Why do parish First Communion Masses so often neglect good liturgical principles? Should these celebrations resemble something analogous to a recital? Or, should they be celebrations worthy of the praise and glory of God? First Communion Liturgies explores the purpose and practice of First Communion in our time, uncovers the pitfalls associated with it, and offers a guide for preparing celebrations that will enrich the lives of children and families, bringing them into a deeper relationship with God and the church.

From USCCB Publishing, this revision of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) seeks to promote more conscious, active, and full participation of the faithful in the mystery of the Eucharist. While the Missale Romanum contains the rite and prayers for Mass, the GIRM provides specific detail about each element of the Order of Mass as well as other information related to the Mass.

One of the most carefully prepared liturgies of any Roman Catholic parish's year is the celebration of 'First Communion'. This is the ritual by which seven- or eight -year-old children are admitted to the Eucharist for the first time. It attracts the largest congregations of any parish liturgy, and yet is frequently marked by tension and dissent within the parish community. The same ritual holds very different meanings for the various parties involved - clergy, parish schools, regularly communicating parishioners, and the first communicants and their families. The tensions arise from dissonance between the parties on such key issues as expected patterns of Church attendance, Catholic identity, dress and expenditure, and family formation. The relationships and discontinuities between popular and 'official' religion is at the heart of these tensions. They touch upon deep-seated anxieties concerning the future viability of the very structures and patterns of parish life during the current period of falling Church attendance and parish closures. For those within the Church who are concerned to understand and address the issues in its structural decline, this book will make sometimes uncomfortable but always stimulating reading. Peter McGrail examines the relationship between Church structures and popular religious identity, viewed through the lens of the first communion event. Drawing out hitherto unrecognised connections and significances for the future of the Catholic Church at local level, the insights into the decline of the parish as an institution present challenges to all with an interest in and concern for the future of the Church in the English-speaking world. Bringing to the fore the relationship and tensions between liturgy and Church structures, both historically and at the present time, this book offers academics and students alike extensive material for reflection and future development..

In this volume in the Liturgy Documentary Series, the bishops reaffirm the distribution of the Holy Communion to the faithful under both kinds.

As the number of available priests has declined, the Sunday Mass is becoming less and less available in some parishes and dioceses. Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest addresses this growing reality by providing the appropriate ritual to be used in the celebrating community. This revised ritual edition of Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest is fully bilingual, with Spanish and English printed side by side. It includes Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and two appendices, Directory for Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest and Gathered in Steadfast Faith. This beautifully bound ritual book includes three ribbons and is printed in two colors. It will be a welcome addition to the sacristy or library of every parish, school, convent, and religious house.

Liturgies for Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter, Transfiguration, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, All Saints', St Columba's Day, Father's Day; on hunger, economic witness, peacemaking, the environment, pilgrimage, welcome, hospitality and friendship. Includes a blessing liturgy for a marriage or partnership, a wedding/partnership ceremony and resources for a memorial event.Full communion services and shorts acts of worship; liturgies for small groups and all-age gatherings; worship rooted in church life and the Iona Community's resident group on Iona, in social justice and pastoral work. So - as always with the Iona Community - worship which is contextual, with a strong justice and peace edge.Originally published as single digital downloads by Wild Goose, these are now all brought together for the first time in the second of at least two Big Books of resources and liturgies.Contributors include John Harvey, Nancy Cocks, Tom Gordon, Jan Sutch Pickard, Joy Mead, Chris Polhill, Ian M Fraser, Thom M Shuman, Alison Swinfen, Annie Heppenstall, Norman Shanks and others.God of the rhinoceros and the midge,God of the Large Hadron Collider and the iPhone,help us to sense your presence in and through all things. God whose grace is sufficient for all our needs,help us to be people of compassion, justice and peace.(Norman Shanks, from 'A liturgy for the Feast of the Transfiguration')

This guide aims to help those responsible for preparing and celebrating Masses for those receiving Communion for the first time.

EVERY MOMENT HOLY, Vol. 2: DEATH, GRIEF, & HOPE, is a book of liturgies for seasons of dying and grieving--liturgies such as "A Liturgy for the Scattering of Ashes" or "A Liturgy for the Loss of a Spouse" or "A Liturgy for the Wake of a National Tragedy" or "A Liturgy for the Weighing of Last-Stage Medical Options." These are ways of reminding us that our lives are shot through with sacred purpose and eternal hopes even when, especially when, suffering and pain threaten to overwhelm us. -over 100 liturgies for seasons of dying and grieving -beautiful leather-bound hardcover -over 20 illustrations by Ned Bustard -silk bookmark -gilded edges