Hooo boy, so it’s been a while, hasn’t it? But fear not, not only am I still making my journey through RCIA, I’m all scheduled to officially become a catechumen at the beginning of November.
So here’s a rundown of what I’ve been up to in the mean time:
RCIA started in my parish officially at the start of September. Initially, around 10 people came to the first session, but this number has slowed to a trickle of between 3-5 of us, depending on the week.
Everyone else in the group is already baptized, so I’m the only one who will officially become a catechumen rather than a candidate. Because of this, I will not be dismissed at Mass, (because I guess that would be awkward.)
I’m one of three of us in the 20-30 age group, and two in the group are over 50, (who it must be noted, show up much more regularly.)
Every Sunday, we participate in a guided bible study and prayer session, followed by Mass.
During my inquiry, I was also given a copy of ‘33 Days to Morning Glory’ by my RCIA director, which is a DIY Marian Consecration retreat, and I’d highly recommend it. I especially loved reading about the concept of the Immaculata, which describes Mary as being, in a way, born with the life purpose to become the spouse of the personage of the Holy Spirit.
I completed my Marian Consecration on October 7th, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. As a token of the consecration, have ordered an antique French Miraculous Medal, minted in 1881. Which I also found out is the birth year of St. Pope John XXIII, who opened the Second Vatican Counsel.
The day before my consecration that rainy Sunday in the Church Garden, my boyfriend M. and I visited an elderly member of my parish to help her with her record player. In thanks she gifted me a brown scapular, which I have been wearing every day and striving to fulfill the requirements of, (which I am told is to wear it continually, remain chaste according to my state of life, and to either pray one of the prayers of The Little Office of Our Lady daily, or to abstain from meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays.)
And now, I’m tasked with finding Godparents (a bit confusing to me) and the greater task of finding my my patron saint. Which really is a task. I have about 20 lined up on a note card.
Do I, an artist and musician, chose a patron saint of the arts like St. Catherine of Bologna or St. Cecilia? Do I choose badass musician, scientist and botanist St. Hildegard of Bingen who wrote her own Gregorian Chants? The somewhat melancholic St. Faustina who wrote extensively on purgatory and whose visions detailed the Divine Mercy? Or Jewish-raised contemporary philosopher St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, who converted less than a decade before she was martyred in a concentration camp in WWII. Every day there’s another saint to enthrall and jumble up the already difficult choice.
Reading more of scripture, as well as the historical speculation of early manuscripts of the Bible and related texts, I am so struck by the absolute depth and complexity of the mystery of the Church, which is a bit vexing to know that I’ll never fully understand.
Reading primers on The Theology of the Body, I am overtaken by a greater sense of dignity for my body and vocation as a woman. I feel a deeper desire, and a stronger foundation, to build greater respect for myself and my future, because I can see the intention in myself physically. This has been one of the most transformative and uplifting branches of my study so far.
I’m in great anticipation of finding a way to really bridge and communicate for others the dualism of my secular and atheist upbringing with this sudden blossoming of Christian faith, which mystifies me as much as it does the people around me. I admit that I struggle to find the words only because they are so many. It feels like a mammoth project.
So I’ll pray for the ability to distill it into something accessible, while my perspectives from these two divided vantages is still so clear; while my path is still illuminated in its recency. I feel it’s a duty of sorts for others who might be on the same path, God willing.
Anyways, sorry for the wall o’text. It’s been a month coming.
More to come soon, and in smaller bits. With love.