Communion and Children

[MrJim]

I had a friend as a question:

When did the Orthodox start serving communion to babies?

I personally expect the answer is "since always"...any historical/patristic references would be helpful...and do other traditions do same (OO or RCC)?

Regarding the nature of Communion and children~~at what age is Confession required...I guess, when do they stop being children and be adult?

Thanks

 

[Anhelyna]

Mr Jim - the Latin Catholic Church does not Commune babies and young children - the actual age is usually regarded as being 'the age of reason ' when child can distinguish between right and wrong , when the child knows that He is Receiving Christ when he Communes, and when he has also made his first Confession. The practice does differ slightly from Diocese to Diocese - Confession is usually about 6 months before First Communion .

The Practice in the Eastern Catholic Churches [ i.e. Melkite , UGCC etc ] follows Orthodox practice and the child is Communed at his/her Baptism and Receives regularly after that.

Confession starts when Child , Priest and parents think the child knows the difference between right or wrong and can express their contrition and is 'ready'. Clearly this will vary from child to child.

Yes some EC Churches have not yet restored the Communion from Baptism - though this is being practiced more and more often now. My own parish used to Baptise and Chrismate children but they made their First Communion with their Latin Rite friends at School . For the last 2 years all Baptisms in our parish have restored Communion at the time of Baptism.

 

[gzt]

Toward the end, this discusses some of the history with footnotes: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/orthodoxyandheterodoxy/2015/01/20/infant-communion-revisited/ The article as a whole is about some other questions, but it addresses some of your concerns.

 

[Cappadocious]

Infant baptism became more frequent as the Christian population in a given city grew.

 

[MrJim]

Toward the end, this discusses some of the history with footnotes: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/orthodoxyandheterodoxy/2015/01/20/infant-communion-revisited/ The article as a whole is about some other questions, but it addresses some of your concerns.

Wow thanks~~my friend is at a conservative Lutheran congregation so this is especially helpful

 

[AKBlessings]

At all of the parishes we attend (OCA and Ant.) children can go to confession as soon as they choose to. My four year old wanted to go once she saw her 6 year old brother going, who wanted to go after he saw his 8 year old brother going. All of the priests were supportive of this, and each one guides the children as they need it. In the OCA parishes the priests politely make it known that it is expected that children who are 7 years old or older are expect to confess before each time they go to communion.

 

[buzuxi02]

Its in the bible. The blood, the water and the Spirit. These three elements are unified. All happen at the same time.

 

[ArmyMatt]

the only thing I can add is to paraphrase something from Abp Anastasios of Tiriana (a living saint and modern apostle to many). children and babies are not the future of the Church, they are the Church. and all members of the Church commune.

 

[Anhelyna]

Another comment I picked up a long time ago - really can't remember where it was - but I've used it quite a few times and it does seem to strike a chord with people.

" We give babies and children physical food for their physical nourishment and growth , should we not give them Spiritual food for their spiritual nourishment and growth ?"

 

[ArmyMatt]

Another comment I picked up a long time ago - really can't remember where it was - but I've used it quite a few times and it does seem to strike a chord with people.

" We give babies and children physical food for their physical nourishment and growth , should we not give them Spiritual food for their spiritual nourishment and growth ?"

you could say the same thing if you sub food with medicine. does someone have to understand how medicine works for it to heal them?

 

[Knee V]

They start going to confession around 7 or so, but it can vary case-by-case.

 

[prodromos]

The reason the West does not commune infants, as I understand it, is because although the priest is able to administer all the other sacraments through the authority of his bishop, The bishop did not permit the priest to perform chrismation. Therefore, since the bishop only got to each of the parishes under his jurisdiction every once in a while, all the children who had been baptised since his last visit would be chrismated when he next visited. Eventually it was explained as delaying chrismation until the children reached the so called "age of reason".
In the Orthodox Church, the chrism is prepared by the bishop and then distributed to all his parishes to be used by the priests immediately after they baptise. Entry into the Church has always been through the threefold sacraments of Baptism, Chrismation and Communion.

 

[gzt]

But then they developed the weird idea of letting people commune before confirmation but after the age of reason, which is, frankly, completely nonsensical.

 

[buzuxi02]

I still think its a 16th century development to appease the reformers. Do we have the timeframe as to when the latins introduced these innovations?

 

[ArmyMatt]

In the Orthodox Church, the chrism is prepared by the bishop and then distributed to all his parishes to be used by the priests immediately after they baptise. Entry into the Church has always been through the threefold sacraments of Baptism, Chrismation and Communion.

yep, since the priest lays hands on anyone being received (and it was through the bishop's hands that he was ordained), and the bishop's hands consecrate the chrism, the chrism and the priest function as the bishop's hands.