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LeeAnn
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| Posted: April 20 2010 at 3:56pm | IP Logged
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Questions...Ideas...
Customs for First Holy Communion seem to vary widely by region and change over time. Looking at a lot of vintage FHC photos, a lot of the children often carried candles decorated with a ribbon or flowers.
For example here:
Does anyone know how they were used during the Mass? Were they lit as the children processed in? Or lit after all received Communion from the Paschal candle and carried out? I have a mild terror of lighting some girl's veil on fire.  At what point are these lit and then extinguished? (What was done with the candles/flowers afterwards?)
If we were to make these with fresh flowers, how soon before the Mass do you think we could get away with putting them together? Basically they look like a taper candle with a few flowers wired around it. I love this idea because I have seen it in a lot of older paintings and photos. What do you think? Too vintage or retro?
I have started some other traditions in our parish (I am the DRE). For the past four years, the boys have worn white ribbon arm bows like this which were purchased from Autom for $3 each.
To my delight, one of the boys arrived last year wearing his father's vintage arm bow!
I have also seen photos of boys wearing medallion style ribbons (like a first prize blue ribbon but white) in some vintage pictures. One photo had boys wearning matching ties and sashes (like a deacon's sash).
In past years the parish has given each child a small gift, usually some type of rosary bracelet for the girls, however a lot of the girls already have jewelry purchased for the day. Then I came across this photo of
First Communicants wearing medals:
I decided to buy these medals from Autom and will string them on white ribbon, for each of our communicants as a gift from the parish. (They also receive rosaries from the KOC.)
Does your home parish have similar traditions? (Do you wish they did? ) Or something completely different? Please share!
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JennGM
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Oh, those pictures are just so wonderful!
One of the traditions I remember is before our First Communion we were enrolled in the Brown Scapular and Miraculous Medal. All of us received a medal on a blue ribbon. That's what I think they are wearing in the last picture -- the miraculous medal.
The arm band, what a wonderful idea!
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hylabrook1
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I've seen my great-grandfather's FHC picture, and he is wearing a white arm band, I'd say it was in the early 1890s, as he was born in 1883. It was the custom in Baltimore at that time, as it was at my FHC in 1962, to take the child to a photographer's studio the day after and have formal portraits made. The photog. had props, such as a kneeler and a crucifix hanging on the wall to create the right atmosphere for the portraits. Anyone else do this?
LeeAnn, do you know the approximate dates of the photos you shared? They are just great!
Peace,
Nancy
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LeeAnn
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| Posted: April 20 2010 at 4:17pm | IP Logged
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Jenn, I was wondering what that medal was! And that makes a lot of sense. I almost purchased miraculous medals instead of the Eucharist ones but I didn't want to give a devotional item without the kids understanding what it was. Does that make sense? This is the first year I brought up the idea of perhaps enrolling the kids in the brown scapular--but almost none of the parents knew what it was and our priest prefers not to do scapular enrollment at the same time since 1st Communion is during the regular Sunday Masses and we're on a very tight schedule! I am hoping that in a few years we can get parents on board for suporting this devotion--not just enrolling their kids but following through with it.
ETA: I just noticed the kids are holding little books in that photo. Undoubtedly they are scapular enrollment pamphlets.
I like the arm bands because it gives a little formality to the boys' clothes--most often here they don't wear suit jackets--the girls are quite dressed up but the boys not so much.
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Christine
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LeeAnn wrote:
Questions...Ideas...
Does anyone know how they were used during the Mass? Were they lit as the children processed in? Or lit after all received Communion from the Paschal candle and carried out? I have a mild terror of lighting some girl's veil on fire. At what point are these lit and then extinguished? (What was done with the candles/flowers afterwards?)
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We used to go to a Polish Church. Candles were lit during the Mass. If my memory serves me correctly, the First Communicants held them while everyone renewed their Baptismal Promises and they were extinguished immediately after the renewal. Our first daughter had a beautiful large candle from Poland, and our second held a regular-size (or Baptismal-size) candle.
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LeeAnn
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| Posted: April 20 2010 at 4:25pm | IP Logged
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hylabrook1 wrote:
I've seen my great-grandfather's FHC picture, and he is wearing a white arm band, I'd say it was in the early 1890s, as he was born in 1883. It was the custom in Baltimore at that time, as it was at my FHC in 1962, to take the child to a photographer's studio the day after and have formal portraits made. The photog. had props, such as a kneeler and a crucifix hanging on the wall to create the right atmosphere for the portraits. Anyone else do this?
LeeAnn, do you know the approximate dates of the photos you shared? They are just great!
Peace,
Nancy |
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Nancy, the biggest group photo is from 1963. The top one is 1958. I am guessing the bottom one is similar, 1950s or so. I just searched for "first communion photos" on Google Images. Lots of fun stuff. And I believe the top and bottom images are English. The middle photo is American.
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Mimip
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Latin culture is very different when it comes to FHC. The most prominent one that I see is that most of the little boys here still where white suits. My brother wore one and my boys will wear white ones as well. The white arm band is done for all the boys as well as a medal. I really don't know much about why these traditions but they are just done here especially in the Cuban culture.
In Spanish culture the boys where sailor suits. No idea why  .
Most of those arm bands were passed down generations but since most Cuban Americans having children now are children of refugees we don't have our fathers so we are starting all new ones.
The medals were particular to the family devotions. For example, my brother's was a miraculous medal because my mother was very devout to OUr Lady. Our daughters both wore very special medals that go with their own special feasts. My oldest wore a Sacred Heart of Jesus because she was born on that feast day and has always honored that day. My second wore a very special crucifix that my mother brought from the Hold Land that has a very long story attached to it. 
These are our traditions 
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Angi
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Our parish has the children light candles off of the Pascal candle. They then would hand it off to an adult who put it in a candle holder. This changed last year when they first child handed me her candle to put in the holder and it would not fit. Neither the DRE nor the 3 teachers thought to make sure the candle fit the holder.
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MaryM
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Mimip wrote:
In Spanish culture the boys where sailor suits. No idea why |
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I've seen that, too, in pictures of my mom's cousins and oldest brother who all had their first communions in Spain. I don't know the reason/symbolism either, but am curious...
Those are really neat pictures, LeeAnn.
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LeeAnn
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| Posted: April 21 2010 at 7:41pm | IP Logged
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I found a few more photos to share. Hope you don't mind....
Here is one with the sailor suits Mimi mentioned:
The whole military motif seems popular. Some of them look like little admirals of the navy! Another one:
I also just love these photos. I wonder what the role of the little angels was?
This last one is from the same parish, about 1947, I love those frilly crowns. The little girl with glasses and Kewpie curls is adorable.
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hylabrook1
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I don't know about the little angels in the photo, but at the church where I received FHC, the first graders would escort the second graders to the communion rail. The girls were dressed in very fancy identical dresses (all ordered from somewhere) and they boys wore suits; these escorts were called "angels". The whole event was extremely elaborate, actually. The girls in each of the other grades at the school also had dresses identical to one another, different for each grade - fancy, frilly dresses - that were gotten to wear for the May procession later in the month, probably the week after the FHC. The first grade angels wore their dresses from the FHC, and the second graders wore their First Communion dresses, veils, etc. I'd forgotten all about this - these pictures have certainly brought back memories, LeeAnn!
Those frilly crowns with the veils look like the ones in my mother's FHC pictures, which would have been around 1936, I'd say.
Peace,
Nancy
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: First Communion Customs
