Carly Delsack found God when she needed him most. “I was going through a really rough time, just going down a path of living like my own god,” said Delsack, a parishioner of St. Stephen the Martyr Church in Middleburg, who was raised atheist and culturally Jewish. “I got to this point where I was at rock bottom and the only thing I could hear was God calling out to me and I actually decided to listen.”
Delsack is one of the many catechumens hoping to enter the church this Easter. In preparation, Arlington diocese catechumens — future Catholics who have not been baptized — attended a Rite of Election. There were 127 Catechumens scheduled to attend the Rite of Election at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington March 6 and 22 catechumens at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Lake Ridge March 13. Candidates — those coming into the church who already have been baptized — attended separate Call to Continuing Conversion ceremonies at parishes.
In his homily, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge asked the catechumens to prepare well, relying on the faithful friends and family members that God placed in their lives. “You are here today as part of God’s providence and you are preparing for full initiation into the holy Catholic Church, a journey, a pilgrimage that you do not make alone,” he said. “You are making it with the community of faith and all those who love you.”
Then, Bishop Burbidge stood at the foot of the sanctuary as catechumens from each parish processed up the aisle toward him carrying the Book of the Elect. He signed the book and greeted each of them.
Many of the catechumens credited friends or significant others for bringing them into the church. Arianna Smith of Christ the Redeemer Church in Sterling wanted to become Catholic so that she and her Catholic fiance, Greg Krol, can raise their family in the church. “It’s added a new dimension to our relationship to go through this together,” said Smith. “I’m always quizzing him and asking him questions.”
Angelina Brown of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Fredericksburg was introduced to Catholicism through friends. “I was raised Baptist (but) it always felt like there was something missing,” she said. Brown said she’s most looking forward to being baptized, noting the irony of being an unbaptized former Baptist. “I’ve been wanting (to be baptized) since I was probably in middle school,” she said. “In a way I’m glad that it has taken this long because I have a sense of belonging. I’m very excited.”
Nikki Gregory of St. Ann Church in Arlington decided to become Catholic after attending Mass with her fiance, Josip. Her sponsor and friend, Isabella Bastien Curtis, also has supported her journey to Catholicism.
“I am from a nondenominational background and (my fiance and I) would come to church together and bond over that and it just seemed like the right thing to do,” said Gregory. “It felt natural, like a calling.”
