Every Easter Vigil, in parishes across the world, adults are baptized, confirmed and receive the Eucharist for the first time, and other adults already baptized in other Christian communities are received into full communion with the Catholic Church. The path that brings them there is the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, the OCIA, known in English until recently as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults or RCIA. It is not a class but a journey in stages, each marked by a liturgical rite, that restores the ancient catechumenate of the early Church. This guide gives the whole road in order, so that an inquirer, a sponsor or a parishioner can see where each step leads.

What you need

• A parish: the OCIA is always lived in a particular community, not online or alone
• A willingness to take part in Sunday Mass from the beginning, even before you can receive Communion
• Your baptismal certificate, if you were baptized in another Christian community
• Patience: the journey is measured in seasons, not weeks

When to pray it

Inquiry can begin at any time of year. The Rite of Election is celebrated on the First Sunday of Lent, the scrutinies on the third, fourth and fifth Sundays of Lent, the sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil, and mystagogy through the Easter season.

Steps

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   Step 1: Know who the OCIA is for

   The Order is written first for adults who have never been baptized; they are called inquirers, then catechumens, then the elect, and they receive all three sacraments of initiation, Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist, at the Easter Vigil. It is adapted for baptized Christians of other communities who seek full communion with the Catholic Church; they are called candidates, are never re-baptized, and are received by a profession of faith followed by Confirmation and the Eucharist, which need not be at the Vigil. It is adapted again for baptized Catholics who were never taught the faith or confirmed, who prepare for Confirmation and first Communion. Children of catechetical age follow the same path in a form suited to them.

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   Step 2: The period of inquiry

   The first period, called evangelization and precatechumenate, has no fixed length and no rite to begin it. Inquirers meet with the parish's OCIA team, ask their questions, hear the Gospel proclaimed, come to Sunday Mass, and begin to know Catholics. Nothing is asked of them but honesty and attendance. Its purpose is initial conversion: coming to want to follow Christ in his Church. When an inquirer and the parish agree that this has happened, the inquirer asks to be accepted as a catechumen. Someone from the parish, a sponsor, accompanies them from this point.

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   Step 3: The Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens

   The first liturgical step, usually celebrated at a Sunday Mass, is the Rite of Acceptance. The inquirers gather at the church door with their sponsors, are asked what they seek from God's Church ('Faith'), and what faith offers ('Eternal life'), and promise to follow the way of the Gospel; the priest signs their forehead, and often their ears, eyes, lips, heart, shoulders, hands and feet, with the cross, and they are welcomed into the church for the Liturgy of the Word. From this day they are catechumens, joined to the Church, with a right to Christian burial and to marriage in the Church. Baptized candidates celebrate instead a Rite of Welcoming, without the signing at the door.

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   Step 4: The catechumenate

   The catechumenate is the long central period: formation in the four dimensions the Order names, catechesis in the whole of Catholic teaching, familiarity with the Christian way of life through the community, the liturgy, and apostolic witness. Catechumens attend Sunday Mass with the community and, in most parishes, are dismissed after the homily to reflect on the Word together, since they cannot yet share in the Eucharist. Blessings, minor exorcisms and anointings with the oil of catechumens mark the period. The United States norms ask that it last at least a year. When a catechumen is judged ready, the parish presents them to the bishop.

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   Step 5: The Rite of Election

   On the First Sunday of Lent, usually at the cathedral, the bishop celebrates the Rite of Election or Enrollment of Names. The godparents, chosen by now, testify that the catechumens have listened to God's word, walked in his way and joined in the community's prayer; the catechumens write or have their names written in the Book of the Elect; and the bishop declares them elect, chosen by God for the Easter sacraments. From this day they are called the elect. Baptized candidates may take part in a parallel Call to Continuing Conversion. The rite marks the turn from formation to final preparation.

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   Step 6: Purification and enlightenment: the scrutinies

   Lent is the period of purification and enlightenment, kept with the whole Church. On the third, fourth and fifth Sundays of Lent the elect celebrate the three scrutinies, rites of self-searching and repentance with the Gospels of the Samaritan woman, the man born blind and the raising of Lazarus, in which the community prays for them and the priest prays the exorcism and lays hands on each. In the same weeks the Church hands on to them the Creed and the Lord's Prayer▾ in the two presentations. The How to Participate in the Scrutinies guide gives these rites in detail. On Holy Saturday morning the elect gather for the preparation rites and keep the day in prayer and fasting.

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   Step 7: The Easter Vigil: Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist

   On Holy Saturday night, at the Easter Vigil, after the fire, the Paschal candle, the Exsultet and the readings of salvation history, the elect are called forward. The Litany of the Saints is sung, the water blessed, and each renounces sin and professes the faith in the words of the Apostles' Creed▾, is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is clothed in a white garment and given a candle lit from the Paschal candle, and is confirmed with sacred chrism. The whole assembly renews its own baptismal promises. Then, for the first time, the newly baptized receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Candidates for reception, if received that night, make their profession of faith and are confirmed at this point. The How to Prepare for the Easter Vigil guide walks through the night.

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   Step 8: Mystagogy

   Initiation does not end at the Vigil. The Easter season, from Easter to Pentecost, is the period of mystagogy, in which the neophytes, the newly baptized, deepen their grasp of the mysteries they have received by living them: Sunday Mass with the community, especially the Masses of the Easter season, reflection on the sacraments, and a growing share in the parish's life and mission. In the United States the parish is asked to keep gathering the neophytes for at least a year after their initiation. Baptism is a beginning; the neophyte's first year is where the Church learns whether it has made a disciple or only performed a rite.

Tips

• There are three different situations: the unbaptized (catechumens), baptized non-Catholic Christians (candidates for reception), and baptized Catholics never catechised or confirmed. Ask which one you are; the rites differ.
• A valid baptism is never repeated. If you were baptized with water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, you will not be baptized again.
• The United States norms envisage about a year of formation for catechumens, usually from one Easter season to the next, but the length is set by your readiness, not the calendar.
• Raise any previous marriage, yours or your spouse's, at the first meeting; it may need to be addressed and is better begun early.