Our Parish’s Programme

Baptism is the first sacrament we receive, with First Holy Communion being the second. At St Joseph’s and St Edmund’s we are blessed with a team of generous catechists who help to prepare our children for this sacrament. The Preparation usually consists of 8-10 half hour sessions in St Anne’s Main Hall and some in the church.

The current cohort is closed. Next year 2024-2025 will be announced here when open.

Registering Interest for Next Year: Please do not fill in the form more than once, as it makes no difference to when you will be given information, all it does is duplicates emails and makes more work for the office. Thank you in advance.

Click here to register your interest for 2024-25 First Holy Communions

In order to register on our programme you must be a parishioner of St Joseph’s or St Edmund’s.
At your child's Baptisms you, the parents, were told that you ' would be the first and best teachers of your children in the way of faith'. Following this, the best thing you as parents can do to prepare your children for this sacrament is to regularly attend Mass.
Children should be at least 8 years old on 1st September in the year of enrolment (School Year 4).
If your child is above this age then that is fine, there is no upper limit, though if your child is 14+ it may be we find a different preparation.
Children and their parents are expected to attend Mass frequently (weekly).
Children are expected to attend all preparation classes and complete all course work.
As part of their preparation your child will be prepared for, and invited to make their First Reconciliation: “Children must go to the sacrament of Penance before receiving Holy Communion for the first time” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1457).
Yes, parents will be invited and expected to attend each of the preparation sessions alongside the children. Parents are “the first and best educators of their children in the ways of faith”.
Your involvement in the preparation of your children for First Holy Communion is paramount. The parish 'helps', but does not replace your part in the process of leading your children in the development of their faith, through the development and example of your own.
Those who receive this sacrament usually wear new dress clothes to the ceremony that reflect the true significance of this holy event. White dresses and white rosettes worn for First Holy Communion are reminders of the white Baptismal robes - reminders of the clothes worn when when we first entered the Catholic faith.
Boys typically wear a dark First Holy Communion suit with a white shirt and a First Holy Communion tie, or sometimes a white First Holy Communion suit.
Girls, especially, wear white First Holy Communion dresses and often a First Holy Communion veil attached to a headdress, as well as white Holy Communion gloves. The veil symbolises the tablecloth used at the Last Supper and the dress the robes that Jesus wore.
The team will talk you through dress requirements in greater detail during your preparation.