How to receive the Sacraments

Baptisms:

for children, contact the Parish Priest, who will arrange some time of preparation and a time for the celebration.

for adults, preparation takes rather longer and anyone who feels drawn to becoming a Catholic and is not baptised joins our Journey in Faith programme (RCIA) which runs from the Autumn through to Pentecost the following year.

Confirmation: in this sacrament our faith is confirmed, our relationship with God our Father is sealed through the working of the Holy Spirit within us. The Bishop is the usual minister of this sacrament which currently is celebrated at the Cathedral, Lancaster, for the whole of our Deanery. Adults who have been following the Journey in Faith programme are confirmed by the Parish Priest during the Easter Vigil.

Holy Communion or Eucharist: is what we celebrate every time we offer the Sacrifice of the Mass, when we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. The preparation of children with their parents for this Sacrament and for First Reconciliation are usually children from Year 4. The parents of children who are not at our school, please contact the Parish Priest. The programme begins in January each year and finishes on First Communion Sunday in May.

Reconciliation(Confession):  is when we acknowledge our weaknesses, our sinfulness, before the Lord, in the presence of the priest, and we are forgiven and welcomed into the loving arms of our merciful God. We can celebrate this sacrament most weekends on Saturdays from 10.00 to 10.30 am (please check the weekly newsletter). Each Advent and Lent, there is an opportunity to celebrate this Sacrament in a Penitential Service.

Anointing of the Sick: please contact the Parish Priest before surgery or in the case of serious illness and he will come to your home, or nursing home. There is an Annual Mass with Anointing of the Sick, organised by our St. Vincent DePaul Society.

Marriage or Matrimony:  please contact the Parish Priest, preferably at least a year before your wedding. He will then ensure that you are free to marry and will arrange the preparation session with you. The date and time of the wedding will be fixed at the time most convenient for you, if at all possible.

Holy Orders: The Church needs priests and deacons to serve the people. If a young (or not so young) man begins to wonder if God might be calling him to priesthood, the diaconate or to the religious life, please start by discussions with the Parish Priest.