SACRAMENTS

Sacraments.

Baptism.

Your child should be baptised and become a member of the church, before he is one year old, and preferably before three months.

To arrange a baptism, you should be attending the church regularly. You will commit to bring your child up as a Catholic, and to teaching him Catholic faith and practice.

Initially, you should see the priest after mass on Sunday. He will normally make an arrangement to see you during the week. Arrangements are not normally made by phone or email.

If you do not live in this parish, it is still possible to have a child baptised here, but you will need written permission from your priest, and he may place particular restrictions.

First Holy Communion and Confession.

Names are taken of those children wishing to receive holy Communion, in November and there is an initial meeting in December. The course proper begins in the middle of January.

The course normally consists of a series of talks with the children on Saturday morning after mass, (mass is at10am, the talk begins at 10.30am). These talks last about 45 minutes. The children will also be given a question sheet at the Sunday mass, to be completed by the following Saturday.

Naturally, children receiving Holy Communion must be attending Mass regularly.

You do not have to receive Holy Communion in your own parish, but as a courtesy, you should let your parish priest know.

Confession, is normally one week before first holy Communion.

Confirmation.

Confirmation is normally held every other year, on the even years. We normally take names in November, and the course starts in January after an initial meeting in December.

The date of confirmation is normally set by the Bishop.

Naturally, candidates for confirmation should be attending mass regularly.

Weddings.

If you wish to get married in St Mary’s, one of the couple should normally be living in the parish, or have a strong connection. For legal reasons, at least one of the couple must be a Catholic. If either has been married previously, irrespective of where the marriage took place, this will probably add complications.

We normally expect at least three months notice before the marriage.

The couple must complete legal requirements separately. This normally means visiting the registrar’s office.

Funerals.

A funeral isn’t a sacrament as such. It is normally organised through a funeral director, who will get in touch with us.

Funerals are usually held in church, but the entire service can take place in the crematorium. Any service in church must comply with church rules, so that any reading must be from the Bible, and music must either be hymns or classical music.