The preparation rites on Holy Saturday include an optional ritual for choosing a baptismal name (turn to paragraph 200 in your RCIA text to follow along). In the United States, we do not ask the elect to do this. (Keep a finger in the book to mark your place and flip back to paragraph 33.4.) The United States bishops have said that there is to be no giving of a new name. This is the norm for every diocese. However an individual bishop can make an exception if one of the elect comes from a culture in which it is the practice of non-Christian religions to give a new name.

Now flip back to paragraph 200. Note the final sentence in that paragraph.

Where it seems better suited to the circumstances and the elect are not too numerous, the naming may consist simply in an explanation of the given name of each of the elect.

So while you would not ask your Britneys, Tiffanys, and Jamals to choose a new name, you could easily celebrate and bless their given names as an expression of God’s delight in them. Miriam Malone, SNJM, has provided a very simple and doable example of this in her Holy Saturday Retreat and Preparation Rites outline (click here).

Confirmation names

While we’re on the subject, let’s discuss confirmation names. There are three groups of people who are involved here, and let’s look at each one. Read the rest of this entry »

In order to help you prepare the elect for their initiation, I’ve written a Holy Saturday retreat, which includes the Preparation Rites, that is FREE for subscribers to TeamRCIA.

The church’s great festival of initiation is approaching fast. Be sure to provide the elect with some substantial time for prayer and reflection as they prepare for this important step. The RCIA suggests that all of Holy Saturday be a time of retreat:

The elect are to be advised that on Holy Saturday they should refrain from their usual activities, spend their time in prayer and reflection, and, as far as they can, observe a fast. (185)

The RCIA goes on to suggest that you bring the elect together to celebrate the Preparation Rites that begin at paragraph 187.

The retreat I’ve prepared for you includes the Ephpheta rite, the recitation of the creed, and an adaptation of the rite of choosing a baptismal name. The retreat should be adapted according to need in places where the presentation of the creed has not yet taken place, where the presentation of the Lord’s Prayer has not taken place, or where the choosing of a baptismal name is an appropriate addition.

The retreat has four “modules” that can be adapted, interchanged, or used as the basis for creating a retreat suitable to particular groups and circumstances.

The retreat is designed so that it can be adapted to a very small group or even to one person preparing for initiation. Godparents, sponsors, parishioners, and baptized candidates may be invited to be present in support of the elect who will be participating in the Preparation Rites.

Click here to download your free copy of the full retreat outline.

Rehearsal outline:

Scrutiny

RCIA 150-156, 164-170, 171-177

6:30 Before everyone arrives

• Turn on lights and put out microphones.
  
• Put the lectionary on the ambo.
  
• Put the presider’s script or ritual book on his chair.
  
• Put the catechumenate director’s script on her chair or pew.
  
• Place name tags in the pews where you want the elect and their godparents to sit.
  
• If necessary, mark the spots where the elect will stand with a piece of masking tape.
  

7:00 Welcome the participants: the presider, the director of the catechumenate, the godparents, and perhaps the musician. (The elect are not present.) Ask the presider, godparents, and catechumenate director to sit in their places. Lead a brief prayer.

7:10 Remind the godparents of these essential points; be lighthearted, but still convey the importance of the information:

• Point out to the godparents that the scrutinies have two goals
  • Uncover and heal all weakness in the elect
    
  • Strengthen all that is strong and good in the elect (see RCIA 141)
    
• There are three scrutinies, and all three are required, because one builds upon the next.
  
• Godparents need to pick up the elect from home or meet them in front of the church before Mass.
  
• Everyone needs to be in their seats 15 minutes before Mass starts.
  
• From the minute they walk into the church, until the minute the elect are dismissed, the godparents need to be in physical contact with the elect. A hand on an arm or shoulder at all times.
  
• It is the godparents’ responsibility to know the details of the rite. They need to project an air of confidence and always reassure the elect that things are under control.
  
• Point out to them that Mass will begin as usual and will be “normal” up through the homily. After the homily ends, they need to be ready.
  

Read the rest of this entry »

The adaptation of the scrutiny rites for child catechumens is confusing (RCIA 291). Instead of clearly labeling the rites as scrutinies, they are called “Penitential Rites (Scutinies).” And even though the title is plural, only one text is given with an instruction to write your own for a second, using the given text as a model. Nothing is said about a third scrutiny. There are nine readings listed as options for the liturgy of the word and, although the traditional Johannine gospels are listed among them, there is no requirement that they be used and no emphasis in the rite on the progressive nature of these three traditional scrutiny gospels.

Most parishes that have child catechumens simply include the children in the regular scrutinies with the adults. If the liturgy is celebrated well, it is as meaningful for the children as it is for the adults.

• Choreographing the Scrutinies
• Don’t catechize in Lent
• What are the proper prayers for the scrutinies?
• 9 Ways to Treat the Elect Like Royalty
• Reckless Love: A Scrutiny Homily
• “God Glasses” for the Man Born Blind - A Scrutiny Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

We all know that we always use the readings from the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent, Year A, for the scrutinies, right? But do you know what Mass prayers to use? They are not the Mass prayers from those Sundays. Instead, whenever the scrutinies are celebrated, we use the Mass prayers for “Christian Initiation: The Scrutinies” (see RCIA 146). You’ll find those in the back of the sacramentary in the section titled “Ritual Masses.”

• Choreographing the Scrutinies
• Don’t catechize in Lent
• 9 Ways to Treat the Elect Like Royalty
• Reckless Love: A Scrutiny Homily
• “God Glasses” for the Man Born Blind - A Scrutiny Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

A central element in the Rite of Election is the enrollment of names. This part of the rite is so important it is given equal billing in the title: “The second step in Christian initiation is the liturgical rite called both election and the enrollment of names….” (RCIA 118). Their enrollment is a sign of the catechumens’ fidelity to live the life of a Christian.

The rite offers several options for the inscription of names, but it says nothing about where the names are inscribed. See the rubrics at paragraph 132 in the rite.

1. The catechumens may inscribe their names themselves
2. They may call out their names while the godparents do the actual inscription
3. They may call out their names while another minister does the actual inscription
4. The parish may simply present a list of names to the bishop

Option four is perhaps the most common choice, as many dioceses opt to have the inscription of names take place at the parish rite of sending. (Note that even when this is the case, the actual enrollment does not occur until the names are presented to the bishop at the Rite of Election.)

What the rite does not say is where the names are actually written. Presumably, they could be written on a sheet of loose leaf paper (as I saw happen in one not-to-be-named parish). But that strikes us as inadequate. For such a solemn moment, shouldn’t the vessel that holds the names of those about to be baptized into Christ’s death be something worthy of the commitment? Shouldn’t it have more gravitas?

I presume we would all agree, and so I am a bit confused by what passes for a worthy book in many communities. A couple of publishers hit upon the “blank book” craze long before Hallmark did by mass producing some economical registers with “Book of the Elect” stamped in fake gold leaf on a church-maroon cover and some lined or blank sheets stuck in between. (One publisher has, incomprehensibly, even added a signature line for the local bishop.) If these were merely record books, such as the baptismal register kept in the parish vault, perhaps there would be no harm. But we have taken to using these weak and pallid things as symbols of the spine-chilling “YES” that shouts from the hearts of those about to be plunged into the waters of baptism.

Perhaps it’s time to stop shopping for our ritual books at ecclesial value-marts and think about ways in which we might obtain or create volumes that are worthy of the names they bear.

Click here for a set of links for handcrafted books you can purchase and instructions on how to make your own Book of the Elect. If you have bought or created a Book of the Elect you think raises the bar, send me a picture at nick[at]teamrcia.com, and I’ll publish it here.

• Testify!
• Are your catechumens ready for the next stage?
• RCIA Discernment: How do you know if they know enough?
• Help your assembly prepare for the Rite of Election

The Rite of Election is one of those “hinge” rites in the RCIA because it marks the transition from one period to the next for a person becoming baptized. But most people in your church won’t ever see a Rite of Election which usually takes place at the diocesan Cathedral. What most people will experience is the Rite of Sending, the optional rite that happens in the parish before the Rite of Election. The Rite of Sending has many of the elements of the Rite of Election, such as testimonies and giving of names. But the principal rite is the Rite of Election. It’s the highpoint of this part of the catechumen’s journey.

Help put the Rite of Sending in its appropriate place by catechizing your assembly from the symbols and actions of the Rite of Election. Even if they never see an actual Rite of Election, they will better appreciate this turning point for the catechumens. (BTW, unless your diocese says otherwise, anyone can go to the Rite of Election. So make a point of letting your assemblies know when your catechumens’ Rite of Election will be and invite them to come.)

Below is the unformatted text from a PDF bulletin insert that you can download, print, and copy for FREE for use in your parishes to help you catechize your assemblies about the discernment process. Please include the author and copyright information on any copies you make.

Get the fully-formatted ready-to-copy bulletin insert (pdf) here.

Lent comes early in 2008—February 6. That means that you only have a few weeks to decide who among your catechumens will celebrate the rite of election.

Unless you have a year-round process, you’ve probably already made the decision. In most parishes, anyone who celebrated the Rite of Acceptance this past fall (or even this past Advent!) is expected to become one of the elect and to be baptized at the Easter Vigil. It is difficult, however, to know if those who have been catechumens for only a short time are really ready for the next step in the initiation process. In this year when Lent begins so early, it might be a good time to look more closely at the shortcomings of a nine-month process (which, this year, works out to something more like a three- or four-month process).

Let’s first agree on what we are looking for. The RCIA gives us a list of criteria.

Before the rite of election is celebrated, the catechumens are expected to have undergone a conversion in mind and in action and to have developed a sufficient acquaintance with Christian teaching as well as a spirit of faith and charity. (120)

There are three clear challenges listed there. First, what does a conversion in mind and action look like? Well, that’s hard to answer. I’d have to know your catechumens pretty well. I’d have to know what their lives were like before they started coming to your parish. I’d have to know what they said they were looking for when you asked them at the Rite of Acceptance what it is they asked of God and God’s people. I’d have to watch them in the parish and how they interacted with various parish groups. I’d have to listen to them talk about their faith. I’d have to have long talks with their sponsors.

The next challenge is to see in them a sufficient acquaintance with Christian teaching. The rite says at a minimum, that teaching takes a full liturgical year to unfold. It is not so much a list of precepts and dogmas they have to master. It is a deep understanding of what Jesus meant when he said follow me. Do they know in mind and heart, what it means to follow the cross? I’d have to listen to the catechumens discuss their beliefs. I’d have to observe how they brought their beliefs to bear in difficult times. I’d have to see how they responded to the gifts God has blessed them with. I’d have to see how faithful they were in celebrating the liturgy of the church.

The final challenge is to see in the catechumens a spirit of faith and charity. I’d have to hear them talk about and see them care for those who are less fortunate than they. I’d have to witness an attitude of generosity in them. I’d have to know in my heart that they believed the poor and the outcast are especially loved by God.

Honestly, I just don’t see how it is possible to get to know these things in a few months, especially if you have a large number of catechumens. If you’re feeling the same way, then what can be done at this point? It seems you have only a couple of options. If you have the stomach for it, you might pose these challenges to the catechumens themselves. If you really don’t know them well enough to discern these areas of growth in them (or you know for sure they have not grown in these areas), tell them that. Tell them you cannot in good conscience recommend them for the Rite of Election this year.

Your other option is, perhaps less pastoral, but less stressful on you. Come clean with them about your misgivings. But, offer the catechumens the option of celebrating the Rite of Election in spite of your hesitations. Encourage those who wish, to remain in the catechumenate for another year, but allow those who are determined, to move to the next stage. The reason I suggest this is less pastoral is that those who do go forward will almost certainly fall away after the Easter Vigil. They are the ones most interested in “finishing,” not beginning.

Finally, make a New Year’s resolution that any new inquirers you encounter in the coming year will not be promised a “date” for their initiation until after an in-depth discernment process based on the criteria the RCIA provides.

Frank C. Senn writes about the mystagogical process for neophytes in the early church:

During the week after Easter Day, the neophytes attended the liturgy daily, wearing their white robes, while the bishops instructed them in the mysteries (sacraments) they had just experienced…. The faithful were also permitted to attend these sessions during the “week of white robes” and to ask questions of the bishop as he sat in his chair (cathedra) and expounded upon the mysteries of the faith. (The People’s Work: A Social History of the Liturgy, 70-71.)

Perhaps your bishop would never be able to clear his schedule for daily Mass at the cathedral during Easter Week. But are you sure? Have you asked him? And perhaps the neophytes would not attend in any significant numbers. But are you sure? Have you asked them?

If the bishop in his cathedra, surrounded by the still-damp neophytes, with the faithful also gathered, asking insightful questions is an ideal that just can’t happen in your diocese, how close could you come? Here are some possibilities. Click on comments to add your own ideas:

1. In larger dioceses, ask one or more of the associate bishops to fill in.
2. Ask the deans or monsignors of the diocese to each take a day of “cathedra” duty during Easter Week.
3. Ask the bishop to write a mystagogical homily for each day of Easter Week that might be read or adapted by the homilists of the diocese.
4. Record the bishop’s mystagogical homilies and upload as podcast on the diocesan Web site.
5. Provide a place on the Web site for the faithful to ask questions of the bishop about his homilies.
6. Focus smaller. Invite the neophytes of a given deanery or region to gather for weekday liturgy and mystagogical preaching.
7. Focus still smaller. Ask your pastor to prepare a series of msytagogical homilies for Easter Week.
8. For the neophytes who cannot be present for weekday liturgies, e-mail the homilies to them. “Require” them to respond with at least three questions.
9. In any of the options above, invite the faithful to ask their questions as part of the homily.
10. Publicize the mystagogical nature of this “week of white robes” throughout the diocese, deanery, or parish.
11. Begin now to make it clear to the catechumens that they will be expected to be at the liturgies during the “week of white robes” after their own initiation.

During the Triduum, the question arises about when to dismiss the Elect and the catechumens. (If you are engaged in a year-round process, you will likely have both.) If parish leaders understand the liturgical role that the unbaptized have in worship, it will be clear that the Elect and the catechumens are dismissed before the priestly action of the liturgy begins.

Holy Thursday

In the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the first action restricted to the baptized priesthood is the prayer of the faithful. So the Elect and the catechumens would be dismissed before the general intercessions. They would ordinarily be present for and participate in the washing of the feet if your parish chooses to celebrate that option.

Good Friday

Likewise during the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion, the first act exclusively performed by the baptized priesthood is the offering of the General Intercessions. So, just as on Sunday and at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the Elect and the catechumens would be kindly dismissed before this prayer.

Who leads them?

In many (all?) communities, it would be a hardship to ask a catechist to leave the worshiping assembly on these days to lead the Elect and catechumens in the dismissal reflection. And, in fact, there is no need to. The Elect will have been participating in dismissal reflections for a year or more by this point. One or more of them should have no difficulty leading the reflection sessions.

Easter

If you are practicing a year-round initiation process, you will have catechumens who will not be baptized at this year’s Easter Vigil. Should they participate in the Easter Vigil? Two pastoral difficulties present themselves in this case. The first is that the powerful symbols and ritual actions of the Vigil may have less impact the second (or third) time around, in the year the catechumens will be celebrating their own initiation. Wouldn’t it be more pastorally effective for them to experience the great Paschal fire, the Exsultet, the extensive readings and prayers of this night, and so on, for the first time on the night of their own baptism?

The second pastoral issue is who would lead them in their dismissal reflection? Unlike the Elect, the catechumens are unlikely to have a great deal of experience with this process, and it would be a great hardship to ask a catechist to be absent for the first time in which the neophytes participate in the Eucharist.

The best solution, perhaps, is to have the catechumens present at the Easter Sunday liturgy—along with the neophytes in their white robes—and to ask a catechist to lead the dismissal at that liturgy.