I recall some years ago reading with great fascination about the existence of catechumenate houses in a footnote in Paul Turner’s Hallelujah Highway: A History of the Catechumenate (LTP 2000). While such catechumenate houses that existed in seventeenth-century Rome make a brief and less-than-complimentary appearance in PBS’s Secret Files of the Inquisition, I was intrigued to know that many of these had been founded by Ignatius of Loyola in the previous century. While [MORE...]
Archive for category Initiation / RCIA
Houses of Catechumens?
Aug 4
Is there a place in our parishes for penitential celebrations without the sacrament?
Today marks eleven years since my full communion with the Roman Catholic church. In a fit of calendrical complicity, it is 11 years both liturgically and secularly: I received the eucharist and confirmation on Holy Thursday, April 1, 1999.
The parish where I received these sacraments (and the sacrament of matrimony, two years later) has a beautiful and much-missed Triduum celebration. If I were offered an all-expenses-paid retreat to anywhere in the world for the celebration [MORE...]
The lex orandi of the Roman Catholic Church says something very important about her lex credendi in the case of the reception of baptized Christians into full communion. The rite for reception, including its introductory directions, has something to tell us about the RC church’s belief in ecumenism.
No. 475, for example, says this: “Any appearance of triumphalism should be carefully avoided.” One should consider “the ecumenical implications” of the rite. No. 479 says this: “One [MORE...]
Election Day
Feb 21
Today, around the world, dioceses are celebrating the Rite of Election, the second “step” of catechumens in their journey toward the Easter sacraments. In this rite, which closes the period of the catechumenate proper, the Church hears testimony as to the catechumens’ readiness, and confirms that they are fit to take part in the next great celebration of the sacraments, at Easter.
Language of “judging” and “deciding” should not distract us too much from the essential [MORE...]
Once again it is that great season when catechumens (they’re the “elect” during Lent after the Rite of Election) are preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil. We stand before great and awesome mysteries. Throughout this Lent, let us pray for those preparing for baptism.
Gathering the Scattered
Feb 3
In a recent discussion at dotCommonweal about “lapsed Catholics,” a number of questions arose about the appropriateness and meaning of the term “lapsed,” what happens when “lapsed Catholics” join another Christian community, and whether they also turn up in the RCIA. Margaret O’Brien Steinfels invited my comment, which I gave and have reproduced here because I thought it might be of interest to the readers of PrayTell.
Because this is an ecumenical blog, I would [MORE...]
Doors
Feb 2
Full use of our ritual repertoire requires us to value our entire worship space.
This one is interesting for the ongoing renewal of the rites of initiation in the Catholic Church. It’s even more interesting ecclesiologically – the Holy See has approved some significant alterations to the Roman rite for the German-speaking church in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxemburg, and Lichtenstein. The main innovation is infant baptism in two stages – first, a blessing of the infant with the oil of catechumens; second, after a period of preparation by the [MORE...]