It will be necessary to organise a meeting of priests and parish team members to decide who is responsible for each of the following tasks. Members of the parish liturgy group or sacramental preparation group might also be in attendance at this meeting.

1. Communicate with teachers and principals
Do This in Memory is designed to be used by parents/guardians and the parish leadership working together. It is also very important that teachers are aware of the content of the programme. Therefore, we suggest that a copy of the programme be given to each teacher of children preparing for First Eucharist. Do This in Memory supports and complements their work in the classroom but it should not in any way add to their workload.

2. Enrolment Sunday
The timing of Enrolment Sunday is now a parish decision. The material for use on the Sunday is not connected to any particular gospel and so there is some flexibility around the date. We suggest that there should be at least three weeks between the first and second Sunday (33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 18th) of the programme.

Note: In choosing the Sunday for the Enrolment Ceremony it might be wise to look at the Gospel reading and determine its suitability for use with children. The following Sundays are some of the possible options for this year.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Lk 17:5-10
If only you had faith!

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time: L7 17:11-19
No one has come back to give praise to God, except this foreigner.

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Mission Sunday Lk 18:1-8

3. Gather all parents/guardians for initial meeting
This meeting should be held as early as possible in September.
Consider holding this meeting in a place other than the school if at all possible. There is a CD Rom in the Coordinator’s Manual containing a Power Point Presentation for use at this meeting.

At this meeting:
• Introduce the programme.
• Give parents/guardians the dates on which the programme will take place.
• Decide which weekend Mass will be most suitable for the programme.
• Give the Information Booklet to parents/guardians. This Information Booklet contains the promises that the children and parents/guardians will make on the first Sunday of the programme.
• Look for volunteer parents/guardians to be members of a Coordinating Group.
• To facilitate communication with parents/guardians during the year, ask those present to give details of names and telephone numbers. It will also be necessary to get similar information from those parents/guardians who are not present.

4. Gather the Coordinating Group
The Coordinating Group may also contain members of the Parish Liturgy Group/sacristan/Parish Pastoral Council/choir director(s).

The work of this group is to:
• meet once a month to plan for the next Sunday of the programme. The agenda for this meeting each month can be taken from the page in the Coordinator's Manual, entitled 'Things to Remember'.

5. Select a space where the children may sit during the homily
The homily is designed to engage the children and so it is important that they are as close to the celebrant as possible. The children should return to their parents/guardians as soon as the homily is finished.

• Make sure that the children can see and hear the celebrant.
• If it is not possible to have the children sitting in the sanctuary area, then create a space towards the front of the church.

6. Create a space in the church dedicated to sacramental preparation
This space, which will change with the seasons, provides a focal point for the children, their families and indeed the whole community during the months leading up to First Eucharist and beyond. It may also reflect some of the suggestions for the Family Prayer Space offered in the Grapevine.

7. Candles
A lighted candle is a reminder to all of us of God’s presence in our lives. It is a particularly powerful symbol for the children who have been lighting candles as part of their prayertime in school since Junior Infants. As Do This in Memory begins we bless and present a candle to each child at the end of the Enrolment Mass. We hope that these candles will be used in family prayer at home. We also suggest that the children bring these candles to Mass each Sunday of the programme and place them in the Sacred Space where they remain lighting during Mass. This is a very visible sign of the connection between home and church.
Some of the Coordinating Group can take it in turns to light the candles and return them after Mass. The children should be encouraged to put their names on the candle. The candles should be extinguished after Communion, so that the wax has set before the children collect them.

You will need a candle for each child taking part in the programme. Boramic Candles (Tel 059-9773161) and Duffy and Scott (Tel: 057-9351089) have produced a special Do This in Memory Candle at the price of €3.00.

If it is not practical to have all the children's candles lit during Mass, perhaps a large candle might be placed in the Sacred Space to represent all the candles. This could then be lit at the beginning of Mass.