Communion

......The Sacrament of Holy Communion is received for the first time by catholic children at the age of 7 shortly after they have received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. At this time it is called First Holy Communion,a joyous occasion culminating after months of preparation by teachers, priests and parents alike. Throughout the preparation the children study the life of Jesus through New Testament readings and participate in a drama representation of his Last Supper. This provides the vital link to the sacrifice of the Mass in which the children participate in full.

Since early Christian times Holy Communion is variously described as the Lord's Supper,the Mass and Eucharist,from the Greek 'eucharistia 'meaning Thanksgiving. It is used to describe the sacrament that Jesus Christ instituted at the Last Supper,accounts of which are given in the New Testament. All accounts depict the scene which took place the night before his crucifixion when he met for a final meal with his friends , the Apostles. This was the meal known as the Last Supper. During the ritual of the meal Jesus took the bread and holding it up He said:

"Take this all of you and eat it : this is my body which will be given up for you."

He then took the wine and said

"Take this all of you and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood"

This is recorded in the account of St. Paul to the Corinthians and in Luke that Jesus asked his disciples to continue this practice in Remembrance of his death

"Do this in memory of me"

It has thus become,since the early Christian church,the most important part of worship throughout the Mass,and indeed, despite differences of interpretation from transubstantiation,developed in the middle ages to con substantiation, Christ's command

"Do this in memory of me" has been obeyed by Christians of every tradition throughout the centuries and has remained a universal expression of Christian devotion.

Claire Kilbride, Nicola Robertson P6

St. Patrick's Primary School, Kilsyth

My Communion Day