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| Luky after her First Holy Communion in Holland |
Chapter Seven
Jesus enters Annie's heartAnnie would never know how and when she finally got to sleep on the night before her first Holy Communion.
At supper she barely ate or drank.
She neither read books nor played with her brothers.
All she wanted was to go to her room and think her thoughts.
It wasn't to be as easy as that.
Mother was frantically busy; rushing to and fro and getting nothing done as far as Annie could see.
Mrs Smith came in, carrying a magnificently iced cake.
It had a little girl on top.
The girl was dressed in a white dress and veil.
"Congratulations to Annie," Mrs Smith had piped on top of the cake in gold lettering.
Annie had her work cut out to prevent Jerry and Jimmy from tucking into the cake.
She breathed a sigh of relief when the little rascals had been bathed and put to bed.
She helped Mother bathe little Trudy, and stood beside her cot, holding her pink and chubby little hand until she fell asleep.
Then Mother, Dad and Annie laid out everyone's clothes for the next morning and tidied the last few things away.
In the end Dad had looked at his watch and said: "Goodness, you girls had better go to bed or we'll all oversleep.
It's past ten and Annie has to be at the church hall by twenty past seven in the morning."
Even in bed Annie got no rest.
Excitement and joy filled her mind at the thought that on the following day Jesus Himself would enter her heart for the very first time.
She had tried to explain the meaning of Holy Communion to Mrs Benson.
Ignoring the old housekeeper's exaggerated sighs and raised eyebrows, she had told her that Holy Communion is the receiving of Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.
"You see, Mrs Benson, at the Last Supper Jesus blessed and broke bread.and shared it with His disciples. He also blessed and shared wine.
He told the disciples that the bread and wine had become His Body and Blood."
"It sounds farfetched to me," Mrs Benson commented.
"No," said Annie, "It's a divine mystery."
And she - usually so timid with the housekeeper - said this with conviction.
For once Mrs Benson had subsided.
Annie prayed daily for the lady, and for her son, whose name, she had discovered, was William.
Annie had tried to find out as much as she could about William, but the housekeeper seldom divulged any information, beyond saying in a tightlipped sort of way that William had been a chip off the old block, a no-good like his father, that he had left home after graduation and that he had never bothered about her since.
In the beginning he had still sent the occasional card around Christmas and her birthday; now he didn't even do that any more.
"I was brought up to be a lady but life turned me nasty," Mrs Benson had unexpectedly added before turning abruptly and leaving the room.
Annie had told Dad about it.
If she had hoped this might cause him to grow fonder of his sparring partner, such hope was doomed to disappointment.
He had been highly amused but unimpressed.
"So she knows she is difficult, eh?
Well who'd have thought it?
That old character never fails to surprise me," had been his only comment.
Much though she deplored his attitude to Mrs Benson, Annie had wasted no time pointing out to him the error of his ways.
If Mrs Benson herself admitted she was a cross person, this was a step in the right direction for her, she felt.
When Annie, dressed like a little snowflake in the dress on which her mother had spent so much time, effort and worry, joined her fellow catechism pupils outside the church hall next morning, she spoke very little.
Granny Eckton, Uncle John and Aunt Theresa came over to congratulate her.
Annie smiled into Uncle John's camera as he took a photo.
When they left her, she started to think about the wonderful miracle that would take place within the next hour.
At a quarter to eight, the Communicants filed into church, with Father Tom and the altar servers.
As they entered, the organist started playing; "Suffer little children to come unto me."
Mother was smiling as Annie passed her pew and Dad gave his daughter a great big wink.
Who was that lady in the smart grey suit, staring resolutely ahead of her?
Passing her, Annie grabbed her housekeeper's hand, squeezed it tight and whispered: "Thanks for coming, Mrs Benson."
She didn't feel hurt when she was loftily ignored.
Like Mother, she was getting to know that Mrs Benson's cross ways were often used as a mask to hide her true feelings.
There were small chairs in front of the altar and the Communicants took their places.
A delicate fragrance of flowers pervaded the church.
Annie could not remember ever having seen so many flowers and candles at one time before, even before Christmas.
Father Tom welcomed the congregation and began to pray the Mass.
Annie followed him as best she could in the little first Communion prayerbook that had been her gift from her parents.
Then Father Tom went up to the pulpit and adjusted the microphone.
How old and good and kind he looked.
Annie did not yet know what the words "an aura of dignity" meant but she recognised this quality as he looked down on the Communicants.
He made the sign of the cross and started his sermon.
"My dear boys and girls.
Today is one of the most important days in your lives.
As long as you live, you will remember this day to some degree; the fragrance of the flowers, the sound of the organ music, the style of the dress or suit you wore.
The memory of today will live with you for the rest of your lives, in some form or other.
"In a few minutes from now, Jesus Himself will enter your hearts in Holy Communion."
Father Tom fixed his reading glasses firmly on his nose.
Then he said: "My dear children, today my prayer for you is the one offered up for my own First Holy Communion class by my parish priest nearly sixty years ago.
May Jesus always find within your hearts a place of peace and happiness.
We rejoice with you as through Communion you share in God's divine life."
The church was very quiet when Father left the pulpit to continue to pray the Mass.
Annie opened her prayerbook again and carefully followed his prayers and actions, particularly when the moment of Consecration arrived.
With great reverence, Father Tom repeated the wonderful words from the Holy Bible in which Jesus began the Holy Eucharist.
Silver bells pealed joyfully as Father Tom held up the consecrated Bread after genuflecting.
When Annie received Communion, her heart overflowed with joy.
She welcomed Jesus as God into her heart and into her life in a very special way.
She also asked Him never to leave her, and she promised never to leave Him.
Communion was the bond between her and God forever.
As she went back to her seat, the organist started playing the beautiful music, "All that I am."
The choir raised their voices and sang the words.
"All that I am, all that I do.
All that I'll ever have, I offer now to you.
All that I dream, all that I pray,
All that I'll ever make, I give to you today.
Take and sanctify these gifts,
For your honour, Lord;
Knowing that I love and serve you,
Is enough reward."
And Annie, kneeling down happily and praying, promised Jesus that everything she ever did from now on would be in honour of Him as a sign of her love for Him as God.
After Mass, as she left the church, she promised Jesus she would often come to Holy Communion because she loved Him.
Then she arrived outside and was being hugged and kissed by Mother, Dad, Dad's parents, Granny Eckton and a lot of uncles, aunts and cousins.
"Where's Mrs Benson?" she asked.
"Gone home," said Dad.
Mother held out a parcel, beautifully wrapped, which she had taken from her bag.
"Here Annie, this is for you.
Mrs Benson gave it to me yesterday.
She told me to hand it to you after Mass today."
Annie unwrapped the parcel to find a little silver cross and chain, a symbol of being a Christian.
She gasped in admiration.
It was a lovely present to receive after the wonder of her First Holy Communion.
Why not watch The Last Supper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=997ni1xcmKw
Song 'All that I am'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RJTyhqryAU
With thanks to Youtube, Mormon Channell and the illustrious Sebastian Temple
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