Dismissal of catechumens

[neo_phoneix]

Hello everyone. Today I was involved in the rite of acceptance into the order of catechumens and afterwards at morning tea there was a discussion about weather or not our parish should dismiss the catechumen (which is only me, the other woman is a candidate). Some were for and some against. I don't really mind either way - I don't receive communion

Comments

[persephiny]

I'd be interested in knowing more about it too--I am a catechumen right now, and we attend the evening Mass on Sundays after the morning dismissal Mass. We have three children, and I want them to see the consecration, as they will be receiving their First Communion with me. We go up for a blessing instead. It kind of struck me as odd that they would have the class as a whole (at my church, the catechumens and the candidates dismiss after the gospel) miss the consecration--I know other members of the class don't attend a second Mass and have only seen the other half of Mass maybe once or twice--It will be an unknown thing to them at the Easter Vigil. That would make me personally uncomfortable, as I'd want to know exactly what I'm getting into!

[lissiehoya]

I don't know anything about the significance, maybe others here do more, but I do know that this was the practice of the early Church.

However, neither early Church nor liturgy are my areas of research, so that's about all I know.

[ckrp]

The practice goes back very early in the Church.

Hippolytus' Apostolic Tradition has a good bit to say about the catechetical process and is freely available online. The whole document is very interesting, but if you want to skip to the parts on conversion and catechesis, you could start around the 15th section or so.

Also, Alan Kreider published a fairly short book called The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom, which gives a sense of the early catechetical process and its gradual diminution. Kreider isn't a Roman Catholic and he's pretty low-church and anabaptist, so you won't agree with everything he says (and neither do I), but for the non-controversial basics, I found his book very helpful. So I'd just say that, if you read it, be sure to ask questions to someone knowledgeable about anything that doesn't square with you.