Come Holy Spirit!
Please join us with joy and thanksgiving for Hannah's reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation!
I will admit, Hannah and I were not thrilled about the celebration of this sacrament taking place in the
gym Community Room of the local Catholic Elementary school rather than our own parish or even an actual Church. Our two sister parishes along with two other parishes joined together for a larger celebration. I will say though that everything went smoothly. We did have a little bit of a wait time before the start of Mass but the boys did great (mostly).
It was a moving experience to have Mass concelebrated by the Bishop, four Priests, a number of Deacons, and many Altar Servers. Coming together with other parishes gave a real picture of the larger Body of Christ to which these young people were fully committing themselves.
Hannah with her Sponser and Father Wayne
While the preparation for this Sacrament has been a two year journey we did have some more immediate preparations. We celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation at our parish as a family. We attended one of the Monday evening celebrations that are offered especially during Lent. At our parish these evenings are accompanied by our choir singing Taize chant which helps create a quiet and reflective atmosphere. This was also Aidan's *second* time receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, he received his First Reconciliation on February 26th in preparation for his First Holy Communion later this May.
There was also the Confirmation Retreat and the interview with Father Wayne. Then the day before the Confirmation, Hannah decided to sit a Holy Hour of Adoration. Friday morning I went out early to get some lab work done and then a bit of last minute shopping....It was 9 o'clock am, I was at the grocery store when I realized I couldn't remember what time Hannah had signed up for...was it 10:00am or 11:00am? After a few frantic calls, Hannah decided to jog to Adoration because I was not sure if I would make it back in time - good thing our parish is only a little over 2 miles away!
That afternoon I went to my mother's house to decorate for a little dinner we were having afterward - have you noticed there is not a whole lot out there as far as Confirmation themed decorations go? I purchased several tissue paper flowers in two sizes. I found some images of the Holy Spirit to tape onto the center of the small ones seen in the picture below. For the larger ones I found a stained glass image that I used to make a template for the design for you see above. Some red and white candles, red and white paper streamers, red and white napkins...you get the idea.
Then I was on my way to the CSG to pick up our garden share, I was praying all the way that we would be getting some fresh spinach. Prayers answered! Hannah helped choose the menu for her special Confirmation Dinner.....
Spinach and Feta Cheese stuffed Chicken Breasts
Fragrant Rice with Currants
Lentil Walnut Salad
Green Peas
Homemade Buttermilk Bread
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Katie was kind enough to make the cake for me. As we were deciding what to make for dessert Christian came in and said "What? Hannah doesn't get to eat this cake does she?" What delight when I informed two younger brothers that our usual Lenten sugar fast would be suspended for the whole weekend. If nothing else spoke to the solemnity of the occasion to these boys....cake during Lent certainly did!
Before the cake was cut we lit seven candles in the shape of a cross and had Hannah name the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit before blowing out the candles...Christian was ready and eager to help with the program which listed them all (I chased him out of the room - no cheating!)
Other gifts and cards were also enjoyed. I found a lovely pendant with the image of
St. Cecilia. Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians, was Hannah's chosen Confirmation name.
Oh and one little tip for any young ladies who will also receive this Sacrament - go easy on any foundation makeup. Hannah doesn't wear foundation and for this occasion it turned out to be a very good thing as the Bishop was quite liberal with the application of the Holy Chrism as you can see in the picture below - she was dripping - really.
Hannah Faith Cecilia
