First Communion and Confirmation checklist

First Communion is usually celebrated in April or May, Confirmation whenever the bishop's calendar allows. Both bring a class of children or teenagers, their families and a visiting celebrant to a single Mass, and both are gift occasions. The parish buys for the liturgy and the register; the families buy the gifts.

For the parish

• Certificates in pads of 50 or 100, matching the design used in previous years, and the register brought up to date the same week.
• Reserved pew signs or clips, one per family group, and extra hosts in the people's size for a full church.
• Vestments: white for First Communion; red for Confirmation. A visiting bishop brings his own, but a spare red stole for concelebrants is useful.
• A kneeler or two at the sanctuary step for the confirmands, and the chrism oil stock checked and filled.

For the catechists

A class gift from the parish is customary: a rosary, a scapular or a medal, in packs of 12 or 25 so each child receives the same thing. Wood rosaries for First Communion and a patron saint or Confirmation medal for confirmands are the usual choices. Holy cards with the date can be ordered in packs of 50 and handed out with the certificate. Brown scapulars are often given at Confirmation with an enrolment.

For families and godparents

The gift shop sells boxed First Communion sets, with a rosary, prayer book, pin and holy card, in boy and girl versions, and Confirmation sets with a saint's medal. For a lasting gift, a Catholic Bible in a gift edition, a crystal rosary, or a crucifix for the child's room. Candles and photo frames are secondary; the sacramental items are what the child keeps.

Questions