Come and See
How OCIA Works at St. Anne
OCIA at St. Anne is a year-round journey of conversion and formation for adults who are exploring the Catholic faith. People come to us at different times and from very different places in their spiritual lives, so we don’t treat everyone as though they’re beginning at the same point or moving toward the same next step.
Together, we pray, open Scripture, learn the teachings of the Church, begin living the Catholic way of life, and discern where Christ is leading each person.
Why Does
the Church Take Time?
For an unbaptized person, entering the Order of Catechumens begins a true apprenticeship in the Christian life—not a countdown to the next Easter.
The Church ordinarily asks a person who has entered the Order of Catechumens to journey in the catechumenate through at least one full cycle of the liturgical year before receiving Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist, ordinarily at the Easter Vigil.
The current National Statutes state that a person who has entered the catechumenate ordinarily remains in it from at least the Easter season of one year until the beginning of the Easter season of the next year. Preferably, the catechumenate begins before Lent and continues until Easter of the following year. (USCCB National Statutes for the Christian Initiation of Adults, Norm 4).
At St. Anne we provide three windows per year for people to say yes to a life following Jesus and join the Order of Catechumens to prepare for baptism, first holy communion, and confirmation.
Reception of the sacraments is not based on the completion of a course or based on knowledge alone. It is a person’s dying and rising with Jesus Christ and entrance into an entirely new life within His Church.
Love takes time.
Friendship takes time.
Learning a new way of life takes time.
So too does learning to follow Christ.
By walking with the Church through Advent, Christmas, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost, and the ordinary days in between, catechumens do more than study the mysteries of Christ—they begin to inhabit them. They learn to wait with the Church, rejoice with the Church, repent with the Church, die and rise with Christ, receive the Holy Spirit, and live the steady daily work of discipleship.
During this time, catechumens gradually learn to pray, worship, forgive, serve, repent, entrust their suffering to Christ, participate in parish life, and order their daily lives around the Gospel. The Church takes time because she desires more for them than religious information or the completion of requirements. She desires their conversion, healing, holiness, communion with Christ, and full incorporation into the life of His people.
The OCIA journey is about helping people receive the mysteries of the sacraments as fruitfully as possible—and learning to live the abundant life those sacraments give.
This expectation applies specifically to unbaptized catechumens—those who have entered the Order of Catechumens and are preparing for Baptism. When someone becomes a catechumen they are joined to the Church in a special way and begin their formation towards baptism and full sacramental inititation. By their explicit desire and the life of faith, hope, and charity they are choosing to live, the Church embraces them as their own. They truly belong to the People of God. The Church not only accepts catechumens; she takes special care of them, introduces them to the liturgy of the Word and sacred rites, and grants them various Christian pregoratives. (Code of Canon Law, Can. 206).
Baptized Christians are not catechumens. They already share a real sacramental bond with Christ through Baptism and are accompanied as candidates for full communion according to their previous Christian formation, their individual needs, and their readiness. Their reception into the Catholic Church does not have to follow the same timetable as the Baptism of catechumens.
Different Journeys Are Not Interchangeable
Why Year Round?
God does not call people according to a school calendar. Someone may begin asking questions in August, January, or shortly after Easter. At St. Anne, people can begin exploring the Catholic faith when God begins stirring that desire in them, rather than waiting months for a new class to begin.
Year-round OCIA also gives conversion the time it needs. The goal is not simply to complete a set of lessons before Easter. The goal is to become a disciple of Jesus Christ and to be gradually formed within the prayer, worship, teaching, and community of the Catholic Church.
More Than
a Class
OCIA is not simply a course in Catholic information. It is the Church’s way of helping adults become disciples of Jesus Christ. That means formation includes the whole person: the mind, the heart, daily habits, relationships, worship, and participation in the life of the parish.
At our weekly gatherings, we open Scripture, receive the teaching of the Church, learn Catholic prayer and practices, and begin living within the rhythm of the liturgical year. We also share meals, ask honest questions, build friendships, and learn how faith is lived beyond the gathering itself.
The goal is not merely to know what Catholics believe. It is to encounter Christ and learn how to follow Him within the life of His Church.
Every Tuesday evening we gather as a community to pray, listen to the upcoming Sunday Gospel, explore the Catholic faith through Scripture and the Catechism, ask honest questions, and learn how Catholics live their faith in everyday life.
Evenings include small group discussion, prayer experiences, opportunities to learn Catholic devotions, and sharing a meal together. You don't need any prior knowledge, and no question is off limits.
Come as you are. We'll walk with you one step at a time.
What to Expect
What to Expect
OCIA at St. Anne unfolds within the actual life of the Church. Together, we move through Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Ordinary Time, the feasts of the saints, and the Sunday Gospel readings. The seasons of the Church are not simply topics we study. They shape our prayer, our practices, our gatherings, and the way we learn to follow Christ.
Over time, participants begin to experience Catholicism not merely as a collection of beliefs, but as a whole way of life—rooted in Scripture, worship, sacrament, community, and the rhythm of the liturgical year.
The Journey Through the Church Year
One Community, Individual Journeys
One Community, Individual Journeys
Everyone who comes to OCIA begins from a different place. Some are preparing for Baptism. Some are already baptized Christians seeking full communion with the Catholic Church. Others were baptized Catholic but never received First Communion or Confirmation.
We gather as one community, but we don’t assume that everyone needs the same formation or should move forward at the same pace. Each person is accompanied according to their own background, questions, spiritual growth, and readiness for the next step.
OCIA is not a graduation program. It is a journey of conversion, and discernment is personal.
St. Anne’s year-round approach is not a new invention. It reflects the Church’s restored vision for the ancient catechumenate: gradual formation in Christian life, shaped by Scripture, prayer, worship, community, and the sacred rites of the Church.
The national norms for OCIA call for serious formation, sufficient time for conversion to mature, and individual discernment rather than moving everyone through the process according to one fixed calendar. For the unbaptized, the catechumenate ordinarily extends through at least one full liturgical year. Baptized Christians are accompanied according to their previous Christian formation and their individual needs.
Our goal is not simply to prepare people for a ceremony. It is to help form lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ within the Catholic Church.
Rooted in the Church’s Vision
Ready To Begin?
Ready to Begin?
You don’t need to have everything figured out before you come.
Bring your questions, your story, and whatever desire God has placed in your heart. Whether you’re just beginning to explore the Catholic faith or you already know you’re ready to take the next step, we’d be glad to meet you and walk with you.