With everything else going on during the Triduum, the preparation rites on Holy Saturday can get a little lost. If you are feeling overwhelmed, the first thing to know is that only one thing is required.
The elect are to be advised that on Holy Saturday they should refrain from their usual activities, spend their time in prayer and reflection, and, as far as they can, observe a fast. (RCIA 185)
If you can encourage the elect to spend the day in prayer and reflection and to fast, you will have helped them prepare for their initiation.
Plan a Liturgy of the Word for your Elect
Then, if you have a little more energy, you might also bring the elect together for some structured prayer. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults provides a series of optional rites that you can celebrate with the elect. I would suggest you also include as many other parishioners as possible.
For example, if you have a weekday Mass community, you can ask them to gather with the elect for these prayers. You could also invite the youth group. And maybe some of the music ministers and lectors. Whoever you can think of who could also benefit from some preparation before the Vigil.
So once you have everyone assembled, what do you do? It is simplest if you think of celebrating a Liturgy of the Word with a couple of additional rites added in. Many of us are familiar with planning a Liturgy of the Word service, but if you are not, someone else in the parish can help you. An ideal structure would look like this:
Opening song
Liturgical greeting (without the Sign of the Cross)
Presider: Let us praise the God of wisdom. Blessed be God forever.
All: Blessed be God forever.
First Reading
Responsorial Psalm
Gospel Acclamation
Gospel
Reflection (optional)
Celebration of the Rites Chosen
Blessing and Dismissal (see RCIA 204-205)
Some thoughts on what to include – and what not to
For the readings, there are lots of suggestions given in the RCIA (see 193-200). If this is your first time celebrating the preparation rites or if you are not too familiar with planning a Liturgy of the Word, I would suggest these:
- Isaiah 62:1-5 — You will be called by a new name.
- Psalm 95 or 103
- Mark 7:31-37 — Ephphetha, that is, be opened
For the Celebration of the Rites Chosen, I would usually choose these two:
- Recitation of the Creed (RCIA 193)
- Ephphetha Rite (RCIA 197)
There are a few “howevers” about these rites. First of all if you have not previously celebrated the Presentation of the Creed, you would not celebrate the Recitation of the Creed on Holy Saturday.
If you are celebrating both the Recitation of the Creed and the Ephphetha Rite, the Ephphetha Rite immediately precedes the “Prayer before the Recitation” (RCIA 194). That is to say, it comes immediately after the gospel reading and reflection.
Also, if you have not previously celebrated the Presentation of the Lord’s Prayer, you may celebrate it here. If you do that, though, the gospel reading must be the section of Mathew’s gospel in which Jesus teaches the Lord’s Prayer to his disciples (see RCIA 180). And the Presentation of the Lord’s Prayer, if you are doing it here, would be the first of the rites celebrated.
Going even further with the preparation
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults also includes a rite for Choosing a Baptismal Name. This rite is not celebrated in the United States (see RCIA 33.4). However, it might be beneficial for the elect to reflect on their given names. Why did their parents choose that name? What does their name mean to them? How will their name be made new in baptism? You could do this either as the post-gospel reflection or at the very end of the Celebration of the Rites Chosen.
Now if you want to super-size Holy Saturday, I know of one parish, long ago, that would spread out the optional rites throughout the day. So, in effect, they had three or four celebrations of the Liturgy of the Word with a different rite included each time. I have a fantasy of trying that sometime, but it would require a special community and a special group of elect.
If all you can do is encourage the elect to treat Holy Saturday as a day of retreat and prayer and ask them to fast, you have done your job. If you can manage a simple Liturgy of the Word in addition to that, you will help your elect prepare even more deeply for the most important night of their lives.
Your turn
Whatever you do, you’re going to be awesome. If you have time after the Vigil, come back to this post and tell us in the comments section how the Holy Saturday preparation went for you and your community.
I want to thank you very much for your ideas and suggestions. It is so helpful to have help understanding and planning our RCIA journey. I have been involved at least 20 years and have attended several workshops. Having your suggestions, and connections to the Rite make a big difference and also help making sure I don’t forget things. Once again, thank you very much and may God Bless you in abundance in your ministry.
When I coordinated a catechumenate process for a college campus ministry, I would gather with my colleagues, our student interns and our elect (and remaining catechumens and candidates and yes, those newly received candidates from earlier during the year) for a morning of prayer.
We came to realize that this time became a yearly looked forward on-campus retreat (and even became part of the official schedule for those “working triduum”). We gathered for silent time, to boldly answer questions that were tailored for two groups: for the baptized and the unbaptized, and to slowly recite the creed. One year, towards the tail end of the morning, the elect baked the bread that was then used for that night’s eucharist. Another year, preparing the environment was part of the retreat with reflection questions and liturgical music that called people together for “a break” and share responses before going back to the work of creating the environment. (That was a lot of fun!)
Some former student leaders told me that the holy Saturday retreat was a highlight for them as part of their school year. It served as a senior retreat for seniors that couldn’t make it onto their senior retreat, or a community building one for first year students who quickly became campus ministry leaders that year. With the addition of colleagues, some of the “work” for that morning, e.g. preparing all the details for holy saturday morning, was given away. I was able to not only focus my attention on the elect, but also on myself as I was pilgrimaging through that year’s triduum. Those holy saturday mornings, sacramentalized the importance of self-care and sustainability.
Many thanks for the Holy Saturday retreat! We hold a retreat/ workshop practical prep day the week before (fitting robes, sharing the music and so.)Holy Saturday we gather for the prep rites which we celebrate with the parish community during the Liturgy of the Hours and then stay on for a prayerful focus for the vigil.
As a humorous aside, we find a need to add a new ministery to the Vigil. That is, “Kleenex bearer”!
We include an introduction, Liturgy of the Word, including Responsorial psalms, interspersed with Music and narratives on their chosen patron saint for confirmation.
We also include the sung Divine Mercy Chaplet which they already will know and we continue with the Ephphetha rite presided over by our pastor.
We then go over last minute housekeeping items and go outside to light the fire. Old holy oils and candle are the fuel for the fire and we select one of the elect to light the fire. A fire watch schedule is set up with each candidate taking a 30 minute shift with their sponsor.