Eucharist

FIRST EUCHARIST

First Eucharist is typically received in a child’s second grade year. A parent meeting will be held in late March.  Students and their families participate in an Afternoon Retreat a few weeks before First Eucharist. Students and their families participate in a rehearsal for First Eucharist a few days before the First Eucharist Liturgy. For specific information regarding First Eucharist please call the Office of Faith Formation at 412-922-6388.

GUIDELINES FOR THE RECEPTION OF COMMUNION

We wish to remind those who attend Catholic liturgies of the present discipline of the Church with regard to sharing Eucharistic Communion.

For Catholics: As Catholics, we fully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist when we receive Holy Communion. We are encouraged to receive Communion devoutly and frequently. In order to be properly disposed to receive Communion, participants should be conscience of grave sin and should have fasted for one hour. A person who is conscience of grave sin is not to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord without prior sacramental confession except for a grave reason where there is no opportunity for confession. In this case, the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, including the intention of confessing as soon as possible (canon 916). A frequent reception of the Sacrament of Penance is encouraged for all.

For Our Fellow Christians:  We welcome our fellow Christians to this celebration of the Eucharist as our brothers and sisters. We pray that our common baptism and the action of the Holy Spirit in this Eucharist will draw us closer to one another and begin to dispel the sad divisions which separate us. We pray that these will lessen and finally disappear, in keeping with Christ’s prayer for us “that they may all be one” (Jn 17:21).

Because Catholics believe that the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of the oneness of faith, life and worship, members of those churches with whom we are not yet fully united are ordinarily not admitted to Holy Communion. Eucharistic sharing in exceptional circumstances by other Christians requires permission according to the directives of the diocesan bishop and the provisions of canon law (canon 844 §4). Members of the Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Polish National Catholic Church are urged to respect the discipline of their own Churches. According to Roman Catholic discipline, the Code of Canon Law does not object to the reception of Communion by Christians of these Churches (canon 844 §3).