SACRAMENTAL PREPARATION

Preparation for First Reconciliation and First Communion (grade two or older) and Confirmation (grade six and older) is a partnership of home, parish and school. The school provides the remote preparation and the family, the proximate preparation. The local parish supports the parents in accompanying their children and offers children a peer community.  We offer families two parent/child sessions, a special rite of enrollment at Mass, and a retreat for each sacrament. In addition, confirmation candidates undertake ten hours of community service and sponsors share the journey from day one. Registration is by individual appointment.

For more information, or to register, please contact the parish office at 780.488.7295 or email basilica.info@caedm.ca

RCIA ADAPTED FOR CHILDREN

Children, aged seven and older, can prepare for baptism, confirmation and Eucharist with their parents. The preparation sessions begin in the fall and the sacraments of initiation are conferred at the Easter Vigil. Registration is by individual appointment.

For more information, or to register, please contact the parish office at 780.488.7295 or email basilica.info@caedm.ca

CHILDREN’S LITURGY OF THE WORD

Celebrating the Liturgy of the Word during Sunday Mass with young children affords them an opportunity to meet their heavenly Father and to discover for themselves the riches that lie within the pages of Holy Scripture.  Every Sunday when we gather to celebrate in Word and Sacrament the mystery of the Lord’s death, we open ourselves to God’s many gifts through prayer, praise and thanksgiving.  When given a suitable opportunity, young people are more than capable of encountering God and developing a meaningful personal relationship with Him.  Even the youngest child will enthusiastically enter into worship that is dignified, sincere and meaningful.  Through appropriately adapted Scripture texts, music, prayer, signs and symbols, we offer children the chance to experience a deeper understanding and participate in the liturgy.  As a part of our living community of faith, we owe it to our children to offer them every possible opportunity to worship God and celebrate their faith in a way that is joyful and relevant to their young lives.  (Katie Thompson, The Liturgy of the Word with Children p.5) We will begin Children’s Liturgy of the Word in the fall.

For more information, or to register, please contact the parish office at 780.488.7295 or email basilica.info@caedm.ca