‘Sobriety’ and ‘fervour’ when preparing children for First Communion: this was the pope’s advice in this Easter period when, he said, ‘the Church usually administers First Communion to children’.
During the Regina Coeli prayer, Benedict XVI said: ‘I urge parish priests, parents and catechists to prepare well for this feast of the faith, with great fervour but also with sobriety.
‘This day,’ he said, quoting from the post-synod document Sacramentum caritatis, ‘will be rightly impressed on your memory as the first moment when you too understand the importance of a personal encounter with Jesus… May the Mother of God,’ he added, ‘ help us to listen attentively to the Word of the Lord and participate worthily in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, so that we may be witnesses of new humanity.’ Continue reading