A Most Beautiful First Communion
I knew I was going to cry, but Y’ALL. The day was full of so much joy. So much. And because I’m chatty and like to take pictures you get to hear and see the whole thing. Grab that cup ‘o Joe and pull up a chair. I’ll chat about the events leading up to the day and the lovely, lovely Mass.
Pre-First Communion
It started with pickup at the airport of the sweetest, funniest Godmother. The kids call her Lynne, Scott and I call her Lynnie. We’ve been friends with her since our days in Indy, 15 years ago. Lynne holds a special place in our Texas hearts. Luke and I treated her to some Rudy’s BBQ and then picked up some yummy sweets for the party on Saturday. This was Anna-Laura’s reaction to her First Communion cake. Your face might look the same after you lay eyes on it, too.
We enjoyed a great evening with Lynne, the kids and Scott’s mom. Because the hubs was out of town all week, I was able to get most of the prep work done early for Saturday. That made for a nice First Communion morning.
Morning Prayer with her Godmother
Fancy hairdo’s
Getting dressed
The Mass
I’m grateful that our parish bans all photography and instead, hires a professional photographer. Brilliant. All parishes take note: you should be doing this. It allows everyone in attendance to focus on the moment, rather than their iPhones. There are so many moments from this Mass that touched my heart. Our oldest, Will, was an altar server and boy, did he look sharp. {proud momma talking} I was a lector, and yes, the congregation heard my twang. Scott was an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist (EME); more on that in a second.
The big moment. I knew the tears would come, but I was in no way prepared for what happened during communion. Just before Anna-Laura walked down the aisle to receive the Eucharist, Fr. Danny motioned for our parish’s seminarian to add another cup minister. Fr. Ron’s line was getting longer and they wanted to ensure every child had the opportunity to receive the Blood of Christ. Guess who he pulled from the back? Yep. Mr. Whitaker. It was touching, really, seeing my husband serve those sweet children. Then it hit me.
You can see our seminarian, Tom, reaching for Anna-Laura in this photo. He pulled her into Scott’s line and I 100% lost it. As in, sobbing so hard I could barely see her beautiful face through my lashes. I heard Scott say, “The Blood of Christ” and more tears fell. Tom turned and winked at me. At this point, I’m fairly certain the two rows surrounding us heard me weeping for joy. It is a moment this mom will never, ever, forget. Whatever the Holy Spirit and Tom had cooked up, I’ll take it. Most beautiful moment, ever.
Mass photos courtesy of Pat McCord
Just after communion, I pulled the kneeler down and said so many prayers of gratitude. It was then that I glanced down the aisle and saw my parents kneeling and praying. You may remember they joined the church just a few weeks ago. Round of tears numero two. Happy tears for sure. So many things I never thought would happen in my life, yet here they were. Happening.
After a quick stop at the reception, we rounded up the troops and headed home for the par-tay. And a mighty fine party it was. You’ll get that pretty on Friday!
Incredible! Amazing! And I agree Anna-Laura does have the best Godmother. Sweet, sweet, sweet!
God bless you all!
V
I LOVE your blog! I love how you live your faith, how you teach your children to love it and how you share it with the rest of us. Although we have different religions (I am Mormon), you inspire me! Reading about Anna-Laura’s First communion was touching – thank you for sharing such a special moment in her life. Kirstin
[…] I shared the beauty of the preparation and the loveliness of the First Communion Mass. Today, I dish on the party details. Southern girls love their soirees. I recently did a week-long […]
wow, how beautiful! what a special day and so great to have your family so involved! i did not know kids could receive the wine. back in my day (15 years ago) we didn’t!
The whole ceremony was amazing but Scott offering the cup to Anna-Laura was one of the highlights for me too. We were sitting directly across the church from you and I couldn’t see your reaction because of the altar but I knew you were in the perfect place to see it. Definitely a special moment!
First let me say that I stalk your blog after seeing it on Facebook (it was the post about Will serving as a page and his picture with Johnny Manziel). I think the word we’re looking for now is “anyway”…
My husband and I both grew up Catholic and like good Catholic parents, we baptized our son when he was a mere 6 weeks old (and it was Mother’s Day…what a wonderful gift!). He was too young to know anything about what was going on, but I knew in my heart this was one of the best decisions of our lives, even though I was the one bawling during the Mass! Seeing Anna-Laura receive this precious gift (I’m an EME also) reminds me of Mother’s Day only 3 years ago. I’m currently sitting at my desk at work, fighting back tears and I can’t wait until I get to go through the experience with my son when he receives his First Communion. Thank you so much for sharing this precious day with all of us!!
Andrea, stalkers are always welcome!
What a beautiful memory for your Mother’s Day. I’d be crying, too! You’ll be a mess at First Communion, but a beautiful one. Own the tears, you’ve earned them. And, welcome to the blog! Gig ’em.
the first communion ceremony photos look amazing . Glad to see it was such a memorable day. God bless
[…] a most beautiful sacrament in the Whitaker household in t-minus 15 days. EEK. I have written about why I love First Communion so (and you’ll get more this week) and two years ago I even did a week-long series. Pinterest […]