RCIA (The Catechumenate) 

The R.C.I.A. (the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults), also known as the Catechumenate, is the collection of rites and prayers which marks the journey of faith of an adult who seeks Baptism and full communion with the Catholic Church. In every parish this process is adapted to the needs of the parishioners.

At St. Elizabeth’s, this process formally begins each fall when we gather adults seeking membership in the Catholic Church. There are two main groups, those who already share the life of Christ with us by way of Baptism in another Christian denomination and those who seek the life of Christ through baptism. The catechumenal process has been primarily shaped to mark the journey of one seeking Baptism. The process has been adapted to include those who seek reconciliation with and full communion in the Catholic Church. The process includes four main stages or periods.

The Inquiry Period embraces those beginning moments of questioning. Actually this period could be descriptive of quite a duration of time. Someone could be in the stage of inquiry or questioning about the Catholic Christian Church, the ways and manners or doctrinal teaching or worship style or rules and regulations of the Catholic community, for years. We presume, by the time someone comes to us seeking to be a part of this process, that he or she may have been questioning the whys and wherefores of Catholicism for some time. The purpose of this period is to allow the inquirer the freedom to seek answer to his or her questions and to begin to introduce the inquirers more formally to an understanding of the Catholic faith. This period may also introduce the inquirer to even deeper questions of faith and its personal appropriation. The formal stage of the inquiry period lasts for six weeks at Saint Elizabeth’s and culminates in a ceremony welcoming the inquirers to the next stage.

The Catechumenate is the name of the next period. Catechumen is the word used to name a person, unbaptized, who has made a commitment to study more deeply the teachings of the church, to embark on a quest for deeper union with Jesus Christ through prayer, worship and a particular attention to the teachings of God as revealed in Holy Scripture (the Bible). In our adaptation of this period we also include those, already one with us in the baptismal life of Christ, who seek to learn more of the teachings of the Catholic Church; these are called candidates for membership in the Church. This period is characterized by a more thoroughgoing study of the faith and a regular participation in Sunday worship. During this time, the catechumens and the candidates make a deeper commitment to learn the ways of faith and the teachings of the Church—at St. Elizabeth’s we do this every Tuesday evening from 7:30pm to 9:30pm. At Sunday worship in this period, the catechumens are dismissed from the Sunday Mass (the 10:00am Mass at SEAS) after the homily in order to spend the rest of the Sunday worship time plumbing with greater intensity the meaning of God’s Word in their lives. This entire stage helps the seeker to open up to a way of faith with deeper understanding. This period culminates in a ceremony, normally on the first Sunday of Lent, which designates the catechumens as those elected for baptism at Easter and designates the candidates as formally accepted for reconciliation with and full communion in the Catholic Church at Easter.

The six weeks of Lent is called the time of Purification or Enlightenment. This is the final preparatory stage for initiation in the Church at the Easter Vigil Mass. This period of time is characterized by a deeper spiritual preparation for the Sacraments of Baptism, Penance, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist.

The post-baptismal period, throughout the seven weeks of the Easter Season, is called the Mystagogia (a Greek word which means to be led into the mystery). It is a time for a deepening of the mysteries into which the new Catholics have been initiated. A more profound understanding of the experience of baptismal purity, the confirming power of the Holy Spirit, and the nurturing life of Jesus in the Eucharist is the goal and characteristic of this stage. This final juncture of the initiation process culminates in the feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit sent out the apostles to witness to the truth of Christ in the world.

So you can see, the process goes full circle; it is meant to be a perpetual process of renewal for the Church, the world and every Christian heart and soul. This process of the Catechumenate and all its attendant teaching, forming and ritual moments is a fundamental means of the Church to fulfill its mission to "make disciples of all the nations."