MAHONING VALLEY CATHOLICS Church to initiate hundreds at Vigil

Adults who will be converted have been attending classes at parishes around the Valley.
By LAURIE M. FISHER
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ann, Dylan and Derek Smith of Youngstown will be among 605 Mahoning Valley residents who will become members of the Catholic church on April 14.
During the Easter Vigil at area Catholic churches, 236 people will receive the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.
The remaining 369 people who have already been baptized in other Christian traditions will make a profession of the Catholic faith and receive the sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist, explained Fran Amer of the Diocese's Office of Worship.
Traditionally, all over the world the Rite of Christian Initiation takes place on Easter, explained Geri Jacquet, director of religious education at St. Brendan Church.
"The church has, through the years, brought all adults who are converting together on the Easter Vigil. This is the most solemn period of the church year, called Triduum, from Holy Thursday through Easter," she said. "This commemorates the time in Jesus' life when he suffered, died and rose from the dead."
Mother and sons: Ann Smith and her sons, Dylan, 8 and Derek, 10, will receive the sacraments of Baptism and Holy First Communion along with 12 others at St. Brendan's.
Husband and father Peter Smith is a member of the church, Mrs. Smith explained. They were married in a Methodist church.
Ann Smith said she didn't grow up with a religion. Although her sons attend St. Brendan's school, they were never baptized. They could attend Catholic Mass but cannot receive Communion until the conversion is completed.
"I have been thinking about it for a while," Smith said. "When the kids were younger, they started asking religious questions about God. I didn't have answers. I always believed in God and felt a need for God in family life."
Last fall she began attending religion classes with other adults once a week at St. Brendan's. Her sons enthusiastically participate in religious education at St. Brendan's school as part of the daily curriculum, she noted.
"The boys are excited [about becoming Catholic]. They really enjoy it and are totally into it," she said, adding, "the fact that the conversion will be during the Easter Vigil makes it special."
Classes: Throughout the year, adults who will be converted have been attending classes at parishes around the Valley to learn the teaching and traditions of the church.
On the first Sunday of Lent, these candidates celebrated the Rite of Election at either St. Columba Cathedral or St. Joseph Church in Canton. They were presented to Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Youngstown. During the Rite of Election godparents, sponsors and members of the assembly were asked to attest to the readiness of these men, women and children for the Sacraments of Initiation. Nancy Bielik is the sponsor of Ann Smith.
"The 40-day period of Lent includes prayer, fasting and works of charity," explained Jacquet. "These individuals used this time to examine their lives and make a further commitment to the church," she said.
The Smith family, like other families completing the conversion process this Easter, are experiencing a feeling of a new spiritual home, Jacquet said. "They are coming home to a home they didn't have before."