February 15, 2008
Various Rites
Don’t worry, I’ll be continuing my story, I simply wanted to pause for a moment to talk about some of the things that are happening right now in my journey to the Catholic faith.
In the Catholic church, you join by engaging in what are called the Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA). Although it’s not required for people who are already baptized, most parishes simply lump both catechumens (those who are not baptized) and candidates (those coming form other traditions) together for ease of instruction. The class runs for about nine months from Fall until Spring, meeting once a week. Every parish develops it’s own RCIA class, so there are no two churches that do it exactly the same way. However, one thing that they all share is various rites that happen throughout the course of the year. So far in our class we’ve had two different rites.
The first that we had is the Rite of Acceptance. The purpose behind this rite is for us to declare to the congregation that we have decided to join the Catholic church after a period of discernment. This is a simple ritual where we stand in front of the congregation with our sponsors. A prayer is said over us, and then our sponsors make the sign of the cross over certain parts of our body, which the priest says a prayer to each area. So for example we are marked with a cross on our shoulders so that we may have strength in the Lord. Our hands are marked so that we may carry out the work of Christ, and so on. This is a very cool ceremony in my mind because of this physical aspect. We also received a nice new Bible at this ceremony (whoo hoo! Another Bible for my collection!).
The second rite that we’ve taken part in is the Rite of Sending which is combined with the Rite of Election. This rite happened just this past weekend on the first Sunday of Lent (Catholic calendar). It begins with a rite in our home congregation, where we again stand in front of the congregation and our sponsors are asked if we are ready to continue into the Catholic faith. The priest then “sends” us to the Bishop. After our mass we then proceed (after some lunch as well) down to the Cathedral of St. Paul where we partake in the Rite of Election. The main focus of this rite is for the catechumens to write their name in the parishes Book of the Elect, that they intend to be baptized this Easter. The catechumens also get to be personally introduced to the Bishop during the ceremony, and the candidates also rise and are blessed as we continue our journey.
The thing that amazed me about the Rite of Election is how many people were there. This was a ceremony just for people coming into the church and their families and sponsor, yet our Cathedral was packed full. Also consider that this same ceremony was taking place over in Minneapolis as well (our dioscce covers both Twin Cities) at the Basilica of St. Mary, full to the brim as well. It’s amazing how many people are coming to the ancient churches for their faith in this day and age.
Written and posted by Jamison on February 15, 2008, 7:54 am.
Filed under: Catholicism, General Discussion
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