Sacramental Life and Programme

 

Baptism

The life of grace and membership of the Catholic Church is received in the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism. Infants are baptised where there is a well-founded hope that the children will be brought up in the practice of the Catholic Faith. Parents who wish their children to be baptised need to contact the parish and undergo some formation to assist them in carrying out the responsibilities they assume at Baptism.

Blessed Eucharist

The practice of the parish is for children who are in Year 3 at our two schools to be prepared to receive the Lord in their First Holy Communion. The Parish Priest and the parents make the decision about children being admitted to First Holy Communion. It is required that an enrolment card be presented to the Parish Priest and signed at the Commitment Mass in the year the children will make Holy Communion.

Children who do not attend our schools or who for one or another reason have not been ready or able to receive First Holy Communion in Year 3 are able to participate in classes of preparation on Sunday Mornings. Parish catechists under the care and supervision of the Sisters of St Paul de Chartres conduct these classes.

Penance

The Sacrament of Penance is celebrated before the reception of First Holy Communion. Children are prepared in class during Year 2 or at catechetic classes on Sunday mornings.

The Sacrament is celebrated on three occasions during each week and more frequently in the days leading up to the great Feasts of the Church.

Confirmation

 According to Archdiocesan Policy, the candidates for Confirmation receive this Sacrament when they are in Year 6 or above. The Sacrament which completes the grace of Baptism and strengthens the Christian in their life of faith is celebrated where the candidate is disposed and ready to deepen their Catholic faith.

Holy Matrimony

The Sacrament of Marriage is the Sacrament that unites a man and women in Christ as they form a community of life and love. The “form of marriage” binds Catholics. This means that a Catholic to be validly married in the eyes of Christ and His Church must marry in a Catholic Ceremony before a Catholic Priest and two witnesses. To celebrate this wonderful sacrament, the man and woman wishing to celebrate must be free to marry, that means unmarried or declared free to marry by the Church. They must have the intention to form a permanent, faithful and exclusive relationship with their spouse in a relationship which is open to the gift of children.