Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) Enrollment will be starting soon.

If you need sacraments and are coming back to the Church, or if you are not Catholic and would like to become Catholic, this is the program for you.

Please call the Parish Office at 927-1154 to meet with Father Harte and
register.

The weekly meeting date and time will be announced.

The Catholic RCIA Stages

DO YOU KNOW ANYONE thinking of joining the Roman Catholic Church?
The Catholic RCIA stages are a good model of basic faith development. This article
provides some detailed guidance for that process.
PLEASE PASS THIS PAGE ON TO ANYONE YOU MAY ENCOUNTER THAT
HAS SHOWN AN INTEREST IN THE CATHOLIC FAITH.
THEN HAVE THEM CALL THE PARISH OFFICE (927-1154) TO INQUIRE.

  • Where to start?
  • Why so many “stages” of initiation?
  • What should they be doing in each stage?
  • How will they know when they are ready to move forward?

This article is your best starting point to answer these questions, and more. I’ll provide you
with some fundamentals – centered in Christ – for beginning and developing your life of
faith in the Roman Catholic Church.
Everything else builds on these fundamentals!
But…Where do they begin?
Well, they just begin from where they are now! Many adults entering the Catholic
Church, or those just thinking about it, follow a process known as the RCIA – the
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.
The RCIA process has several distinct stages. These Catholic RCIA stages are
a good model of faith development itself, so this article will fit you whether or not you’re actually in the RCIA process.

  • Inquiry: the initial period before you decide to enter the Catholic Church. You’re asking questions and checking it out, but aren’t yet ready to commit.
  • Catechumenate: those who decide to enter the Church and are being trained for a life in Christ are called catechumens, an ancient name from the early Church. In this stage, you’re developing your faith and are
    being “catechized” – learning catechism, or the basic points about Catholic faith and life.
  • Purification and preparation: The Church will help you focus and intensify your faith as you prepare you to commit your life to Christ and be received into the Church at Easter. If you’re following the RCIA process, you’ll go through a beautiful series of Gospel-based meditations during Lent, which is the time frame of this period.
  • Initiation itself, the culmination of the whole process! You’re received into the Church during the Easter Vigil Mass, where you’ll receive the sacraments of initiation: baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist. (If you’ve already been baptized, you won’t be baptized again.)
  • Mystagogy: after reception into the Church at Easter, this period lets you reflect
    and learn more about the mysteries of the Mass and the Sacraments that you now
    participate in fully.

RCIA (more info)