Declan received his First Holy Communion on May 1, and it was a beautiful day in every way. The sun was shining with temps in the high sixties, and this little boy was so very excited to receive Jesus! We gave him his "fun" present in the morning (his "holy" present comes later!).
New controllers for the Nintendo Switch!
Our church has a seperate Mass at 2pm for the first communicants and their families, and though there were only 20 first communicants, the church was packed! Jesus sure draws a crowd :) We took a couple of photos at home before we left, and please don't notice that Declan's suit is a tad large. You see, the church had always given the kids robes to wear over their suits and dresses, which I loved because it took the emphasis off the fashion show that First Communion can become. But they decided to take the robes away (maybe a pandemic thing?) and we were rushed to find a suit that fit. Brendan's former nanny hemmed the pants and Declan looked so handsome no matter what.
All of the altar servers were related to the first communicants, so Declan had three of his brothers serve, which makes it extra special for this momma. We missed JP and realized that this is the first family sacrament that he's been away for. But he'll be home in a couple weeks!
Declan brought up the gifts:
Nailed it.
His joy was palpable right before it was his turn to walk up to the altar...
I was able to grab a few illegal photos when he received Our Lord for the first time:
That's his big brother holding the paten for him.
Afterwards Declan told me that Jesus tasted better than the practice hosts they had used in religious ed class because those weren't blessed but this one was really Jesus!! Be still my heart.
After Mass, we went outside to take some photos with Mary on the lovely (but windy!) day.
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| His pastor Fr. Ryan on the left and our parish's seminarian, Lucas, on the right |
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| Haley and Jonathan, who get married next month! |
Now home for a party!! We had a cookout with most of my family and some friends. It was very fun and Declan felt very special indeed.
His holy gift was a pair of manly rosary beads. If only there was a priest to bless them...
How handy! Fr. Dave for the win. Fr. Ryan was also very happy to bless the gorgeous statue that Declan received from my mom.
I have no photos of most of the guests or the food, but that's because I was able to enjoy myself (note: that's because Phil did all of the grilling!) and Declan had a beautiful day. He has already said that he's counting down until he can receive Jesus again and can't wait to become an alter server this summer!
We love you so much Declan, you are a good boy with a gentle soul and desire for holiness that is inspiring. We pray that never changes and we thank God for you every day. Love you from the bottom of our hearts now and forever.
Congratulations to Declan! What a lovely day you had!
ReplyDeleteMy son received first Holy Communion Saturday - and his suit was just a wee bit too small. (Handed down through at least 4 brothers- I wasn't about to buy something new for one day). He did have to wear shoes that were too big - I forgot about dress shoes - so he wore his big brother's band shoes with thick socks.
Around here the boys don't start serving until 4th grade, which is a pity. I think it would help to get them involved at a younger age.
Congrats to your son too! I remembered shoes a couple days before and got a paif from amazon just in time - which were a bit big as well. Ah well, we try!!
DeleteI love first communions! Congratulations Declan!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Madeline, such a special sacrament.
DeleteCongrats to Declan. I like the photos of all the kids. The manly rosary beads are pretty, but their description made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteA weapon in prayer or when things get out of hand! They're heavy!
DeleteCongratulations to Declan! He looks so handsome and so very happy!
ReplyDeleteGod bless, Declan. Such beautiful photos of such a happy boy. Fun fact, if Curly was a boy, she would've been named Declan. Looks like a wonderful celebration. Oh, and I love that he had 3 brothers serving the mass. Very sweet and memorable.
ReplyDeleteAw! Congrats! He looks so excited. I love First Communions, they're so sweet. I love Maggie's dress!
ReplyDeleteI received my first Communion from my vice principal (a very nice layperson) and my sweet grandmom marched up to the pastor afterward and let him know her feelings about how first holy communions should be from a priest. I found out that story 15 years later from the same priest haha. I kinda laughed awkwardly as he told me this because I couldn't gauge his feelings on it and plus, I was a bit shocked. She was usually so quiet and sweet, she just took her faith very seriously. And he told me "she was right!"