God’s grace, and it’s changing hundreds of thousands of young lives.