What do you do after the Easter Vigil? What does the ritual text call us to do and be for the neophytes during the sacred time of mystagogy? The following checklist will give you guidance and suggestions for effective mystagogy. . “Expect” neophytes to gather the week after initiation to share stories and pictures of […]
Checklist for an effective mystagogy
I’m headed south for the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress on Thursday. If you’ve never been, it is an experience like no other. The Congress draws more than 40,000 participants who come to hear speakers from all over the world. Despite the name, the Congress is not limited to religious education themes. There are many
Looking for RCIA at the LA Religious Ed Congress
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
A Preparation Rites retreat for the elect on Holy Saturday
What do I wear?! That’s a question I get often when I’m planning liturgies. Whether it’s the confirmation candidate, the newly-ordained, or even the bishop, himself, we have a natural concern over what to wear. The baptismal rite in the RCIA gives us at least one answer: Put on Christ. Therefore we physically clothe the
QHow ought a Russian Orthodox person be received into the Catholic Church? The convert has undergone RCIA and been elected in the cathedral. Our pastor seems to be unfamiliar with the status of Russian Orthodox sacraments. For example, is confirmation is necessary? Presumably the bishop would ultimately decide? AIf you open your RCIA text to
Walter Burghardt, SJ, died Saturday at the age of 95. Though he wouldn’t have remembered, I met Burghardt more than 30 years ago, when I was 19, at a liturgy conference at the University of Notre Dame. As many of you know, and as I was ignorant of at the time, Burghardt was the model
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
How to rehearse the scrutinies
The Easter Vigil is coming—that most amazing liturgical celebration at the center of our faith that Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again. We who have been working, praying, planning, collaborating, and sacrificing for the good of our catechumens and candidates are now focused on how to plan for the great
The Easter Vigil—should you rehearse the catechumens?
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
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 which 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
What are the proper prayers for the scrutinies?
