Rite of Welcome

In the overall plan for becoming a Catholic called the Catechumenate, there are rites which precede Baptism, or in the case of those already baptised in other Christian Churches, they precede the rite of Reception into the Church.

The first of these other rites is the Rite of Welcome which was celebrated last Sunday during Masses at our Lady of Good Counsel and Our Lady of Victories.

The word ‘welcome’ sums up this rite. It is the first formal step into the life of the Church and into explicit communion with Christ. After a short initial dialogue along with the affirmation of the candidates by their sponsors and the acclaim of the assembled community, the person being initiated is signed on several parts of the body with the cross. They are signed on the forehead, the ears, the eyes, the lips, the breast, the shoulders, the hands and the feet. These signings are done by sponsors, members of the catechumenate group, family members or other parishioners. With each signing there is an accompanying formula appropriate to that part of the body. So for instance as the ears are signed, the following words are said: “Receive the sign of the cross on your ears that you may hear the voice of the Lord’.

Finally, the celebrant says as he makes the sign of the cross over the person: “I sign you with the sign of eternal life in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”.

This is a moving and significant rite which claims the person for Christ and begins to draw them into the community of the Church, setting them on the path to full communion.

Congratulations to Patricia Watkinson who was welcomed into the community at Our Lady of Victories and Lena May who was welcomed at Our Lady of Good Counsel.  We ask you to continue to pray for these candidates and Mark Furnival-Jones, as they continue their preparation for full reception into the Catholic church.

Patricia Watkinson (above), Main image: Lena May