The First Communion season is slowly coming to an end. Some are still debating whether it is appropriate to serve alcohol at such a celebration, while others are probably still looking for interesting Communion gifts. We are still recommending our alternative ideas.

It appears, however, that the presence of wine or a "rainbow Mary" at First Communion is not such a strange phenomenon. In the ranking, such a situation is certainly overtaken by what happened in Muszyna. The children were "symbolically" handcuffed.

According to screenshots and Twitter posts, a post about church ceremony appeared on the Facebook page of the Blessed Maria Theresa Ledóchowska parish in Muszyna on 25 May. In it, we can read that the children were symbolically 'shackled'. This gesture was to prove their devotion to Mary.

"On Wednesday 24 May, the parish priest entrusted the First Communion children to Our Lady. As proof of their devotion to Mary, the children were symbolically 'put in chains'," reads the parish entry.

In the photos that accompanied the description, we can see the girls kneeling in their communion clothes. They are connected by 'symbolic' chains. Unfortunately, the post has now disappeared from the parish's Facebook page.

Internet users have reacted quite negatively to a photo showing handcuffed children at First Communion. They are surprised that such situations are condoned by parents, call the incident a "scandal" and joke about "sadomasochistic sacrament".

"Fortunately, soon only memories will be left of churches. But I wonder what kind of parent makes their children participate in this circus," writes one user.

"Seriously, I don't know how a bond with the Mother of God can be seen in terms of any kind of enslavement," wonders another person.

"And one wants to ask, do priests think about what the consequences of their actions will be, how their words will be held accountable?" asks a user on Twitter.

Fr Dr Przemyslaw Szewczyk, presbyter of the Archdiocese of Lodz, prefect of the Theological Seminary in Lodz, commented on the matter for the Parenting.pl portal. He acknowledged that the gesture of handcuffing children is a reference to old Christian customs and pointed out that in his opinion the reaction was exaggerated in this case.

"It is a reference to very old Christian customs. The chain is a reference to slavery, which is to be translated here on a spiritual level. It is about the spiritual slavery into which the Christian gives himself to Christ, Mary or some saint and recognises him as someone who decides everything in life. The chain is a symbol of this inner attitude of the Christian to spiritually surrender to someone whom we recognise as a sign of God in our lives," Fr Dr Szewczyk explained to Parenting.pl.

What's more, we also learn that in devotional shops you can find a bracelet named "Mary's shackles", which is also known as the 'Mary's entrustment bracelet'. However, it looks a little less disturbing than the handcuffs on the hands of children.

Source: Parenting.pl, Twitter