A SEASON OF SPONSORSHIP
Responding to the Call of RCIA
Holy Saturday, a gentle April night. The Order of the Elect is gathered around the
courtyard fire at St. Edward Church, together with priest and deacon. Other ministers are at
hand. And circling all are the committed parishioners, lining the vague periphery of the brazier’s
flickering light. Tonight is the Celebration of the Easter Vigil – the finest rite of all the treasures
of the Church.
And I, too, am here.
Father blesses the New Fire. The Paschal Candle is lit. The Elect begin tracing their
private ways to form in file behind the ministers. Though not of the Elect, I am allotted my own
honored place within the orderly procession. For me, the observance of this Lucernarium – or
Service of Light – holds an added meaning to what is already a solemn event. Why? What
makes this particular night so special? I have attended many Lucernaria throughout the years.
But now, this season, I participate in an extraordinary way. I am a Sponsor of the Rite of
Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA), marching in union with the faithful Elect as they journey
homeward to that spiritual communion which finds its substance and fullness in Holy Mother the
Church.
The doors open, inviting us in from the courtyard. Those with eyes for peering into other
realms may have recognized the crowned and hoary-bearded gentleman beckoning us to enter:
he is St. Edward the Confessor, patron of the parish, who had sat the throne of England a
thousand years past. His robust “Hail!” gladdens those with ears attuned. We process by him
through the narthex, into the sanctuary. I reflect for a moment on the Journey of Faith we have
undertaken, are still undertaking, will continue to undertake. It began in September, when our
Elect were known simply as Inquirers. During that time, the Period of Inquiry, these spiritual
seekers were introduced to the fundamentals of Catholic belief and practice. Those choosing to
continue their journey sought reception into the Order of the Catechumenate through the Rite of
Acceptance and Welcome. If unbaptized, the Inquirer then progressed to the status of
Catechumen. If baptized, the status of Candidate. And each then chose a Sponsor to accompany
him or her as a spiritual companion, mentor, guide, advisor, and trusted friend. Together we
continued with their formation and catechesis. Faith and the experience of drawing closer to the
Living God were our focus. As the Lenten Season approached, those who had made an interior
commitment to serve the Lord in full communion resolved to mark their decision at the Rite of
Election. On the first Sunday of Lent we assembled at St. Henry Church. (Again, those with
eyes to penetrate realms took delight in a hearty reception from this church’s patron, St. Henry
the Good, whom Pope Benedict VIII had crowned Holy Roman Emperor in those yesteryears
when St. Edward was still a lad.) Our disciples-in-training were presented to the diocesan bishop
for the official enrollment of their names in the Book of the Elect. On this day they transitioned.
No longer were they Catechumen or Candidate. They were now the Elect. And with the
penitential season of Lententide underway, they entered a period of purification and
enlightenment leading up to the celebration of initiation. This final preparation – marked by
prayer, study, reflection, and spiritual direction – was commemorated with a retreat to the
Cathedral of the Incarnation, where we gathered for the Rites of Scrutiny; three Scrutinies in all,
each one building on the other.
Now the hour is upon us. This night, the “mother of all vigils” according to the Missale
Romanum, and the “greatest and most noble of all solemnities,” has come. The Elect, paired
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with their Sponsors, trail behind the celebrant, concelebrants and altar servers as they process
down the center aisle of the sanctuary. The baptized hold unlit candles, the unbaptized do not.
Candlelight is a sign of the Lord indwelling the christened soul; one by one we the baptized lay
our wicks into the flame of the Paschal Candle. The unbaptized Elect will receive their candles
following their own christenings. We take our pews, surrounded by guests, family, friends, and
our fellow parishioners, the mainstays of the congregation. Together our candles throw back the
shadows, a host of flames illumining the darkened sanctuary like a starry night descended to
earth. We fall under the spell of the Exsultet, chanted in a voice as clean and clear as crystal.
Our particular moment comes later, after the Liturgy of the Word. For a time that can only be
measured in heartbeats, the Elect wait in pure and profound silence, eyes wide with exhilaration,
eagerness, awe. Then, in the anticipation of an instant, the Celebration of the Sacraments of
Initiation begins.
The unbaptized Elect are called to the baptismal font. Their Sponsors accompany them.
As they stand before the assembly, the cantors intone the Litany of the Saints. In the excess of
my wonder I sense our congregation speedily growing in strength and number. Yes, our ranks
are now complemented, enveloped, by the Communion of Saints. The unbaptized renounce sin,
profess faith. Their old selves are drowned in holy water and reborn in Christ. They are a new
configuration now. The sacramental mark of the Lord has sealed their souls forever. It is a
miracle the saints and angels never tire of witnessing. Neither should we. The newly-christened
are clothed in baptismal garments and presented a lighted candle. Now every one of the Elect is
configured to Christ. In the language of our forebears, each soul has advanced from the primary
and fundamental state of being a Baptizand to the consequent state of a Confirmand, now fitted
to receive the profusion of the Spirit and His seven gifts. The Rite of Reception can begin.
Father musters the whole company of Confirmandi to stand before the dais. Their
Sponsors march in step behind them, like squires attending their knights. In olden days, when
the likes of St. Edward and St. Henry were themselves confirmed, it was the prevailing notion
that the maturing, fortifying action of the sacrament transformed one into a soldier of Christ.
The soul was thereby equipped with the armaments of the Trinity, empowered to fight the war
between good and evil, light and darkness. The same goes today.
But the soldiers of Christ do not battle alone. It is the ancient custom that a Confirmand
adopt the name of a canonized saint, a name to assume as his or her own. It is done in order to
embrace the saint as a heavenly patron, a personal protector and guide. Once confirmed, none
should ever fear the campaigns of spiritual warfare; with a saintly defender of our own choosing
on the one hand, and a guardian angel assigned to us at the moment of our conception on the
other, we are securely flanked on both sides!
A minister brings the oil of chrism to the celebrant priest. “What is your name?” he asks
the first Confirmand. The Sponsor answers in his Confirmand’s stead, revealing the identity of
his chosen saint. The celebrant dips his right thumb in the chrism and anoints the recipient with
the Sign of the Cross. “Be sealed in the Holy Spirit.” One by one each is anointed. And one by
one, as his or her name is invoked, a saint steps forward from the great Cloud of Witnesses to
stand as benefactor beside the newly confirmed. We are joined at the dais by such worthies as
the learned St. Augustine, the resilient St. Joan of Arc, the loving St. Anthony Mary Claret, the
fiery St. Brigid, and more. At the final anointing, we stand as a single company of believers
sealed in the Spirit, united firmly to Christ.
The Sacraments of Initiation are three. Baptism and Confirmation lead to the third, Holy
Eucharist, the source and summit of the Christian life. The congregation is invited to a renewal
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of their baptismal promises – the renunciation of sin, the profession of faith – and they are bathed
with the healing rain of holy water. The Liturgy of the Eucharist begins. The Epiclesis is
invoked. Maybe those with the vision, those who saw St. Edward at the door, those who
presently see the saints and angels surrounding us, now witness the transubstantiation of the
offering of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. That is a grace. But blessed are
those who do not see yet believe. And now at last our neonate congregants, born afresh by
Baptism and strengthened by the Sacrament of Confirmation, receive in First Communion the
food of eternal life.
On this holy night, the Vigil, the Church keeps watch. It is the hinge of the Easter
Triduum. In unity we commemorate Christ’s passage from death to life. As for me, I suppose
my sponsorial duties have formally ended. I will remain with the Neophytes, as the newly
initiated are called, throughout the sessions of Mystagogy until the Feast of Pentecost. Together
we will reflect on the Mystery of God, explore ways to develop our interior life as well as our
communal life in the Church. But let us not abandon the moment. For right now we are seated
side by side in the pews, brothers and sisters in Christ. And we are friends. In my heart I know
that the Body of Christ is greatly strengthened this night.
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