Office of Worship > RCIA Rite of Election: The Liturgy in Detail
Parking will be available at the Cathedral Parking lot on Main Street, and on the streets near the Cathedral. There will be a police officer on duty outside of the Cathedral. If the weather is good, you may want to assemble your group outside the Cathedral before we begin. However, please urge your group to arrive and assemble early, then to enter the Cathedral together. Please MAKE and have ALL candidates for Election and the Call to Continuing Conversion, and sponsors and godparents, WEAR name tags from your own parish. Please put the person’s name and parish on the name tag and print the name in large letters. We will NOT provide name tags at the Cathedral. Parishes have catechumens, candidates, team members, and sponsors who are composed of many diverse cultures and ethnic heritages. If any wish to do so, please encourage the wearing of dress which reflects one’s cultural heritage. We will begin promptly at 1:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Please advise your group to be in and seated in the Cathedral by 12:45 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. Practice will begin promptly at 15 minutes prior to starting the ceremony. Ask your group to arrive early and be seated. PLEASE USE THE FRONT DOORS OF THE CATHEDRAL, unless it is raining, and then use the covered side door to the right of the Cathedral.
We will use a special procedure for checking in at the Cathedral. Once your group has arrived and ready to enter the Cathedral, your parish contact or your designate, should go to the building next to the Cathedral, the Cathedral Parish Hall.
On the glass walls, adjacent to the covered walkway, to the left of the entrance to the Hall find your parish list of unbaptized catechumens and baptized candidates for full communion.
Check the list of names against those that are positively attending the Rite.
From there, go into the Parish Hall to the table marked “REGISTER HERE.” It is important that your parish REGISTER so that your parish name will be marked off as present.
At this desk, please indicate if there are ANY changes in your parish list of unbaptized catechumens or baptized candidates attending. ANY ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS TO THE LIST OF CATECHMENS CAN BE DONE AT THIS TIME. If your parish only had candidates, and none are present, please let this be known as you register. Once this has been done, go into the Cathedral and the ushers will escort your unbaptized catechumens baptized candidates for full communion, sponsors, godparents, pastor and team members to their seats.
Each parish will have reserved pews, the number of pews depending on the size of the group indicated. This will make it easier for ushers to seat late comers. Family members of the candidates for Election and the Call to Continuing Conversion will be seated in the non reserved section. Please follow the usher’s instructions. We ask that you, as the parish contact, have a seat reserved at the end of the pew so that you might easily exit your pew. Advise the candidates for Election and candidates for Full Communion and company to read through the program they will receive so they are aware of the responses and movements. Please keep the Book of Enrollment with you in the pew until it is time for you to come forward to the sanctuary area.
You will note that the printed list of names of the baptized candidates for Full Communion, in the program, is accurate as of a certain date. Changes, additions, and deletions were not possible to the printed list after that date. We apologize to those whose names were not submitted prior to this date.
Immediately following the homily, there will be an invitation given for all unbaptized catechumens to come forward with their godparents/sponsors. Adult catechumens and sponsors will be invited to come forward first; then children (refers to children/adolescents) with their parents and sponsors.
However, parents (with sponsors) will have the option of coming forward without their children (with adults) or waiting to come forward with their children (together). They will stand before the bishop. The bishop will stand at the bottom level of the sanctuary and have the assembled catechumens and sponsors stand in the sanctuary area around the altar table, facing the Cathedral Assembly. As the
catechumenal group will be moving into the sanctuary area, please remind them to WALK CAREFULLY, WATCHING THEIR STEPS, AS THE CATHEDRAL SANCTUARY HAS A NUMBER OF LEVELS. USHERS WILL BE THERE TO ASSIST THEM. The bishop will inquire of the sponsors/godparents about the sincerity of the catechumen’s journey of faith.
Please ask the sponsors/godparents from your group to answer LOUDLY so that the Assembly can hear them. We need to hear their voices! Catechumens will likewise be asked about their desire to enter into the full baptismal life of Christ in the Church. Again, please prepare your catechumens so they can answer LOUDLY. They will be asked to respond as a group.
Before the catechumens are called by name, the Catechist at the podium will invite the PARISH REPRESENTATIVES WITH THE BOOK OF THE ELECT to come forward into the sanctuary.
The parish representative, holding the Book of the Elect, will stand as much as possible in two lines, facing each other. [Imagine, the Cathedral laid out in a north/south direction…when the parish representatives are in the Sanctuary, they would be facing east-west.] Then, as their parish’s catechumens are called [each set of catechumens will be called by announcing their Parish First ] the parish representative will open the Book of the Elect, walk up to Bishop Muench to show him the open page, remain until all names are read and then go to his or her place holding the Book of the Elect open for Assembly to see until she or he gets back into their pew. The representative must watch their step! Each catechumen is to respond individually: “HERE I AM LORD.” Please ask the catechumen responding to answer in a LOUD VOICE TO HIS/HER OWN NAME. The catechumen’s name will be called only TWICE.
Please be sure to tell the person at the registration table, before you enter the Cathedral, if a catechumen is not present for the ceremony so his/her name will not be called.
Godparents/sponsors will be invited to place their hand on the shoulder of the one whom they are sponsoring during a certain part of the ceremony. Please follow the directions given at that time.
Following the act of Election and an admonition by the bishop to the entire group, all will be in invited to be seated. A song will accompany the procession of the group back to their place in the Assembly.
Once all have been seated, Candidates for Continuing Conversion (the baptized) will be recognized. This recognition will take place by parishes in Deaneries. For each Deanery, the baptized candidates from each parish will be invited to stand. Then, a statement will be made to these standing candidates, to which there will be spoken response by the candidates from the entire Deanery. It will go as follows:
CATECHIST: The Church calls the baptized candidates from _________________________Parish.
Once all the baptized candidates from each parish in a particular Deanery have been called, the Catechist will ask:
CATECHIST: The Lord calls you to continue your conversion…what is your response?
From these parishes all will respond together: “HERE I AM LORD!”
The candidates will remain standing in their place during the entire rest of the service which deals with the Call to Continuing Conversion. At a specific point, the candidate’s sponsors will be asked to stand in place next to them.
Please prepare your baptized candidates for this part of the service in which they will respond. Ask them to respond in a LOUD voice.
Once all the baptized candidates have been recognized, they, together with their sponsors will be recognized by the Assembly and receive a call and admonition by the bishop.
Please note that the bishop will NOT sign any of the Books of the Elect. The Book of the Elect is properly to be signed by the UNBAPTIZED ONLY at the Parish Rite of Sending. As noted previously, the Books of the Elect will be present during the calling of the names of the unbaptized. They will NOT be presented for signing as had been done in previous years.
Since the bishop will not be signing the Book of the Elect at the Cathedral, and only the unbaptized catechumens are to sign the Book of the Elect, the previous edition of the Rite of Sending no longer should be used. The rite which should be used is found in the RCIA RITES BOOK, Appendix, I: Combined Rites, #2 “Parish Celebration for Sending Catechumens for Election and Candidates for Recognition by the bishop. This is a combined rite which highlights the special value of both the catechumens and candidates with the support of the assembly on that first Sunday of Lent. If you are unable to find this rite, please call the Office of Worship and it will be supplied to you.
Light refreshments will be served in the St, Joseph Cathedral Hall and there is limited seating. Please encourage your parish groups to walk over after your service. There will be a receiving line for the bishop and he will do his best to meet you. With time restraints, no individual pictures are encouraged, but group pictures may be taken. Please have all groups together in advance.
With the size of the Rite of Election, it is necessary to hold 2 services. In an effort to be fair, parishes will rotate between the early and later service each year. We have divided up the deaneries for the two services. Hopefully, this will simplify any confusion as to which service to attend. Please see our website for your parish assignment (more information at the end of this letter in bold).
If you need a copy e-mailed to you or faxed, please contact our Office of Worship 225-242-0120. When you enter the Cathedral, the ushers will have your seating assignments and direct you to your pews. Please remember that the numbers that you report of your registration will reflect in the number of seats reserved for you. With limited seating only the catechumens, candidates, parents of children, Godparents, sponsors and team members will have reserved seating. With the size of our services, we regret that there is no open seating. Please have all other family members attend your Rite of Sending at your home parish so that all can attend. We appreciate your good spirit and look forward to sharing the Rite with all of you on the First Sunday of Lent.