Admissions to Communion

One of the most lovely things I’ve done in the week that is past was a teaching mass on Saturday evening which was a way of admitting some younger members of St Mary’s into communion. (Everyone is welcome to receive communion in St Mary’s, but sometimes people need a service where that fact becomes real and they begin receiving for the first time).

Its ages since I did one of these teaching services, and I always enjoy them. We started by getting all the company into the sacristy to talk about what we need for the service and gathering everything together. We talked about what things are called and about the colours of the vestments. (This time one of the parents present was an expert on colour traditions, which was a fine bonus).

When I do these services, the idea is that it is informal enough for people to ask questions throughout the proceedings. I’ve always found that adults like joining in with asking questions just as much as children do. So, we ended up talking about the symbolism of incense, what “Maundy” means (which nearly flummoxed me) and by way of a sermon, we read the story of the last supper and talked about what it might have been like for those who were there.

We had a trip to the high altar to talk about the blessed sacrament being reserved, we learned what the throne the bishop sits in is called (“oh! so that’s why its a cathedral!”) and we did quite well at practising making the sign of the cross. (And no, I didn’t know why they do it the other way round in Russia, maybe a blog reader will know and be able to tell us).

It was a service which contained all the best bits of religion. Laughter, learning, gentle holiness and faith being passed from one generation to another and then passed back again with enthusiasm, wonder and delight.