The Photo «The First communion» (1990 г.)
This is an interesting photo, which captures such an event as the "first commune." “First Commune” (“Komunia”) is an important religious rite for Catholics.
This rite was preceded by teaching children for two years at the Sunday school at the Catholic Church. On Sundays children and their parents attend “Imsha” - a service in the Catholic Church, after which the children attend classes, and adults are waiting for them. Classes are held weekly by a nun called “Katakhetka”. After two- year’s education the children take the exam. On the exam, children are asked prayers, stories from the Bible, as well as the history of the Catholic Church where they study. This exam is taken on Saturday. After it, a holiday is organized in the family: relatives are gathered, godparents are invited, and they buy a cake and other treats. Alcohol is not consumed during the holiday.
And on Sunday the children who passed the exam are taken to the “first commune” in the Catholic Church. Girls put on white dresses and they look like brides. These dresses are provided by the Catholic Church. And if there aren’t enough dresses for a new group of girls there, then the parents sew or order white dresses themselves. After the event they leave the dresses in the Catholic Church for the following groups. On the eve of the “commune,” parents take dresses from the Catholic Church to wash them and do the ironing.
And on Sunday all families with children attend “Imsha” in the Catholic Church. The children undergo the first confession and receive the commune with the help of “oplatka” (a piece of holy bread that symbolizes the Body of God). Then all children go out on the steps of the Catholic Church to take photos, because everyone wants to commemorate such an important event in his or her religious life.
In the photo we can see that the children are standing on the steps in front of the Catholic Church in several rows. This building is amazing and majestic, although we see only a fragment of it. This is St. Stanislav’s Cathedral in Lyadsk village (Schuchin district). This building was built in the early 20th century. Natalia Rushteiko (my mother) is in the third row (the second person on the right). She is 12 years old. My Mum told me how she was worried during the exam and the “first commune”. The priests and two nuns (“Katakheti”) are on the steps above. One of the nuns (on the right) pays attention to a child.
Most of the children are girls, but there are some boys as well, who wear festive clothes. Children are holding candles in special cloth napkins. It’s really interesting, that these candles are never lit, but kept at home as a memory of the “first commune”. Among the group of children, there are several adult men who draw our attention. They also have studied for two years with the children and also passed the “first commune,” but as adults. They couldn’t undergo this ceremony in their childhood due to some reason (maybe it happened due to the ban on religious life in the Soviet Union).
When you look at this photo, you can notice the solemn facial expressions of children and adults. In this case you understand how important these moments are for Catholic families. They showed their religious feelings despite the prohibitions and disapproval by the authorities.