Introducing young
children to Eucharistic devotion as well as attendance at Sunday Mass is a wonderful
gift that parents can make. Communities
ought to support families and children in facilitating this. After all, schools
are known to introduce children to practices of mindfulness (and I have no
issue with this). Why should we not also introduce children, in age-appropriate
and carefully guided ways, to eucharistic prayer and adoration?
St Pope Pius X
(1835-1914) whose feast day is today was instrumental in opening up reception
of holy communion to children from the age of around 7. He is associated with two reforms in
particular:
- Frequent reception of holy communion - provided they were in the state of grace and approached with the right intention.
- Restoration of the age for First Communion to the age of reason (about seven years old).
The early Church
commonly admitted children to Holy Communion, a practice that continued for
many centuries and is still maintained in the Eastern Catholic Churches. Pope
Pius rejected the idea that children needed advanced theological knowledge
before receiving the Eucharist. He saw the Eucharist as the primary means of
union with Christ.
A famous idea associated with Pius X is that the Eucharist is: ‘the shortest and safest way to Heaven.’ His reforms helped overcome lingering attitudes that discouraged frequent Communion due to scruples and fear. He opened his 1910 encyclical, Quam singulari, as follows:
