OCIA Companion
For the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults.
A faithful companion for candidates and catechumens — from inquiry, through the catechumenate, to reception into the Church. It keeps the stages, the prayers, and the parish's own materials in one place, and it walks with them during the week, between the nights you gather.
Free for candidates and sponsors. Licensed by the parish, with a free trial when a director first signs up.
Formation does not stop when the evening ends.
OCIA is a year lived in weeks. A parish gathers its candidates on a Tuesday evening, and then everyone goes home — to the six days in between, where the handouts get lost, the questions arrive, and the thread can quietly go slack.
OCIA Companion is built for those six days. It holds the shape of the rite, so candidates always know where they are in the journey. It keeps the parish's own materials where they can be found. It gives sponsors and their candidates a private place to talk. And it carries the week's work until the next time you gather.
Nothing about how you run formation has to change. There is nothing to install on the parish's end, and the app does not teach in your place — it simply walks alongside the catechesis you are already giving.
It follows the rite.
The app is built around the stages of the Order itself, so a candidate can always answer the question: where am I, and what comes next?
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i.
Inquiry
The first asking. A time to come close, raise questions, and be met without being hurried.
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ii.
The Catechumenate
The long formation — scripture, doctrine, and the shape of a Christian life, taken at the pace of a year.
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iii.
Purification & Enlightenment
Lent, and the final preparation. The scrutinies, the handing on of the Creed and the Lord's Prayer.
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iv.
Initiation
The Easter Vigil. Baptism, Confirmation, and First Communion — what the whole year has been walking toward.
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v.
Mystagogy
After. The season of unfolding what has been received, and of settling into the life of the parish.
What it holds.
A classroom for your cohort, and the few things a candidate actually needs between sessions.
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i.
Your Parish's Classroom
A director creates the classroom; candidates and sponsors join with a class code or an emailed invitation. Each parish keeps its own.
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ii.
Discussions
A place for the question that surfaced on the drive home — asked in the cohort, where a catechist can answer it.
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iii.
Sponsor & Candidate Messages
A private thread between a candidate and their sponsor. Not visible to the director, to the cohort, or to us.
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iv.
Handouts & Documents
Study materials, schedules, and readings uploaded by the director — kept in one place instead of scattered across loose paper.
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v.
Announcements & Attendance
Tell the cohort what is changing this week, and keep an ordinary record of who was there.
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vi.
Quizzes, Tasks & Polls
Light checks on understanding and small things to carry through the week — as much or as little as your formation calls for.
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vii.
Notifications You Control
Announcements, discussions, and messages can each be turned on or off — or silenced altogether.
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viii.
Phone, Tablet, or Web
iPhone, Android, and a web companion at ociacompanion.app. The classroom follows the account across all three.
Who it serves.
OCIA Companion is licensed by the parish, not bought by the candidate. Those you are forming use it for free.
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i.
Parishes
Introduce it to a cohort or a whole community. There is nothing to install on your end, and a free trial when a director first signs up.
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ii.
Coordinators & Catechists
It accompanies your candidates alongside your sessions. Nothing changes about how you run formation — it simply walks with them in between.
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iii.
Dioceses
License the platform across every parish at once through a diocese administrator account, with materials your offices can share at formation days.
Get OCIA Companion.
Available now for iPhone and Android, and on the web.
