The RCIA Process for the Border Town Parishes
Serving St. Anne's (St. Anne, IL) and St. Patrick's (Momence)
What is RCIA?
"Lord, God You created us And you give us life. Bless these children and add them to your family. May they be joyful in the life you won for us Through Christ our Lord." AMEN - Prayer over the Elect – Rite of Election
If any adult over the age of fourteen wishes to receive the sacraments at the Easter Vigil (April 16, 2022), please contact the parish office at (815) 472-2864 or (815) 427-8265. Fr. Pete Jankowski will be holding all RCIA Sessions online this year via Zoom. Sessions will be held on Wednesday nights from 6 – 7:30 p.m.
RCIA CLASS MATERIALS
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Basic Prayers & Guidelines of the Catholic ChurchList Item 1
Sunday
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Basic Prayers & Guidelines of the Catholic Church (in Spanish) Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Online Resource to the New American Bible Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Online Resource to the Reina Valera Bible (in Spanish) Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Online Resource for the Catechism of the Catholic Church Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Online Resource for the Catechism of the Church (Spanish) Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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RCIA Glossary (English) Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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RCIA Glossary (Spanish) Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
RCIA is a process of study, exploration, faith-sharing, and faith formation with specific liturgical rites for seekers and inquirers. Seekers and inquirers are non-baptized adults who desire to be fully initiated into the Roman Catholic Church and/or baptized adult Christians who desire full communion in the Roman Catholic Church.
Adults or older children who have not been baptized and desire to join the Church are invited into the ancient celebration of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. During this process, which is marked by regular ritual acts, participants are introduced to the liturgy, the teachings, and the life of the Catholic Church.
Adults or older children who were baptized in another Christian denomination prepare in a similar way for the sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist during their reception into the Catholic Church.
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Week One: IntroductionList Item 1
Sunday
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Week Two: Old Testament Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Week Three: Old Testament II Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Week Four: The New Testament (Gospels) Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Week Five: The New Testament (St. Paul) Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Week Six: Trinitarian Theology Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Week Seven: On the Church Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Week Eight: The Liturgical Year Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Week Nine: The Holy Mass Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Week Ten: On the Sacraments Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Week Eleven: The Sacraments of Initiation Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Week Twelve: The Sacraments of Healing & Vocation Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Week Thirteen: Christian Moral Living Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Week Fourteen: Lent and the Scrutinies Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
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Week Fifteen: Prayer Styles Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
An Introduction
The process by which adults come into the Church has come to be known as “RCIA”, which is short for “The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.”
The RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) is to be a process, not a program. It forms a community of inquirers, sponsors and guides moving through the education, formation and ritualization of entrance into the Catholic community, whereby those interested in learning about the Catholic faith come together on a weekly basis to learn about the scriptures and the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and at the same time, to discover where God is present in their lives.
The process is designed for those adults and children over the age of seven who are:
The unbaptized. The primary focus of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is on those who are not already Christian and have not been catechized.
Baptized but uncatechized. Those who have been baptized either as Roman Catholics or as members of another Christian community but did not receive further catechetical formation or instruction. These typically have also not celebrated confirmation nor Eucharist.
Those seeking full Catholic Communion. These are baptized, practicing Christians from other denominations who seek entry into the Catholic Church.
In the case of children who have reached the age of reason, the proper pastor should be consulted for information about Baptism and the other Sacraments of Initiation.
What is Our History?
In the early church small Christian communities took individuals into their group of believers and introduced them to their way of life. In those days persecution of Christians was prevalent. Newcomers knew that commitment to this faith could lead them to imprisonment and death. Still many wanted to be members of this group!
By the 2nd and 3rd Century initiation into the faith began to take on formal shape! This was the beginning of a “catechumenate”. The Roman Emperor Constantine made the Christian Religion legal, in 313. At that time there were large numbers of men and women who wanted to join the Christian Community. The quality of their preparation and catechesis however was deficient.
By the 5th Century all of the Western World was Christian. Infant Baptism was the traditional way one entered the Catholic Church. The catechumenate basically died until the 20th Century.
In the 20th Century catechumenal structures began to be revived in Africa and in France. Catholic missionaries recognized the need for Christian tradition to be established in foreign countries. In France problems arose because of the large number of non-practicing Catholics. At the Vatican II Council the bishops voted on the restoration of the catechumenate with a vote of 2,165 Yes’s and only 9 No’s (there was 1 null vote). In 1966 the provisional ritual was published. This was followed by a second draft in 1969 distributed for experimentation.
In 1972 the Vatican promulgated the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults and in 1986 the United States bishops approved additions to the Order and National Statutes and a national plan for implementation. In 1988 in the United States the implementation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults became mandatory for all at the age of reason or older who have not yet been baptized.a
