MANDALAY, Myanmar (UCAN) -- First Communion and Confirmation are yearly events for many Catholic communities, but in Myanmar they might be held only every two or three years, and are all the more special.

A combined First Communion and Confirmation ceremony took place May 15 at St. Francis Xavier Church in Mandalay. This parish, based less than a kilometer from the cathedral of Mandalay archdiocese, last held a First Communion ceremony in May 2003.

During the May 15 ceremony, 37 children aged 8-11 made their First Communion and 53 children aged 13-14 received Confirmation. A congregation of about 800 people looked on. Aside from the immediate vicinity of St. Francis Xavier Church, the children came from the Nan Shae and Myo Thit areas, both within a five-kilometer radius of the church.

Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city and former capital, is 580 kilometers north of Yangon.

Archbishop Paul Zinghtung Grawng of Mandalay celebrated the Mass, with Father John Mg Nee, the St. Francis Xavier parish priest, and Father Peter Sein Hlaing Oo, assistant rector of St. Thomas pre-major seminary, concelebrating.

The day before, May 14, the participating children went for a half-day retreat at the church led by Father Nee, several nuns and a catechist. For two months nuns had been giving the children special classes on catechism, the Bible, the Sacraments and prayer.

A First Communion recipient, Sophia Francis, 11, told UCA News, "I am honored to receive my First Communion from Archbishop Paul." She said she had been taught about Holy Communion, other Sacraments and the Bible, and had learned many songs in preparing for the special day.

Her father, U Francis, a restaurant manager at an international hotel in Mandalay, added that he had prepared his daughter at home by conducting daily prayers and talking about the faith.

Agnes Htar Htar Myint, whose 11-year-old daughter Princela Khant Ya Mon San also made her First Communion, and whose 14-year-old son Augustine Thi Han Myint received Confirmation, told UCA News she too taught her children catechism, just as her parents had taught her. She said goes to Mass every day and prays the rosary every night, apart from participating in charity work.

Mandalay archdiocese has more than 22,300 Catholics in 24 parishes, served by 44 priests and more than 100 Religious brothers and sisters.

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(Accompanying photos available at here)