Rite of Election and Affirmation

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oldhamconvert

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Just back from my Rite of Election and Affirmation at Leeds Catherdral.

I feel so blessed to being lead into the Catholic faith.
Thanks for your prayers and thoughts…and so to my full communion at the Easter Vigil

D

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
 
God bless and welcome. Before you know it you’ll be at Easter Vigil.

I can’t believe its a whole year ago I went through this ritual.

I said a prayer for you.
 
Oh Yippie! Welcome to the Family! I’m a convert too and well remember my Rite of Election. Oh how thrilled I am that you are joining. God bless you for sharing your journey here. Keep us up to date. The experiences of Converts can actually inspire some and more than one book has been written because it helps others to see the Holy Spirit at work bringing God’s people to Him in the Church.

God bless you and yours,

Glenda
 
What exactly occurs during Rite of Election Mass? Any sacraments take place?
 
I missed my Rites of Election due to my baby being unwell what did I miss:( never mind my priest said I will still be getting confirmed at the Easter Vigil 😃
 
oldhamconvert said:
Just back from my Rite of Election and Affirmation at Leeds Catherdral.

I feel so blessed to being lead into the Catholic faith.
Thanks for your prayers and thoughts…and so to my full communion at the Easter Vigil

D

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
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Congrats! Just do not get lazy in your faith or in practice. Remember…it is a life time process…not a one time event.
 
RosslynV said:
What exactly occurs during Rite of Election Mass? Any sacraments take place?
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It is not a Mass. Cannot be a Mass because the service is for the unbaptized and converts who have been elected for full communion and cannot receive the sacraments until the Vigil.

At the rite all three readings are read, followed by bishop’s homily. The rite of election commences by each parish coordinator or RCIA coordinator calling the names of the catechumens’ who are accompanied by sponsor and sign their names in the book of the elect. Followed by the candidates who are called by parish and bishop gives them his blessings for the upcoming Vigil. That is the rite in crash course terms.
 
Hi and congrats! I am a candidate and was in the Rite of election and Call to Continuing Conversion rite today. Archdiocese of Chicago, Holy Name Cathedral. Wonderful experience.
 
Ours was done within the Sunday Mass. We signed the Book of the Elect and were sent to the Cathedral on school buses where over 3,000 others were gathered to be received by the Bishop who actually shook all our hands as we were presented to him. It was at that point we actually became Elect and were approved for Baptism at the Easter Vigil. So what was begun at our individual parishes was completed at the Cathedral.
Nicea325 said:
It is not a Mass. Cannot be a Mass because the service is for the unbaptized and converts who have been elected for full communion and cannot receive the sacraments until the Vigil.

At the rite all three readings are read, followed by bishop’s homily. The rite of election commences by each parish coordinator or RCIA coordinator calling the names of the catechumens’ who are accompanied by sponsor and sign their names in the book of the elect. Followed by the candidates who are called by parish and bishop gives them his blessings for the upcoming Vigil. That is the rite in crash course terms.
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Nicea, prior to our Rite of Sending, we were dismissed at each Mass previously. We’d be there for the homily on Sundays, but then get dismissed because of the Order of the Rites. All the Rites are in the Ritual and some of it is actually contained in the missalettes in the pews depending on which type the pastor places there. It really is worth the effort to go to the Masses where converts are being received. Ask someone involved at RCIA there at you parish to explain it all. They do know - errrr - they are supposed to know. As far as I know some of the actual Rites go all the way back to the early Church like the year 300 or so.

Glenda
 
I also went to the Cathedral yesterday, in Liverpool. There were a great number of Candidates, so many that the Bishop remarked on it.

It was a very special service.
 
Congratulations! I just had my Rite of Call to Continuing Conversion yesterday, the First Sunday of Lent.

Dean R
 
Yes, same here - between catechumens and candidates, I’d estimate there were 60-70 “new Catholics” at my ceremony yesterday (I’m in a medium-sized UK city), of all ages. It’s got to be an encouraging sign.

Question: regardless of what’s going on with overall numbers of churchgoers and denominational Christians, do you think more people of RCIA age who hear the call join the Catholic Church as opposed to the Anglican or other locally-dominant flavour of Protestant worship?

I ask not just because there seemed to be a LOT of people there yesterday, but also because my priest mentioned something interesting in one of our discernment sessions - I asked if a lot of Anglicans were “defecting” as the CofE started making up new rules, and he said no, and that in his personal experience, most people who came to the Church later in life (as in, not at the earliest possible opportunity) weren’t from a Christian or churchgoing background - he said I was fairly typical in that most of us newbies seemed to have found their way in via a personal, intellectual and introspective journey, “and if you start on that path, there’s only one place you’re logically going to end up” 👍

Is that sample a representative one, I wonder?
 
Euphon said:
Yes, same here - between catechumens and candidates, I’d estimate there were 60-70 “new Catholics” at my ceremony yesterday (I’m in a medium-sized UK city), of all ages. It’s got to be an encouraging sign.

Question: regardless of what’s going on with overall numbers of churchgoers and denominational Christians, do you think more people of RCIA age who hear the call join the Catholic Church as opposed to the Anglican or other locally-dominant flavour of Protestant worship?

I ask not just because there seemed to be a LOT of people there yesterday, but also because my priest mentioned something interesting in one of our discernment sessions - I asked if a lot of Anglicans were “defecting” as the CofE started making up new rules, and he said no, and that in his personal experience, most people who came to the Church later in life (as in, not at the earliest possible opportunity) weren’t from a Christian or churchgoing background - he said I was fairly typical in that most of us newbies seemed to have found their way in via a personal, intellectual and introspective journey, “and if you start on that path, there’s only one place you’re logically going to end up” 👍

Is that sample a representative one, I wonder?
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Having come from a Church of England background, the realisation that the Catholic church is the one true church was one of my main reasons for conversion. I think the Church of England will face a lot of problems in the future
 
Congrats to those who attended the Rite on Sunday. Not long off the Easter Vigil now 🙂

I went to the Rite of Election last year at Salford Cathedral (Gtr Mcr) and it was packed!

Oldhamconvert, I too come from a Church of England background.
 
When I went to my own Rite of Election, I was very pleased to hear the Bishop’s homily, which openly spoke against “cafeteria-style” Catholicism. The fact of the matter is, so many RCIA programs are very open about encouraging catechumens to pick and choose which aspects of the Catholic faith they will accept, and which they will cast aside. It’s nice to hear Bishops in dioceses–especially dioceses which used to be renowned for their progressive stances–speak out against dissent, even if in merely subtle ways.

“Remember to read the fine print at the bottom of the contract. So many salesmen of the faith try to sell you something they don’t prepare you to fully accept. You need to know what you’re buying, and you need to fully know what you’re agreeing to.”

Whatever one may think of the analogy, it’s a shame so many of our local RCIA directors will ignore the obvious message that’s being communicated in such a homily.
 
Hello In Nomine.
InNomineDomini said:
When I went to my own Rite of Election, I was very pleased to hear the Bishop’s homily, which openly spoke against “cafeteria-style” Catholicism. The fact of the matter is, so many RCIA programs are very open about encouraging catechumens to pick and choose which aspects of the Catholic faith they will accept, and which they will cast aside. It’s nice to hear Bishops in dioceses–especially dioceses which used to be renowned for their progressive stances–speak out against dissent, even if in merely subtle ways.

“Remember to read the fine print at the bottom of the contract. So many salesmen of the faith try to sell you something they don’t prepare you to fully accept. You need to know what you’re buying, and you need to fully know what you’re agreeing to.”

Whatever one may think of the analogy, it’s a shame so many of our local RCIA directors will ignore the obvious message that’s being communicated in such a homily.
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I agree 100%. When I went through RCIA I was shocked by some of the things that were presented to me as acceptable Catholic teaching. My RCIA director and DRE was a dissenting Catholic Sister of Mercy (RSM) and we actually had a “show-of-hands” session one evening where a some questions were asked one of which (in a room of about twenty people) was “How many here think Sister would be a better Pastor than Fr. --------?” and most of the hands in the room went up and Sister was beaming. One of the other questions in the room was “How many think women should be Priests?” and again most of the hands went up including the only other woman who was there to get Baptized besides me. Mine didn’t go up. Of course Sister didn’t raise her hand but she was the one asking all the questions. It was then that I became aware of the daring of those engaged in heresy. I’ve recognized on more than one occasion that not everyone in the pews these days believes the same as I do.

God bless us all.

Welcome to all those coming in. I sincerely hope you are engaged with better Catholics than the ones I had for RCIA. My heart still aches for some of what went on.

Glenda
 
Hi All, Just wanted to say how much I’m looking forward to being received into the Catholic Church in less than 2 weeks. It feels like I’ve been waiting for a long time, but the Easter Vigil will soon be here! 🙂
 
Ssmats said:
Hi All, Just wanted to say how much I’m looking forward to being received into the Catholic Church in less than 2 weeks. It feels like I’ve been waiting for a long time, but the Easter Vigil will soon be here! 🙂
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I looking forward to it to, been two years of trying to get into a RICA group never happened and then I meet a priest that helped me himself and allowed me to bring my young children along, Im so nervous, my twin sister is traveling over 300 miles just for the Easter Vigil so my children aren’t left alone.
 
I felt there were hurdles on the way too.

For us converts, we aren’t likely to join the Catholic Church because it’s quick and easy.
In my case a major change in my life led to a growing awareness of an underlying religious sense.
I began a study of different Churches, and it was in the Catholic Church that I found the Truth that I was searching for.
 
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