Lindsey Riesen

YOUR First Communion stories

YOUR First Communion stories
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As spring approaches and First Communion preparations begin, we want to hear your First Communion stories. Tell us about your kids or your own experience. Religious ed teachers, we want to hear from you, too!

Comment below with your story. Tell me the holy, the funny, and the crazy. We might just pick yours to share with other readers!

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7 thoughts on “YOUR First Communion stories”

  1. L
    Lisa Kent says:

    Turns out we have beautiful photos of our son’s second communion! When he was ready to start Kindergarten, there was a waiting list at our local Catholic school. An opening came up when he began second grade. At the beginning of the school year, he brought home the paperwork for First Communion classes (with First Communion at the end of second grade, of course). He thought since I filled out the paperwork, he was ready to receive Communion. The Principal didn’t know him well as he had just started at the school so when he held out his hands for Communion, she gave it to him. Afterwards he realized his whole class was not taking Communion and he wasn’t supposed to until the rest of his class did, so he waited until the end of the school year. And those are the photos we have: his second Communion! We didn’t even find out about this until he was 20 years old!

    Reply
  2. N
    Nora says:

    On my first communion (and many communions after that), I didn’t really understand the significance of the Holy Eucharist. Someone told me that if the host gets stuck on my palate, it means that I’ve got a mortal sin I haven’t confessed. So before receiving the host, I tried to wet my palate to make sure the host doesn’t stuck there. Now, I know better.

    Reply
  3. Maria V. Gallagher says:

    My First Communion was truly a lesson in love. When it came time to prepare, I frantically told my mother that I did not know the Ten Commandments, which was a requirement at our school before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. My foster grandmother, who happened to be Presbyterian, set about teaching me the Commandments so that I would be ready for Communion day. The other big issue to emerge was my dress. Our Catholic school had very specific requirements for our attire, and my mother had found only one dress that seemed to fit the bill. The problem was, it was terribly expensive for my struggling parents. My mother placed the dress in layaway and faithfully made payments each month. What a joy it was when we finally “sprung” the dress from the store! It was an alabaster number with a beautiful pink rose appliqued on the front. I still have the dress to this day, and used it as a prop during one of my talks at a religious retreat. Given our frantic preparations, I was surprised by the powerful sense of peace I experienced as I received Holy Communion for the first time. I wanted the moment to live forever. I still feel that way.

    Reply
  4. E
    Erin O'Leary says:

    I’m a Director of Faith Formation and preparing with families and children for First Eucharist is one of my favorite things. I have countless amazing and funny stories, however last year I had a particularly funny one. One parent was talking to me about getting signed up to participate in preparation. Her child was standing nearby, trying to wait patiently. Finally he seemed to understand what we were talking about and spoke up and asked, “So when do I get to get the God Chip?” His parent was very embarrassed but I thought it was a good thing that he at least knew God was in the “chip.”

    Reply
  5. E
    Erin O'Leary says:

    I’m a Director of Faith Formation and one of my favorite things to do is to help families and children prepare for First Eucharist. I have countless amazing and funny stories, however last year, one was particularly funny. I was talking to one of the parents about signing up for preparation. Her son was standing nearby trying to wait patiently. Finally, he realized what we were talking about and asked, “So when am I going to get the God Chip?” The parent was really embarrassed but I thought it was good that he at least knew God was in the “chip.”

    Reply
  6. F
    Fr Stan De Boe, OSST says:

    On May 10 I will celebrate the 55th anniversary of the First Holy Communion. My memories of that day are still quite powerful. However, they have nothing to do with the joy of the moment or of any deep spiritual experience.

    It was Mother’s Day — a day that seemed reserved for First Communions in the days before the implementation of the changes of the Second Vatican Council. Because I was the shortest boy in the First Communion Class at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church in Muse, PA, I was the first in, and the first out. And therefore the second in the class to receive the Eucharist (the girl next to me received first).

    After the Mass we processed outside where a group picture was being taken, and once again I was upfront. It was not a pleasant experience. I could not keep my eyes open and the people taking pictures were upset because I would not open my eyes. I was telling them that the sun was too bright and I couldn’t keep them open.

    The truth is, the sun was bright, but not too bright. I was trying to hold back the tears, not wanting to cry in front of all of those people.

    You see, my Dad had died just a few weeks earlier after a lengthy illness. Here was the most important day of my life, up to that point, and while everyone else was so happy at what had just happened, I was only thinking of how much I missed the most important man in my life. Receiving Jesus was certainly important, but there was a huge whole in my life, and how does a seven year old boy work out all of this.

    My mother, recently widowed, and a convert to Catholicism when she and my dad got engaged and married, gathered me into her arms. I can still hear her saying, “Your Daddy would be so proud of you.”

    As I grew up, my mother took on the task of raising my brother and me up in a faith that she adopted. We sat in the front pew of the parish church on Sunday — she told us that the priest could see everything we were doing. She encouraged our involvement in parish youth activities and programs. And when we were teenagers, after our Confirmation, we continued on with our religious education until we graduated from high school.

    Several years later, my mother had the chance to gather me into her arms and whisper the same words that she said on the day of my First Holy Communion. Only this day was the day of my ordination. The day I stood at the altar, along with the bishop and my brother priests, and held out my hands over bread and wine and then offered the Body and Blood of Christ first to my mother, my brother, and my godmother — the only people who had celebrated my First Communion with me.

    Now, thirty six later, I am still humbled to think that God chose me. But inside of me is still that broken boy who came to know the love of God and the hope that it is this Communion that unites me not only with God, but with my parents who gave me the gift of faith and the inspiration for my vocation. And as hands and tongues are held out and I offer them the Host, I think about how broken we all are, and in this Eucharist is healing, hope and life.

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  7. A
    Anne says:

    I made my First Communion in 1963. About a week or so prior I made my First Confession. I was a good girl, it was so easy to be good back then, and so as I was waiting on line for confession I really didn’t know what to confess. I listened to the boy in front of me and confessed the exact same sin…….Bless me father…..I took my bike off the street. I think I’ll always remember that day.

    Reply

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