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Restored Order Of Sacraments: Parish Youth Receive Graces of Confirmation and the Eucharist
When four grades of St. Peter Parish students are confirmed during Advent, this will have our youth “caught up” as we return to the Restored Order of the Sacraments of Initiation. Students in the third, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades will be confirmed, and the third-grade students will also receive their First Communion during the same Mass.
Gina Bergman, Director of Religious Education, says the Diocese of Springfield is one of 13 in the United States that has adapted the Restored Order.
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“What this is, it goes back to a long time ago in the Church when families were confirmed before receiving the Eucharist,” she says. “It goes back to the early centuries of Church history in Europe when Confirmation got pushed back because the bishops couldn’t travel easily.”
Under the Restored Order, the three Sacraments of Initiation — Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist — each gives graces and enables the recipient to receive the Holy Spirit before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.
Although there was initial uneasiness when the changes began here three years ago at St. Peter, Gina says that Fr. Leo met with the families and provided clarification.
“Fr. Leo emphasized that we’re never done learning about our faith,” Gina says. “We are encouraged to keep learning about our faith and get out in the world to be disciples of Christ. He addressed the situation that students were being confirmed in high school and third grade. He said that any time you receive these sacraments, you are receiving graces from God. He explained it’s kind of a build-up to the Sacraments of Initiation, to receive Jesus.”
When it was decided last spring to “catch everyone up” with the Restored Order, preparations were made to clarify that only third-graders would be confirmed and receive First Communion next year.
“This spring, we started an overview about what Confirmation is, to all the kids being confirmed this fall,” Gina says. “Both our grade school and Parish School of Religion started preparing all four grades this spring. We will have fall meetings with the families to go over the sacraments, why the kids are getting them, why they are important to their faith.”
Currently, the plans are to have the sacraments given over three Masses — Dec. 5, Dec. 12, and Dec. 19. There are about 150 children who will be confirmed. There also is a retreat planned for the eighth-graders on the church campus.
As the four grades prepare for Confirmation, they will learn that it is just one of the Sacraments of Initiation, and its importance.
“Confirmation enables us to receive graces from the Holy Spirit and learn more about what gifts we may have, and to go out and use them,” Gina says. “The third-graders are beginning to understand what this means. We should take it seriously and grow from that. Our faith is a journey. Even after Confirmation, I hope they learn about their faith, and use their gifts, and grow from that.”
