This is a program we also offer in the Parish for adults who wish to become Catholics or for those who have already been Baptized but have not been confirmed  or received other sacraments.

The R.C.I.A.(Adult baptism program) offered by the Raheen/Mungret/ Crecora Parish dips into the traditions of the early teachings and offer the three sacraments of Baptism, confirmation , and the Holy Eucharist as one ceremony at midnight Mass on Easter Saturday. We link in with other parishes offering the program for specific parts of the preparations. 

In the Church of the first three centuries adult Baptism was the norm. Those who were interested in Christianity were invited to join the Christian community on a journey of faith. Those who accepted the invitation became candidates for the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist). The candidates were called catechumens and entered into a step-by-step process toward full membership in the Church. This process was called the catechumenate. Joining the Church in the early centuries and even today for adults is no easy matter. The baptismal commitment is not to be taken lightly.

The entire Church in the past would pray for and with the catechumens, instructing them in gospel values, sharing with them the faith life of the Church and celebrating the stages of their faith journey with special rituals of welcoming and belonging. A person's coming to faith—or conversion to Christianity—was looked upon as a community responsibility.

The final Lent before the initiation was a special time for catechumens. It was like a 40-day retreat including prayer, fasting and other forms of self-scrutiny as they prepared to accept the faith and be received in the Church. Lent started out as the Church's official preparation for Baptism which was celebrated only once a year at the Easter Vigil. That is why the Scripture readings for the liturgies of Lent and Easter are so heavily filled with baptismal allusions.

Unfortunately, this beautiful, community-supported journey to faith was short-lived. With the conversion of the Emperor Constantine in 313, joining the Christian Church became fashionable, the thing to do. The standards of the catechumenate were relaxed, and people were simply baptized on request.

By the beginning of the fifth century, the catechumenate process itself had virtually disappeared. The sacraments of initiation became three separate sacraments celebrated at separate times. Soon adult Baptisms declined, infant Baptism became the norm and the process and theology of Christian initiation of adults as practiced in the early Church became a lost art.