As I mentioned last week, the most significant aspects of the welcome rite are the presentation and dialogue with the candidates, the signing with the cross and of the senses, the presentation of a Bible, and the prayer and blessing of the candidates. We’ll take up the signing along with a brief video discussion of […]
A Ritual Journey: Welcome of Inquirers to the CatechumenateIn the process of faith formation the stage of Inquiry leads into the stage of the Catechumenate (this term can be used to denote both the entire process of faith formation and more narrowly the second stage of the process). We’ll explore the stage of the Catechumenate […]
As I indicated last week faith formation is structured on two paths: the Ritual path and the Catechetical path. The catechetical path is less structured than the ritual path since it is dependent upon the degree of faith formation of each individual catechumen. The ritual path is more structured since rites punctuate ones process through […]
This week I am beginning an ongoing exploration of the rites of faith formation. In order to explore the rites that can be used as a central experience of faith formation, I need to outline the structural process of the catechumenate. So, for those for whom this may be an elementary review, my apologies. As […]
It’s back. My neighbors have decorated their yards and porches for the “high holy day” of Halloween: Huge spiderwebs with big, scary spiders, orange strings of lights on porches, and ghosts fluttering in tree branches abound. As I observe these decorations on my morning walks during this brisk fall weather, those who encounter me see […]
Shortly after I started work on my masters in liturgical studies at St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, Father Godfrey Diekmann, who had served as a Peritus (theological adviser) at the Second Vatican Council, spoke at a School of Theology convocation. I remember vividly this statement: “At Vatican II we rediscovered Christ”—words that warmed my heart […]
I remember well arriving Sunday after Sunday at my new “home church”—where the pastor was my husband—thus I was arriving alone. Many people would greet me, but few made an effort to engage me in meaningful conversation or draw me into the orbit of their family or friends mingling in the narthex. Feeling lonely and […]
Written at the request of a deacon from Carthage, Augustine “undertakes the task of teaching the art of catechizing …” in this treatise of thirty-some pages in the print edition (quotation from introduction of the Benedictine edition, quoted in the Schaff edition). As catechetical teaching resumes in parishes, whether for children, youth, or adults, some […]
Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. 315-ca. 387)Students of early church liturgy and sacraments appreciate the catechetical lectures (sermons) of Cyril for the wealth of information he provides on the shape of the catechumenate in 4th century Jerusalem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built by Emperor Constantine. Preached to “the Enlightened,” those who had been […]
