First Holy Communion preparation

The next First Holy Communion class will begin in September 2024. Enrollment is open from June 2024 to September 2024.

Children must be about 8 years old or older to enroll. Please contact the ESM Office (Secretary Brendaline Keafon) at alsda46@aol.com to receive a registration form. Please also submit your child's baptismal certificate. If your child needs to be baptized, please communicate this to the office, since separate arrangements will need to be made.

Confirmation classes at St. Bernard's

-- The next class will be open for enrollment in the Fall of 2024. Interested parents are encouraged to contact the secretary's office as early as June 2024.

The Confirmation program is a 2-year program. Candidates should ideally be at least 14 years of age.

Each community in the ESM is responsible for organizing their own small groups and recruiting volunteer catechists. Catechists are trained through the ESM and are required to adhere to child protection laws.

Curriculum at St. Bernard's:

• Begins with Teen T3 Bible Timeline series to build Bible literacy
• Continues by introducing candidates to the intellectual heritage of the Church by exploring six great ideas Truth, Goodness, Beauty, Justice, Freedom, Equality. The students are encouraged to wrestle with the question of the relationship between faith and reason.
• Draws on the writings of Aristotle, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Vatican II and others to expose the candidates to the philosophical and theological framework of Catholic doctrine. Candidates will build a portfolio of reading material from Aristotle's Nicomachaen Ethics, Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theol. as well as magisterial documents such as Lumen gentium, Dei Verbum, Rerum novarum, etc.
• Uses the fine arts to link the theory of the great ideas to their expressions in Catholic culture.
• Fr. Augustine Wetta's "Humility Rules" introduces the students to the Rule of St. Benedict.
• The prayer life of candidates is encouraged, especially by communal praying of the Rosary in connection with art reflections on the Mysteries. In addition, off-site retreats are organized whenever possible.
• Service opportunities encourage candidates to live their faith in the world.

Schedules for the current classes

Year 2 cohort schedule:

Year 1 cohort schedule: