April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
SACRAMENTS
Her Christmas gift: First Communion
Shannen Carroll, 11, made her First Communion during the school's annual Christmas Mass, which was celebrated by the Bishop at nearby St. Paul's parish in Schenectady.
Since she's older than most First Communicants, she spent extra time this fall studying with her religion teacher and school chaplain. She learned about the sacraments and prepared for reconciliation, which left her "shaking a little bit, because I didn't really know what we were going to do," she said. But "it actually wasn't as nerve-wracking as I thought. I can definitely do it again."
Shannen now has a strong grasp of the significance of the Eucharist: "At the [Last] Supper, Jesus blessed the bread and wine. We receive Holy Communion 'cause it's His body and blood, so we're kind of receiving Him in us. I feel a little weird about it, but at the same time, I feel good.
"You kind of have to believe in it and have faith," she continued. "It makes our faith grow and it brings us closer to God. I'm hoping I'll learn more once I get older."
Shannen's faith life has been rocky because of her parents' divorce and the death of her great-grandmother, who was considered a Catholic role model by Shannen's mother, Jaimie Fountain.
"We lost a little bit with her being gone," Ms. Fountain said.
But from a young age, Shannen showed an interest in saints and angels: "She was really into knowing that stuff," Ms. Fountain said. "That was the reason I thought putting [my two children] in Catholic school would bring this stuff back for them."
Shannen's eight-year-old brother now attends St. Kateri Tekakwitha School in Schenectady. He's making his First Communion this year, too.
Ms. Fountain planned to ask the faith formation staff at St. Paul's about her older child receiving the sacrament, "but before they had a chance to get back to me," she said, "Shannen came home and said, 'I talked to Father Leo [Markert, the school chaplain] and told him I wanted to do it soon.' I was really proud of her for doing that on her own."
Father Markert, who is pastor emeritus at St. Gabriel's parish in Rotterdam and also helps at St. John the Evangelist and St. Anthony's in Schenectady on weekends, remembers that day well. Shannen had just attended one of the school's Masses.
"I'm elated by it because so many kids don't even bother coming to church," Father Markert said. "It just made me very, very proud of her. She was a role model to me and I think she will be for the other kids."
Father Markert offered Shannen the option of receiving the sacrament quietly, but she wanted to do it in front of everyone: "She's so enthusiastic about it," he said. "It was a spiritual 'up' for me. She's inspired me."
He figured the Christmas Mass would be "appropriate - not only as her Christmas present to receive the Lord, but [because] Bishop Hubbard [would] make it special."
For years, "I was very interested in [religion]," Shannen said. "I wanted to learn more about heaven and saints and stuff. I had a couple family members who passed away so I wanted to learn where they went."
When she started going to Mass during school, "I always saw everybody stand up and eat the bread," she said. "I was like, 'Hmm, I wonder if I can do that?' My curiosity started to rise. I felt a little left out."
She didn't know the regular age for receiving the sacrament "until my brother said that he was getting it. I don't really feel embarrassed, but I'm kind of nervous that I'm a little older than most kids."
Shannen keeps a table in her bedroom with religious candles and almost a dozen rosaries near the Mass cards of deceased loved ones. Rosaries, in addition to guardian angels, "make me feel safe," she said. "If I'm holding them at night and I have a fear of something, I feel much better. Kids don't normally have that kind of stuff in their room. I have it to represent heaven and God and my curiosity."
She says Catholic school is "a lot better" than public school because they pray "10 times a day," she learns about religion and "what creation is" and "most of the kids are a lot nicer and they don't bully."[[In-content Ad]]
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