Today I went to Mass at a parish which usually takes great care about the liturgy. It was a First Communion service. The Eucharistic Prayer did not sound familiar to me, and the Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei had been replaced by other hymns. Is this permitted in services for children?

I think that it is NOT permitted, because the Liturgy follows a certain rhythm...but, I'm not surprised it happened. Here First Communion services are like that...the reason given is to 'keep it light and easily accessible for all those parents and relatives who don't normally go to church'

The rhythm was preserved, but the content slightly changed. For instance, in place of the Agnus Dei was a Lamb of God-themed song. The Sanctus was more difficult to connect. The Eucharistic Prayer was recognizable as such, though interspersed with song and perhaps not officially approved.

Was it sung versions of the prayers or actual hymns?

For instance, we use these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiXSb14AWH8

They were real hymns.

By the way, the children also brought everything to the altar during the offering of the gifts, including candles. I suppose that's not allowed either?

Personally I would not dwell on it. If we make a catalogue of all the liturgical abuses that take place during First Holy Communion Masses ... well, there's probably not a printer in the world who has the capacity to print it. And in my experience there are also plenty of things that happen during such Masses that aren't abuses, just tasteless.

I feel your pain. I happen to believe that my parish has the most beautiful, reverent, and faithful-to-the-girm OF mass in the county. But our First Communion Masses are atrocious. To be fair, there aren't as many changes as what you had - the necessary elements were all there, and recognizable. But whatever parts were extra, or unique to the first communion, were just really hard to handle. I think our pastor is in a very tough position. The religious ed program is suffering greatly, and it is really hard to find people willing to teach the classes. If he alienates the couple of people who HAVE stepped forward, and who are the ones planning the details of the FHC Mass, then what will he have left? Furthermore, many of the parents of these communicants are not familiar with church, and don't seem to be very familiar with good decorum in general. I know he is pained to try to welcome these children to the sacraments and to draw their families in in whatever little way he can. It's a tough, tough situation. Because my church otherwise does a very good job at a faithful, holy, Mass, I give them a pass on the First Communion Mass. If I am ever in a position to make a positive difference, I will, but I try to to sweat it otherwise (except for the years when my own child is receiving, and then I grieve the situation).

OTOH, my former parish has terrible First Communion Masses as well, but their FHC Mass is reflective of their philosophy as a whole. Rather than being an anomaly, the FHC Mass at this church is simply a little further down the scale of problematic than the rest of the happenings at the parish. That one was much more disturbing to me, and was the catalyst for our leaving that parish for our current one.

My point is - I would worry less about it if it is an anomaly in a parish which has otherwise faithful liturgies.

What you're describing sounds kind of like the Mass of Renewal, which is frequently used at my home parish and the parish that I occasionally visit when I have to go to Mass on Sunday evening (my parish doesn't offer that time).

The publisher's website has audio clips; do these sound familiar? http://www.ocp.org/newmasssettings/newsettings/massofrenewal

There's also some clips on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bpQzIaHbUM

I especially love the Gloria http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqCgCXJzE34 and the Agnus Dei http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln6nQ3KI8sI&feature=related arrangements.

that looks like some sort of community choir rehearsal, not a Mass and certainly does not look like a Church

Thing is, the volunteers teaching a class are not in charge of "planning the details" of any Mass. The Church has already planned the Mass, the Pastor decides the things that are optional (what hymns or Mass setting to use, time of the Mass, etc.)

I think it's a demo video, Kage, giving samples of the music. I could be wrong, though, and it could be a start-up mission parish, j/s.