Sacramental Preparation for Baptized Children

Below are the sacramental preparation calendars for Penance & Holy Communion and Confirmation for the 2023-2024 spiritual year. The sacramental preparation calendars are updated each June for the coming year. If any of the dates seem odd you may need to do a refresh on your web browser to ensure your machine is loading the most up-to-date version of this page.  A child should be in religious education each year and as announced previously, we require a child to be in a formal religious education program for at least the year before a sacramental year for first Penance & holy Communion or Confirmation, so the child’s 1st and 7th grade religious education years. Children should be in religious education each year, ideally beginning in Kindergarten and ending after a year or two of high school sessions.

If your child intends to present himself/herself for these sacraments, and you are raising them in the active practice of the faith and are committing to continuing to do so, please place these important dates on your calendar now. It is expected that the child and their parent(/s) attend these sessions (unless they are for parents only in the case of penance and holy communion prep). If there is a serious conflict, it is your responsibility to contact the sacramental preparation director in advance of the session. Please communicate this information to any extracurricular programs your child may be involved in – especially the weekend Confirmation Retreat to eliminate any difficulties immediately before important spiritual events.

Some Important Information, please read each closely as some my apply to your family or situation:

Religious Education for Homeschooled Children or Children who attend a Catholic school other than St. Mary School and Sacramental Preparation
If you are a registered family in St. Mary of the Assumption parish, have a child that is homeschooled and uses a catholic religious education curriculum for religious education, or if your child has been attending a Catholic school other than St. Mary, and your child is in 2nd grade or 8th grade, had religious education last year, and could begin preparing for the sacraments of penance and holy Communion or Confirmation, please email the name of your child, how he or she is/has been receiving religious education, and family contact information to dclark@stmarylancaster.org .

A Note to St. Mary School Families and Sacramental Preparation
Since the young people who make up the student body at St. Mary School come from many different parishes, there may exist some confusion on where the sacraments of first holy Communion and Confirmation are to be celebrated. These Sacraments of Initiation are to be celebrated in the parish church where the person receiving the sacrament is a parishioner. If there is some extenuating circumstance, it is then the responsibility of the child’s family to speak with their parish pastor so he can make a decision as to how best to proceed with the child’s reception of a sacrament. The parish we belong to is our spiritual home and the community where our faith is nurtured and supported. In a parochial school setting where the student body is made up of parishioners from different parishes, it is important that the host parish does not assume a role that it doesn’t have. Here at St. Mary School, we will always respect the relationship that our students have as parishioners at their own parishes.

Questions?
Please, Contact the Parish Office (740.653.0997)
or Sacramental Preparation Coordinator for 2023-24
Debbie Clark

Since the young people who make up the student body at St. Mary School come from many different parishes, there may exist some confusion on where the sacraments of first holy Communion and Confirmation are to be celebrated. These Sacraments of Initiation are to be celebrated in the parish church where the person receiving the sacrament is a parishioner. If there is some extenuating circumstance, it is then the responsibility of the child’s family to speak with their parish pastor so he can make a decision as to how best to proceed with the child’s reception of a sacrament. The parish we belong to is our spiritual home and the community where our faith is nurtured and supported. In a parochial school setting where the student body is made up of parishioners from different parishes it is important that the host parish does not assume a role that it doesn’t have. Here at St. Mary School, we will always respect the relationship that our students have as parishioners at their own parishes.