OCIC

Order of Christian Initiation of Children

Faith Formation Office Hours: Monday-Thursday from 9am-3pm

Program Overview

Order of Christian Initiation of Children is for any youth 7-17 years old who desires to be in Full Communion with the Catholic Church.

Sacrament Preparation is a two-year process, beginning as early as 1st grade.

While preparation will vary for each child’s situation, please see the general program details outlined below.

The age of reason is recognized as 7-years-old.

If your child is younger than 7-years-old and unbaptized, please contact our Parish Secretary.

Any youth ages 18 and 19-years-old who are still in high school can also prepare through the OCIC.

Once youth graduate high school, they typically will prepare through the OCIA as an adult.

OCIC, or the Order of Christian Initiation of Children, is the process for children to enter into Full Communion with the Catholic Church. To be in Full Communion, children prepare to complete their Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism for those unbaptized (or a Profession of Faith for those already baptized in a recognized Trinitarian form), Confirmation, and First Holy Communion.

As mentioned above, the age of reason is recognized as 7-years-old. Any child who is 7-years-old or older, understands the foundational teachings and traditions of the Catholic faith, and can articulate their desire to be initiated into the Catholic Church is welcome to join the OCIC program. 

At St. Luke, OCIC, like all programs for youth Sacrament Preparation, requires at least two years of catechesis and formation. The first year is typically age-appropriate content based on the kerygma, the foundational proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In the second year, youth will go deeper into Church teaching and tradition, with special emphasis on the Sacraments. Youth will also attend Sacramental Retreats to help them prepare for First Reconciliation, Confirmation, and First Holy Communion. In union with the universal Church, children will be received into Full Communion with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil of their second year of preparation.

OCIC is for any youth ages 7 to 17-years old who are either unbaptized or are baptized outside of the Catholic faith. Those who are unbaptized enter preparation for OCIC as catechumens, and they will spend two years preparing to receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion at the Easter Vigil. Those who are baptized Christian enter preparation as candidates, and they will spend two years preparing to make their Profession of Faith and to receive Confirmation and Holy Communion at the Easter Vigil.

For all youth baptized outside of the Catholic faith, it is necessary to consider the validity and non-validity of each youth’s Baptism. The Catholic Church recognizes the validity of Baptism by other Christian traditions when the proper matter and form are used – the proper matter being water poured over the youth’s head or the immersion of the youth in water and the proper form being the minister speaking the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The last condition for validity is the proper intention of both the minister “to baptize” and the recipient (or recipient’s parents and godparents) “to be baptized”. The validity or non-validity of the Baptism determines whether youth prepare as catechumen or as candidates.

Youth who are baptized Catholic can complete their Sacramental Initiation at any time and therefore will not prepare through the OCIC. Please visit the First Holy Communion and Confirmation links for more information. 

 

 

Children in kindergarten through 5th grade will spend two years in Sancti Simus, our elementary faith formation program on Sunday mornings, learning in classes with their peers. Sancti Simus utilizes the Word of Life series, the joint fruit of Augustine Institute and Ignatius Press. Word of Life uses four golden catechetical threads to provide faithful teaching and explain why the faith is relevant in our modern culture: Salvation History, Christian Anthropology, Heroic Virtue & Character Formation, and Learning through Discipleship.

 

During Year 2 of preparation, children will also complete Faith Fusion: Elementary at home, a book that provides a comprehensive introduction to Catholic teaching. This book contains four units, each corresponding to one of the four pillars of the Catholic faith: the Creed (what the Church believes), the Sacraments (what the Church celebrates), the Commandments (what the Church lives), and the Our Father (what the church prays).

 

 

At St. Luke, we do not have catechetical classes for our middle school youth. Youth in 6th-8th grades will spend two years either attending Carpe Diem, our middle school youth group, or utilizing a Confirmation preparation program at home (e.g. YOUCAT, Decision Point by Dynamic Catholic, Chosen: Your Journey to Confirmation by Ascension Press).

 

During Year 2 of preparation, youth will also complete Faith Fusion: Junior High at home, a book that provides a comprehensive introduction to Catholic teaching. This book contains four units, each corresponding to one of the four pillars of the Catholic faith: the Creed (what the Church believes), the Sacraments (what the Church celebrates), the Commandments (what the Church lives), and the Our Father (what the church prays).

Youth in 9th-12th grades will spend their two years of preparation in the Parish Confirmation Class.  Year 1 focuses on foundational teachings of the Catholic Church and where we can find these teachings in Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Year 2 focuses on the kerygma, the foundational proclamation of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

 

In addition to Confirmation classes, youth and their parents and/or sponsors will dive into the Sacraments by viewing and discussing the following Formed series by Augustine Institute: Symbolon for Teens.

Requirements of Sacrament Preparation for the OCIC

The mission is to more actively engage our youth during their time of Sacramental preparation.

In the Diocese of Raleigh, sacramental preparation is a two-year process. Enrollment with our parish’s Faith Formation Office is required for reception into Full Communion with the Catholic Church. Therefore, in order to receive the Sacraments of Initiation, all youth must be enrolled with Faith Formation for their two years in the OCIC program.

Registration for Sacrament Preparation occurs at our mandatory Sacrament Family Meeting. Multiple dates and times are offered in 2024:

      • Wednesday, 7/24 | 6:30-7:30pm
      • Thursday, 8/8 | 2:00-3:00pm
      • Tuesday, 8/13 | 6:30-7:30pm

Families must attend meetings at the beginning of both Year 1 and Year 2. At these meetings, we cover topics that include program requirements, Sacrament retreats, and Sacrament liturgies. Families are given paper registration forms with instructions for how to register for Sacrament Preparation. In addition to the Sacrament Preparation Registration Form, all youth in OCIC Preparation must register for catechesis in one of three ways:

When registering for Year 1 or transitioning to St. Luke for Year 2, please submit the following documents to the Director of Faith Formation, as applicable:

Certificates may be submitted in one of two ways:

Please be sure in these years of preparation for Confirmation that your family is remaining close to the sacraments, especially through regular (weekly) participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This is our highest form of worshipping the one, true God, who is all good and deserving of all our love, and your child(ren) are preparing to complete their initiation into this sacred mystery. Please witness to your child(ren) and actively participate in all parts of the Mass. Your example will stick with your child(ren) for the rest of their lives.

We are currently using the honor system for tracking your Mass attendance. Since Confirmation is a priority to your youth, then we trust you will make Mass and a relationship with the Lord a priority. If, however, we see that Mass attendance is irregular, we will institute a weekly Mass reflection to verify attendance.

All youth in Confirmation and OCIC Preparation are required to attend a Confirmation Retreat in Year 1 and Year 2, prior to receiving the Sacrament. Our retreat occurs on a Saturday in January/February, typically from 8:30am-3:30pm. During this retreat, we stay close to the Sacraments (Mass, Adoration, and Confession), hear talks on Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and spend time in personal reflection and small groups. Lunch is provided, as well as snacks throughout the retreat.

For high school-aged youth, the retreat is only for candidates; neither parents nor sponsors are required to attend, although both parents and sponsors are welcome to attend. For youth in elementary and middle school, either a parent or sponsor is required to attend; to maintain a safe environment for all youth, we desire younger children to be accompanied by a trusted adult during this retreat with high school-aged youth.

This year, our Confirmation Retreat is on Saturday, February 8, 2025:

      • OCIC Year 2 is required to attend for the duration of the retreat, 8:30am-3:30pm.
      • OCIC Year 1 is required to attend for the first half of the retreat, 8:30am-12:30pm.

If you cannot attend one or both retreats, we do not provide make-up retreats. Families are responsible for finding an alternative retreat and submitting confirmation of attendance to our Director of Religious Education before the Sacrament Mass.

These retreats are only for parents and youth in Year 2 of preparation:

      • First Reconciliation Retreat* – Saturday, October 14th, 2023 from 10-11:30am

      • First Holy Communion Retreat – Saturday, March 16th, 2024 from 10am-12pm

These liturgies are for families and youth in Year 2 of preparation: 
(youth in Year 1 are welcome to attend to witness what they are preparing for)

      • First Reconciliation Liturgy* – Saturday, December 9th, 2023 at 10am

      • Easter Vigil Mass – Saturday, April 19th, 2025 at 8:00pm

Extenuating circumstances may be taken into consideration. Please speak with our Director of Faith Formation as needed.

*First Reconciliation Retreat & Liturgy – Candidates (youth who are baptized Christian) will receive their First Reconciliation with our children preparing for First Holy Communion in December. Catechumen (youth who are unbaptized) will receive their First Reconciliation after their reception into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil; catechumen are still required to attend the First Reconciliation Retreat to help them prepare, although attendance at the First Reconciliation Liturgy is optional.

Better catechesis of our youth includes a better understanding of all aspects of the Catholic Church. Youth will choose from a (far from comprehensive) list of special Masses to attend, specific devotions or prayers, Scripture challenges, stories of Saints, etc. – all to facilitate a deeper understanding and/or encounter with our God, the Trinity. 

Youth will need to choose 10 (elementary) or 20 (middle and high school) different challenges/activities throughout the year and will need to submit a reflection for each. Reflections may be submitted using the online form or by turning in paper copies to their catechists. The list, online form, and printable copy are available in the resources at the bottom of this page. Devotion journal entries are due Sunday, April 14th, 2024.

Youth may not submit multiple reflections for the same challenge/activity – i.e. If a youth attends Adoration every Friday, they are encouraged to continue attending Adoration every Friday! For their Confirmation requirement, however, they may only use Adoration as 1 of their 20 devotional challenges/activities.

Youth may submit reflections for devotional challenges/activities that are not on the list provided. Whether the devotional counts toward their 10 or 20 is at the discretion of our Director of Faith Formation. If the devotional is approved, it will be added to the list for future years. If it is not approved, youth will be notified in class and via email.

The purpose of this letter is fourfold:

      1. to introduce the candidate/catechumen to our Pastor by describing their faith journey from Baptism, or when their search began, up to OCIC Year 2,
      2. to express why the candidate/catechumen desires to enter into Full Communion with the Catholic Church,
      3. to convey which Saint the candidate/catechumen chose for their Confirmation Name and why, and
      4. to inform our Pastor how the candidate intends to grow in and live out their faith once they are received into Full Communion.

This letter will be read by both our Pastor and our Director of Faith Formation. Candidates/catechumen are to take this letter seriously and write what is truly in their hearts. Parents are not to write this letter for their child. Please use the format provided and proofread the letter for any spelling or grammatical errors. Letters are to be typed (MLA format) and submitted to our Director of Faith Formation by the first Sunday in December.

The Advent Activity and Service Activity are not included in the count of classes. We understand that things come up, so please plan accordingly. Youth who have 3 or more absences will be contacted individually.