Friday, August 7, 2020

Making a lovely milestone out of pandemic challenges...

Happy August, everyone! I was going to chat about crafty things today, after updating everyone about Anne's First Communion, but I decided to save crafts for next week, and devote this whole post to the big day last Sunday, and to assorted other Catholic, uplifty things. 

*heart*

As I mentioned last week, I was grateful that Anne's school parish was able to reschedule First Communion this summer, and that we wouldn't have to wait any longer. But let's just be honest, the current coronavirus restrictions are a bit of a bummer. We understand why they are there, but any type of milestone this year has had a depressing cloud hung over it's head, and it's not always easy to deal with. BUT, Anne was able to be with 7 of her classmates at the mass, and also have her grandparents there, which was absolutely awesome. Dianne noted last week in the comments that focusing on the positives really helps, and she's right! There were a lot of positives about the experience. 

Anne in her dress and veil before mass!


The day was very humid (and we don't have air conditioning! :-0) but we managed to yank on our dress clothes fairly successfully and made it to the church on time. There were 8 first communicants, plus other members of the parish attending the noon mass. The mass itself was lovely, we were so glad to have our parents there, and there was a professional photographer present to capture a few moments with each young communicant, which made me very happy. The children were all able to receive the Eucharist for the first time in a beautiful and reverent fashion.

Social distancing photo op with Father

Afterwards, we were able to have our parents back with us to our house for pizza and cake, and it all went very well. Even though it wasn't the completely traditional experience I was looking forward to, I'm grateful that Anne has reached this milestone and that it went without a hitch. I think her preparation suffered a bit because of the pandemic, and I'm looking forward to working with her this fall and Advent to grow deeper in her faith. 

In other Catholic news, the Our Lady Undoer of Knots novena started yesterday, and I'm praying it with regards to discernment for the fall and the kids' schooling. I'm linking it here if you would like to join in! It'll wrap up on the feast of St. Maximillian Kolbe. 😍 If you have intentions for the novena, feel free to leave them below and we can all pray for each other!

6 comments:

  1. Aw, you both look so beautiful! Congratulations to Anne and her proud mama!

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  2. Congratulations Anne. You look so pretty in your lovely dress and veil. Thank You Tiffany for sharing Anne's beautiful day. God Bless.
    Joan,Marion and Marilyn

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    1. Thank you, ladies! I know you were hoping for pictures, and I was so happy to oblige!

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  3. I was hoping you'd post pictures of Anne's First Holy Communion! Soo happy to see them :-) She looks so beautiful. I love her dress especially. Family heirloom? Sounds like you had a joyous celebration despite the heat ;-)

    Hope you had time to get crafty this week. I'm still trying to decide on what sort of project to begin, having, for the first time in a loooooooong time, no actual needlecraft WIP nagging me to be finished. I did make one St. Anne chaplet this week to sell at the Shrine gift shop, but I have to wait for the medals to ship to finish it. Soon, I hope.

    Hpe you had a wonderful week! God bless you all.

    Dianne

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    1. Thank you, Dianne! You know, her teacher asked us the same thing! It's not (I actually bought the dress on Amazon!) but it really does have a vintage look to it. The veil I bought from an Etsy seller who specializes in veils, and I think that it was sooo worth it. :)

      Crafty post coming right up, that has been giving me so much solace of late! ooo, a St. Anne chaplet? Sounds delightful!

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