Reaching the Heart of a Child for 1st Communion

Sacramental preparation is so important to prepare a child to receive their First Communion and, while the facts about the Real Presence can easily be taught through a curriculum like Spirit of Truth First Communion Guide, but there is an additional aspect of First Communion preparation that is often overlooked.

More important than simply teaching Catechism facts and how to participate in the Mass, we want to instill in our little First Communicants an understanding and love for the True Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. But how do we teach and reach the soul of a child with this truth?

“Truth,” says Saint Cardinal Newman, “is poured into the mind of the scholar by his eyes and ears, through his affections, imagination, and reason . . . and is sealed up there in perpetuity.”

We must “pour” truth into our children through imagination and reason…an intimidating task for most parents! Fortunately, very early on in preparing my eight children for their First Communions, I discovered the work and writings of Mother Mary Loyola.

Mother Mary Loyola, one of the foremost Catholic educators in her time, spent her life “pouring” truth into children and helping equip their parents to do the same. In her excellent little book The Children’s Charter, she asks parents to follow her on a path that will answer this question:

“How can we bring with the range of their imagination and intelligence and heart and will the truths we want them to grasp with a grip that will last through life?” 

Not an easy task, but in less than 100 pages (an easy read for a busy mother!), Mother Loyola shows parents that this large task can be done in a loving and simple way. She follows Saint Cardinal Newman’s advice that all senses should be engaged in order to fully and deeply reach a child’s heart. She shows parents that the simple practices of reading stories with their children, bringing them to daily Mass and adoration, playing beautiful sacred music in the background, and other easy daily actions help engulf the whole child in the wonder of the Eucharist.

“Children are not flatterers,” she says. “If we bore them, they will let us know…how can we bring within the range of their imagination and intelligence and heart and will the truths we want them to grasp with a grip that will last through life? Only by realising that we must appeal to every one of these faculties and make a distinct study of the road to each. Imagination and intelligence we may take together. Through the first we will reach the second.”

For First Communion, Mother Loyola believes that the life of Our Lord needs to be the backbone of our preparation instruction. One cannot love the true presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacraments if one does not know the man Jesus. So capture the imagination of the child through the stories of Scripture! Books like the Read-Aloud Book of Bible Stories and Who is Jesus? will help spark children’s imagination by bringing them into the ancient world in which Jesus lived. Integrate these stories in morning baskets, at breakfast, or at bedtime so they become a normal part of your day.    

Once the life of Jesus has become part of a child’s imagination, it is then necessary to explain where the Eucharist came from and why we still have this magnificent gift today. This is where many parents falter and struggle, worried that their explanations will be lacking or go above the heads of their child.

Mother Loyola gives an outline in her little book of how to explain the Eucharist. However, this is a hard task to do in an engaging manner and it must be done in many ways to impress upon the child the history, beauty, and sacred nature of the Eucharist.

Quick aside: if you are worried about providing a concise and child-friendly explanation of the Eucharist, do not despair! We created the Holy Heroes Inside the Sacraments DVD: The Eucharist DVD for this very thing! In this DVD, children will be transported back in time to learn about how the Eucharist was prefigured in the Old and New Testaments so that the apostles could make sense of Our Lord’s promise that he made when He ascended into heaven, “That He would be with us until the end of time.” Used in parishes and homes throughout the country, this a must-have for First Communion prep!

Mother Loyola provides other recommendations and suggestions that families can easily do throughout their day at home. While routine recitation of the Baltimore Catechism may work their intellect, it will do little to capture their imagination. Instead, she recommends parents let the beauty of the Catholic Church–its music, art, history, and stories–be the entry point to capture the imagination of children to help them develop a better understanding and love for the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

An example of how Mother Loyola did this was by telling little children the stories of Little Nellie and Blessed Imelda. Through the stories of these young children, other First Communicants learned how to imitate their wonder and love for the Blessed Sacrament. Now that Blessed Imelda has also been declared the patron of First Communicants, her story is one that every child should hear before their receive their First Communion!

There is so much in The Children’s Charter (including the immediate preparation before First Communion, the day of the First Communion, and after First Communion) to help Catholic parents teach their children! Mother Loyola ends the book with a plea for parents to exercise their God-given responsibility to lead their children to God by the way they live within the home. In particular, she stresses family prayer as being one of the most important ways we can bring our children to the Lord. The importance of this cannot be discounted!

If you have a First Communicant (or will have one in the upcoming years), I cannot recommend enough the work of Mother Mary Loyola to help your child prepare for this sacrament! Love for the Blessed Sacrament cannot be overstressed and in today’s world, nothing is more important than a deep and abiding faithfulness to the True Presence!

BONUS RESOURCES:

Mother Loyola also wrote a story for children called The King of the Golden City to help them understand the relationship that Jesus wants to have with each and every one of us. This story has stood the test of time as a beautiful way to capture the imagination of children and inspire them to grow closer to their King! We have created a discussion guide to accompany this book so get your copy today and start a mini-book club with your children, homeschool co-op, or classroom!

Another resource that we used with our young children was My Path to Heaven. It is only 12 chapters long and has some of the most fascinating pictures your children have ever seen. My Path to Heaven was written as a retreat for young children and can be used over and over again and is perfect to be used in the months leading up to First Communion. You can learn more about this resource (and how we have used it) here.

Finally, here are 2 books that I wish I had access to when I was preparing my children for 1st Communion! I recently discovered them and cannot say enough good things about them! Read my blog and see inside images HERE.