Saints LightBecoming Catholic: Your OCIA Companion
A step by step companion for the journey into the Catholic Church, from your first inquiry class to the Easter Vigil and beyond. It also welcomes Catholics who are finding their way home after years away.
The lessons
- What Is OCIA, and How Does It Work?
OCIA is the Church's step by step path for adults becoming Catholic: four periods of growing faith, marked by public rites, leading to the sacraments at Easter.
- Which Path Is Yours?
If you are unbaptized you are a catechumen preparing for Baptism; if you are already validly baptized you are a candidate, and your baptism is honored, not repeated.
- How Do I Choose a Sponsor or Godparent?
Choose a confirmed, practicing Catholic who will pray for you and walk with you; the Church sets a few clear requirements so the role means something.
- What Happens at the Rite of Acceptance and the Rite of Election?
At the Rite of Acceptance you are signed with the Cross and become a catechumen; at the Rite of Election the Church declares that God has chosen you for the sacraments at Easter.
- What Are the Scrutinies?
The Scrutinies are not tests but prayers in which the Church asks Christ to heal and free the elect, using the Gospels of living water, sight and new life.
- How Do I Make My First Confession?
Confession is a simple conversation in which you name your sins, receive a penance, pray for forgiveness, and hear Christ forgive you through the priest, who can never repeat what you said.
- What Will Happen at the Easter Vigil?
At the Easter Vigil the Church moves from darkness to light, tells the story of salvation, and then baptizes, confirms and gives First Communion to those entering the Church.
- After Easter: How Do I Not Drift Away?
After Easter, stay close to Sunday Mass, a parish community, Confession, prayer and learning, the same habits that kept the first Christians faithful.
- Coming Home: What If I Have Been Away for Years?
If you have been away, the way back starts with Confession and Sunday Mass, and any marriage questions are best brought to a priest, who can explain convalidation or annulment for your situation.
Take Becoming Catholic in the app
This course is free in the app too, with progress tracking, a guided class for each lesson and a certificate when you finish.
Every course is open free for your first 14 days. After that, one payment of $14.99 unlocks every course. There is no subscription.