The following letter was sent to all parishioners of St. Joseph, Immaculate Heart of Mary, and St. Nicholas of Myra Parishes to explain the way Restored Order of the Sacraments will be implemented in Hays over the next year. This is the first of many notices that will be sent out to keep parishioners apprised of information about this change.

Dear Parents and Parishioners,

As you know, the Diocese of Salina will be moving to the Restored Order of the Sacraments. As Bishop Jerry Vincke announced in August 2025, “The restored order is having Baptism first, followed by the Sacrament of Confirmation, and then the Sacrament of the Eucharist. This is how the Church designed it. These three Sacraments are the Initiation Sacraments, with the Eucharist being the final Sacrament as we enter fully into the Church.”

What does this look like for Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. Joseph, and St. Nicholas of Myra parishes? In short, with the blessing of our respective priests, we will be implementing this process in one year and it will affect the students entering grades 2-8 in the 2026-2027 school year.

• Students entering 2nd grade will only receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation this year.
• Because the Diocese’s Restored Order process calls for the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Eucharist to be received in 3rd grade, there will not be First Communion (other than for those going through the Order of Christian Initiation for Children/Adults process as a family) in our respective parishes during the 2026-2027 school year.
• Students entering grades 3-8 will prepare for and receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.

As we look forward to the 2027-2028 school year and beyond:

• Our 2^nd-grade students will continue to only receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
• Our 3^rd-grade students will receive both Confirmation and First Eucharist in the same Mass.

We understand there are a lot of questions surrounding this move. This letter is simply the first of several messages we’ll be sending out to you in preparation for the coming school year and all that the Restored Order process entails. Further details, answers to questions, etc. will be addressed in those future communications. For now, we ask that you please scan the QR code below and read through the documents from the diocese.

We look forward to partnering with you, the first educators of your children in the faith, in this process!

In Christ,

Jaclyn Brown, Cody Marintzer, & Allison Ochoa – Hays Parish DREs

Fr. Fred Gatschet, Fr. Nick Parker, & Fr. Damian Richards – Hays Parish Pastors