[In Photos]
Felicity made her first confession last night.
She wasn’t too shy to speak to the priest! She did it! She was brave!
(I had some doubts there for awhile.)
Felicity is the 4th of my six children to be going through her First Confession/First Communion prep and I am holding up remarkably well.
In other words, I have only wept a half dozen times.
That’s a record, don’t you think?
The First Penance service at our church is always oh-so-lovely. Father begins by reading the Gospel, and then leads the children through an abbreviated but beautiful examination of conscience.
And then he took his seat in the confessional…
…and the children took their place in line.
Some were pensive.
Some were scared.
And some were thinking, “This tooth is getting really loose!”
When Felicity came out of the confessional, she was glowing. Her nervousness had vanished, replaced by a set of shining eyes and a smile the size of Washington State.
I regret that I don’t have a picture of that. The grace was visible.
She scampered back into the pew—and truly, is there anything cuter than a post-First Confession scamper?—and I whispered, “Don’t forget to say your penance!”
Boom! She was down on her knees in a flash.
I watched her, lump in throat.
There are probably few things sweeter for a priest to do than to hear a child’s first confession. For me, the moment is bittersweet. I love that these little ones prepare their souls before receiving Him, yet I’ll admit I lament their coming of age.
It’s the innocence that makes me wistful.
It’s this innocence that I’ll miss.
Ed. Note: To learn more about my parish’s sacramental prep program, please read Bless me, Father…
Congratulations Felicity! And Margaret too!
How well you captured the many sides of the confession line. I'm pretty sure I still see adults look like most of those kids sometimes (well, except for loose tooth girl). What a wonderful milestone to treasure! Thanks for sharing it with us.
Oh, God bless those sweet little souls and faces. Hurray for Felicity! I'm so happy for you both!
Margaret, you made me cry just reading this. I'll confess I'm glad we've got a few years yet until I have a little girl standing in her first confessional line. But congratulations to your sweet Felicity.
Thanks for so beautifully capturing all the feelings of that day for us moms. My baby will be in that line next year…talk about a milestone!
Beautiful post – thank you. My son will be having his first confession next week! He's so excited. Yeah, crying for sure!
Margaret,
You did it again – lovely post capturing all the emotions for all involved. Congrats Felicity, and Momma Margaret too ~
Congratulations Felicity! You're beautiful. The grace is evident even beforehand.
Lovely, Margaret. 🙂
I just love reading your blog. I am a Lutheran, but the way you witness your Catholic faith is inspiring. Also, I grew up in Minnesota, and I hope to have a large family – other reasons I enjoy your blog so much.
Many congratulations! What a wonderful moment! GOD is so good!
I just love the peek you gave us into this beautiful Sacrament and Felicity's experience with it.
Now, I just saw Sarah's post – how can you keep such things a secret? Rest assured you will have a circle of support as you prepare and deliver your talks and the joy of giving all your friends something to look forward to. This news is enough to cure the MN winter blahs!
You captured the moments so beautifully in your pictures. Congrats to Felicity.
Wonderful!
Nice hat tip to my home state!
I'm very happy for your girl and those kids!
Congratulations, Felicity!
I love the girl with the veil in the first shot. 🙂
I'm typing through tears. You captured all those emotions so perfectly. Thank you for your beautiful posts….
Excellant job Felicity! I can see your lovely halo just glowing 😉
Good job to you also mom 🙂
signed
Theresa in Alberta
congrats to you, your daughter, and family.
BLESSINGS!
How wonderful!! My daughter made her First Penance last weekend – it was so lovely. I love to see the look on the children's faces as they come back from speaking with the priest … wish we could bottle that enthusiasm!
Can I ask for your prayers for our beloved pastor, Father Ken, who lost his battle with cancer last week. He will be sorely missed.
🙂
Thank you for posting that. I'm a catechist at our parish for second grade this year, and my class had their First Reconciliation last weekend…which also happened to be my first wedding anniversary, and I had already promised my husband we'd go away for it. So I missed seeing my class at their First Confession, but seeing your pictures and description made me feel like I got to be there after all. 🙂
Congrats to sweet Felicity!! I love the photo tour, so telling of the grace!! Many blessings to all your sweeties 🙂