Preparing Lillie for her First Penance

We have been preparing Lillie to make her First Penance for the past few months. We came across this great idea in "Faith and Family" magazine.

I read about the idea to have her ears pierced on her First Penance. The symbolism being the pain of telling our sins leads to the beauty of our souls for God; just as it hurts initially to get your ears pierced, but then you can wear beautiful earrings and especially to wear them for your First Holy Communion. Of course, we would never force them to get their ears pierced, but if they want to this is how we plan to approach it using this great suggestion.

There are all the little important details in a young girl's life that they naturally inquire about like babies, nursing, ear piercing, and all of life's important issues. As Christian parents, we like to attempt on certain levels both natural and supernatural to associate all these events in the formation of her soul and to heighten her spirituality and associations to God and His goodness.



Her older cousins and aunts have their ears pierced so she has recently started asking when does a girl "get to have their ears pierced." We have not been keen on accentuating her teen years. To us, the milestones the world has determined definitely aren't our milestones. We believe her teen years will be the years she will need us most for consistency and direction. So, we didn't want to say "When you are a teenager, you can get your ears pierced.," as if she has reached some sort of "rite of passage."