First Communion is administered on an individual basis. This is not to diminish the importance of the event, but rather to increase its importance to the child making his or her first Holy Communion, and to leave the decision to receive Communion, as indeed any sacrament, to the child, assisted by his or her parents. We are fortunate to have a small enough community that the concept of a “class” consisting of a number of arbitrary “hoops” through which a child must jump is unnecessary.
Canon law presumes that “It is primarily the duty of parents and those who take their place… to ensure that children who have reached the use of reason are properly prepared, and having made their sacramental confession, are nourished by this divine food as soon as possible.” (can. 914) The place of the parish priest is secondary in this process, and serves more to prevent those from approaching for Holy Communion who are manifestly indisposed. St. Pius X in his decree “Quam Singulari” states:
“A full and perfect knowledge of Christian doctrine is not necessary either for First Confession or for First Communion. Afterwards, however, the child will be obliged to learn gradually the entire Catechism according to his ability.”
“The knowledge of religion which is required in a child in order to be properly prepared to receive First Communion is such that he will understand according to his capacity those Mysteries of faith which are necessary as a means of salvation (necessitate medii) and that he can distinguish between the Bread of the Eucharist and ordinary, material bread, and thus he may receive Holy Communion with a devotion becoming his years.”
And what are these mysteries of faith? The Catholic Encyclopedia under the heading “Sanctifying Grace” states:
In answer to the theological question: How many truths of faith must one expressly (fide explicita) believe under command (necessitate praecepti)? theologians say that an ordinary Catholic must expressly know and believe the most important dogmas and the truths of the moral law, for instance, the Apostles’ Creed, the Decalogue, the six precepts of the Church, the Seven Sacraments, the Our Father. Greater things are, of course, expected from the educated, especially from catechists, confessors, preachers wherefore upon these the study of theology rests as an obligation. If the question be put: In how many truths as a means (necessitate medii) must one believe to be saved? many catechists answer Six things: God’s existence; an eternal reward; the Trinity; the Incarnation; the immortality of the soul; the necessity of Grace. But according to St. Paul (Hebrews 11:6) we can only be certain of the necessity of the first two dogmas, while the belief in the Trinity and the Incarnation could not of course be exacted from ante-Christian Judaism or from Paganism. Then, too, belief in the Trinity may be implicitly included in the dogma of God’s existence, and belief in the Incarnation in the dogma of the Divine providence, just as the immortality of the soul is implicitly included in the dogma of an eternal reward. However, there arises for any one baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, and entering thus the Church of Christ, the necessity of making an act of explicit faith (fides explicita).
Thus, it is expected that parents can adequately prepare their children for First Holy Communion, teaching them their basic prayers, the rosary, how to go to confession, etc. Parents with children who wish to make their First Communion this year are asked to inform the pastor, who will arrange for a short meeting with the child to ensure proper disposition and the requisite knowledge (including the ability to make a sacramental confession, which must precede First Communion). Highly recommended as a teaching aid is the classic “St. Joseph First Communion Catechism” available at any Catholic book shop.