In our family this year, we'll be celebrating two sacraments--our youngest receives his first Holy Communion, and later this month our oldest will receive her Confirmation.
In the last few weeks, my daughter was writing her required "letter to the Bishop" asking for Confirmation, and she wondered the actual date of her First Communion. I couldn't remember the exact date, so I pulled out her personal copy of Today I Made My First Communion.
I know we’re not the only family to take out scrapbooks and old photos from time to time to remember great trips—didn’t we have fun in Maine three summers ago?-- and “olden times”—hey, Mom & Dad were once kids, even babies. It’s a great way to connect as a family and remember fun times.
Dianne Ahern, founder of Aunt Dee's Attic, ingeniously applies this memory-sharing to the sacraments. Today I Made My First Communion is, on its face, a nicely illustrated storybook of two friends who learn as they prepare for their first Communion. But worth the price of the book are the half-dozen memory pages to personalize the book. That's just the right amount--not too few, but not too many as to seem overwhelming to complete.
At our house, we've used this book as a read-aloud and, after the sacrament, worked with the first Communicant to paste in photos, cards and special memories of the day. It didn’t take us long to complete, prompted by the simple yet helpful questions, but it’s a scrapbook we love to get out and peruse from time to time. We also have used and "made" for each member of our family Today I Made My First Reconciliation. I'm just a little disappointed to see that Today I Was Confirmed is yet to be released, as I know my oldest would love it. I'm sure we'll get it once it is released.
There’s a lovely new edition of this book available from Aunt Dee’s Attic; it’s also widely available at Catholic and Christian bookstores. More books are also in the series, including Today I Was Baptized and Today I Made My First Reconciliation.
What neat resources do you use for sacramental preparation? Do you do any special "memory books" of your family's sacraments?
Grace has been working on her own First Confession/First Holy Communion notebook. The project is a combination of learning and creating memories. We've used holy cards, Bible verses, prayers, etc. to make pages. I suppose in one way like a very organized scrapbook. She learns prayers and saint biographies while getting in some handwriting practice. Sometimes she get's to do some original artwork. All in all, I think it's something she will look back on frequently.
ReplyDeleteWe also did a First Confession Treasure box that her sister and I gave her as a gift. It's loaded with the many gifts we get from the graces of Confession. Another keeper for the down the road.