On the afternoon of Saturday 14th May, The Feast of St. Matthias, 21 children from St. Josephs & five other local primary schools made their First Communion at Holy Ghost Church. They all looked beautiful and the church was packed to capacity with their families, friends, teachers and parishioners, some of whom had travelled from across the UK, from Germany and Poland. The children took an active part in the liturgy and the mass was concelebrated by Fr. Philip and a visiting priest, Fr. Marek Rumiński, from Toruń Cathedral in the north of Poland. He warmly welcomed families in English, German and Polish, bringing a truly international flavour to the day. Tea was served in the hall and gardens afterward by the UCM which was much appreciated by all.
On Sunday we welcomed the children back again, dressed in their finery, to our Pentecost celebration. Fr. Marek joined us again and today we listened to prayers in four languages read out by Fr. Marek, Helen Enright, Iris Reiss & Elisabeth Cheyne – it was a joyous occasion for everyone, a wonderful way to celebrate Pentecost. We are particularly grateful to the catechists, Mary Chaplin, Bernard Walsh, Chris King & Lesley Sullivan, who spent many weeks preparing the children for their special day, to those who prepared the church, and those who donated and served the refreshments and especially to the parents and carers for bringing the children to this important point in the journey of faith
A Parents review…..
On Saturday, 14th May 2016 (Feast of St. Matthias) we celebrated the First Holy Communion of 21 children. What a weekend we had. The sun was shining on us when the children arrived at church in their gorgeous outfits. The special service was held by Father Philip and Father Marek, who was visiting from Poland, and was done in English, Polish and German. The children were very excited and very proud to receive their First Holy Communion, and all of them received a lovely candle as a memory of this special day. Celebrations went on after the church service in the hall and garden with a lovely cake. Thanks very much to the ladies of the UCM for laying out everything beautifully and doing teas and coffees.
Most of the children and their families came to church again on Sunday morning (Pentecost). The children were all still beaming and showed their outfits to parishioners. They received their certificates from Father Philip and since Father Marek was once again helping to celebrate mass we again had the pleasure of a multi-lingual service. It truly was an unforgettable weekend.
— Iris Reiss
