Quite a Day

Today was Felicity's First Reconciliation. She has been preparing for this day all year and she was VERY excited about it, because it means the next step is First Communion. 

Two weeks ago, I was talking to another mom who has a child in the same class and she was saying her son hadn't memorized his Act of Contrition yet. "No worries," I assured her, "it's not until March."

"March is NEXT week," she reminded me.

We found the Act of Contrition that day and began work. Thankfully, Felicity is self-motivated and a champ at memorizing, so after a day or two, she had it down. We said it every night at prayers just to be sure.

They had a little "rehearsal" in class last Sunday, so she was ready to go. This morning, as I was doing her hair, I asked her if she had though about what she was going to say to the priest. "Our teacher said if we have trouble, we could just ask our parents and they would be able to give us lots of things to say." I laughed.

We arrived at the church and took our place in the pew. Father did a wonderful (and very brief) introduction and gave some instructions. They arranged for two priests since the class is so large. That was very nice, except that they put the visiting priest in the confessional, where all of the kids wanted to go, and our parish priest, who all of the kids wanted to go to, in the cry room. Felicity was a little torn, but finally decided on the confessional. 

I'm glad she was peaceful about her choice, because the kid who was in front of her came crying to her mom, and Felicity ended up being first. She went right in and I could see her little frame through the window. My two friends urged me to take a picture. "That feels kind of like a violation of privacy," I told them. However, after some more encouragement, I gave in and I'm glad I did.

She came out absolutely glowing. She knelt down right next to me, closed her eyes, and did her penance. 

We celebrated afterwards at my favorite little coffee place close to the church. She held my hand as we were walking in. "Wow Mama! We're going to have three days in a row at church. We went to first Friday mass yesterday, First Reconciliation today, and church tomorrow."

"That's a pretty great weekend," I said.

She smiled that sweet smile and agreed. 

In the meantime, somewhere in the Atlanta area, Nelson took Max to the Knights of Columbus state free throw competition. He won his age group in Augusta, and today was the day he had to shoot for the state award. He placed a very respectable second place, making 20/25 free throws.

It was a pretty great day in the Parris house, where there's never a dull moment.

I am so grateful for the sacraments in my faith. I'm so grateful to be able to pass them on to my children. I'm grateful for fullness of this life with five kids and for all the memories we get to make with them.