Q: I would appreciate your guidance on two proposed developments in our OCIA program.
My first question concerns how the dismissal should be conducted. I would like formally to dismiss only those who cannot yet receive Holy Communion: the catechumens and any candidates who have never received First Communion. The entire OCIA group would approach for the blessing and dismissal, but only those being dismissed would process out with the Lectionary. They would continue to our meeting room for the Breaking Open of the Word, while those baptized participants who have already received their First Holy Eucharist and team members returned to their pews for the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
I would also like all participants and team members to sing a very brief refrain as the dismissed participants process toward the narthex, the singing ending as they depart. I had considered Tantum Ergo, although I recognize that its Eucharistic character may make another acclamation more appropriate at this point in the Mass. Would any sung procession be suitable, and, if so, what text would you recommend?
My second question concerns sponsors. At the Easter Vigil Lucernarium, I had the Paschal flame passed in a deliberate sequence: from the catechists to the sponsors, from the sponsors to their sponsees, and then from the newly forming community to the congregation. This made the transmission of the light a visible image of accompaniment and mission rather than a merely practical task for the ushers.
I would like to deepen that symbolism with a very brief sponsor ritual, perhaps in connection with the Rite of Acceptance. Each sponsor would light the candle of the person being accompanied. This would begin the formal accompaniment. The candles would then be extinguished and preserved, used only for significant moments such as the Advent wreath, and brought forward again at the Easter Vigil Lucernarium.
Would such a ritual be liturgically and pastorally appropriate, either within the Rite of Acceptance or immediately outside it?
Thank you for considering these questions. I am trying to move our program beyond the communication of religious information toward genuine formation: incorporation into the Church’s worship, relationships, and mission. Small gestures can sometimes make an invisible grace wonderfully visible.
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A: Regarding dismissals, here’s a recent blog post: https://paulturner.org/dismissal-of-the-catechumens/ And here: https://paulturner.org/ocia/
Out of respect for our baptized brothers and sisters, the OCIA never calls for their dismissal.
The OCIA permits dismissal formulas of the unbaptized “in these or similar words” (OCIA 67), but less is more. It never calls for music, so I’m reticent to include it. An instrumental piece could suffice if the movement otherwise feels awkward.
Regarding the Easter Vigil, the missal calls for no sequence among people for passing the fire. I think it intends to make this as simple, flexible, and egalitarian as possible. All share equally in the light of Christ.
There is no lighting of a candle in the Rite for Entrance into the Catechumenate. Again, I’m nervous about introducing new symbols into a ceremony that is already rich with them. The focus should be on the images already in the rite: the door, the cross, the bible, for example.
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