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First Reconciliation
Program 2007-2008
Dates
Celebration of First
Reconciliation will be in Church at the
following times:
Saturday, December 8, 2007
11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 15. 2007
11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
You decide which day and time your child comes to
First Reconciliation by sending an email to
bdittrich@blessedsacrament.org
with the date, time and your child's name, before
Monday, November 26, 2007.
Parents
should also consider receiving the sacrament to help
encourage and reassure their children.
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Parent Meeting
There is one parent meeting
offered at two different times for your convenience:
Sunday, October
21, 2007, 12:00 to 1:30 in the school auditorium
Wednesday,
October 24, 2007, 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. in the school
auditorium.
At least one parent from all
families who want their children to receive First
Reconciliation at Blessed Sacrament parish must
attend one of these meetings.
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Expectations
Overall
Families should try to
establish two habits, if they aren’t in place
already.
First, do some kind of
prayer at home each day. It could be a prayer in the
morning, a meal prayer, an evening or bedtime
prayer. The preferred choice for this year would be
to say the Our Father because that prayer is the one
we expect children to know so they can more fully
participate at Mass. The pattern should be the same,
begin with the sign of the Cross and say the Our
Father together and end with the Sign of the Cross.
If the child already knows the Our Father by heart
then a meal prayer or the Hail Mary would be good.
Each of these prayers can be found on the Prayer
Program page of the Blessed Sacrament web site.
Second, come to Mass as
often as possible. Coming each week is the goal. If
some pattern of regular Mass attendance is not
established as a family habit, children will not
really understand First Eucharist and they will have
little basis for practicing the Catholic faith as
they get older. If you value the sacraments enough
to send your children for Religious Education then
you have to consider a regular pattern of attendance
at Mass to be a crucial part of the program.
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Actual
Preparation
Children will see a video and
practice the confessing part of the sacrament in
their class.
All families are
expected to use the materials they receive at the
parent meeting to introduce their children to an
understanding of God’s mercy. The materials are
designed so that families can spend some time
together in an activity that teaches both parents
and children about the love of God in this
sacrament. The program has a colorful, engaging book
that develops the ideas through four family
sessions. Besides the family activity book parents
will receive a complete outline of the communal
celebration of the sacrament so that they and their
children will know all the parts, songs and
responses before coming to Church.
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Reconciliation
Children will be expected to
know how to make the Sign of the Cross and be able
to recite the Act of Contrition. We will use the Act
of Contrition on this page.
Please plan to go to confession when
your child does. The priests who will be there
expect that its been a long time for most adults.
Because this is a communal service expect to stay
for the entire hour.
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Dress Code
Your child should be dressed
neatly as if they were going to a special occasion.
Boys do not have to wear jackets and
ties. Girls do not have to wear fancy dresses.
However, jeans, sweatshirts, T-shirts and sneakers
are inappropriate.
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Baptismal Record
If your child was not baptized
at Blessed Sacrament Parish and you have not already
supplied a copy of the child’s baptismal record, you
need to provide a copy of the long form baptismal
record. Beginning last year we asked for a copy of
this record when children were registered with
Religious Education for the first time. If you
supplied it then, we don't need another copy.
Otherwise, please contact the church where the child
was baptized, explain he or she is receiving First
Reconciliation and ask for a copy of the record.
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Act of Contrition
For Second
Graders:
My God,
I am sorry for all my sins.
I will sincerely try to do
better.
Jesus, help me and have mercy
on me. Amen.
Parents can use this too. The
traditional Act of Contrition was just one way of
expressing sorrow.
If you have any questions any
time throughout the year do not hesitate to call
Bill Dittrich at the parish house, 508-668-4700 or
email
bdittrich@blessedsacrament.org
Thank you for wanting to
celebrate this sacrament as part of the Blessed
Sacrament community.
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