A History of the Age for First Communion

Until the thirteenth century, the usual practice was for infants and children to receive First Communion immediately after baptism. This was normally done by administering a drop of Precious Blood to the infant or by the priest dipping his thumb in the chalice and then placing his thumb in the infant’s mouth. At Masses small children were often given the fragments of hosts that were left over after the adults had received Communion.

This practice in the Western Church generally died out by the thirteenth century, and the Eucharist was given only to those who had reached the “age of discretion” and had gone to confession.

Obviously, there were differences of opinion as to when children had reached the age of discretion. Local customs vaired in their established age of discretion from ages seven to fourteen.

In 1866, Pope Pius IX condemned the practice of overly delaying the reception of First Communion but did not set a universal age.

In 1910, the Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments set out that the age of discretion should be considered to be around seven years of age. St. Pius X approved and published the decree.