St. Mark Catholic Parish

A letter and blank form is sent home with each Grade 7 student attending St. Mark’s and St. Dominic’s Schools in November.  If you did not receive this package, or if your child attends a different school, please pick up a package from the parish office.

November 2018

Dear Parents:

Grade 7 is the time, around age 12, when a person is eligible to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.

The Sacraments are sacred mystery and they are at the very root and life of the Church.  Our faith teaches that through Sacrament, God becomes present to His Church in a unique way that calls the person receiving the Sacrament into relationship with Him.  To be considered a full member of the Catholic Church, a person must have received the three Sacraments of Christian Initiation:  Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation.  For this reason, this is a very important moment in the faith development of your child because it imparts a Catholic identity.

The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life that unites us to one another, to the Church and to Christ Himself, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.”  Therefore, if you are requesting the Sacrament of Confirmation for your child, as Catholic parents, I encourage you to take an active role in ensuring your son or daughter will have a sufficient understanding and be ready to receive the Sacrament next spring.  Attending Sunday Mass and receiving the Eucharist is the single-most important thing you can do as a parent, and, in doing so, we enter into the life of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.

The parish-based program will consist of five meetings (see dates below) and will follow the Diocese of Hamilton’s Sacramental Guidelines for the Christian Initiation of Children (which can be found on their website, http://hamiltondiocese.com, by following the link Pastoral Offices and Catechesis).

To request and enroll for the Sacrament of Confirmation, all candidates should attend one of the Masses on the weekend of December 1st and 2nd, the First Sunday of Advent: 

Enrollment Ceremony Mass:
Sat. Dec. 1 at 5:00 p.m.  OR  Sun. Dec. 2 at 9:30 a.m.  OR  11:30 a.m.
During this Mass, Candidates will be asked to come forward after Communion
and present their completed form requesting the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Preparation Meetings:
Candidates are expected to attend sessions 2 through 5.  Parents are expected to attend three sessions (Jan. 9, Feb. 3 and March 3).  There will be no opportunity to make-up missed sessions.

The Sacrament of Confirmation:
Tuesday, March 26, 2019 at 7:00 pm with Bishop Douglas Crosby, OMI, D.D.

Peace,

Fr. Steve Murrin
St. Mark’s Parish

CONFIRMATION GOWNS:
All Grade 7’s will wear a red gown (robe) for Confirmation.  St. Mark Parish will rent the gowns and distribute them in the parish hall 30 minutes before the Confirmation Mass.  Please return the gown after the Mass (or after the photograph with the Bishop).  We would kindly ask each family to contribute $10.00 to the parish to help defray the cost of these gowns.  Donations can be sent to your child’s classroom teacher (cash, or cheque made payable to St. Mark’s Parish) or brought to the parish office, no later than March 1, 2019.