Everything you want to know about Catholicism

I'm trying to remember the word for potential Confirmation recipients before they're Confirmed. I feel like there was a term for it - I can remember being called it when I was Confirmed - but of course, now that I need to use it, I can't remember what it is. Not exactly "applicants"... but something to that extent. If anyone out there can think of anything, it'd be really helpful.

i was looking through all the saints, and couldn't find a saint for husbands or spouses, although there was one for housewives
any idea for a good saint to help me ask God to help me find the man he wants me to marry?

Tell me about nuns.

Where do they live? What are their roles/jobs? What are their vows? Their specific ceremonies, rituals, etc? What role do they play in the religious community? How much do they make? Which ones wear the habits and when? Do they have any limitations beyond vows?

How do these above questions differ between the different Orders (Dominican vs Franciscan vs Benedictian, etc)?

Finally: What's the difference between a vow of Chastity and a vow of Celibacy? Is it just Color/colour Grey?Gray, or are there any particulars between them?

Hello my name is Jennifer and I am a writer. My current book starts out in a Catholic church, a man, now in his sixties is confessing the sins of his youth. He has not spoken of these deeds since they were committed and is now confessing because he can no longer bear the weight of his crimes. I am not Catholic and have of course never confessed to a Priest. I am hoping that someone can please tell me about confession, what words are required of the sinner, what the Priest does/says. Also small details would be great as I love description. Do you know where I can find photos of the inside of a Catholic church so that I can describe the setting? Any smells that always remind you of your church?

Today is the aniversary of the institution of the Holy Eucharist.



"Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.'And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'" Matthew 26:26-28

"Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst." Exodus 25:8

Passover Bread:
This is a good example of how the Jewish tradition of Passover Sedar fortold the coming and sacrifice of Christ. Jesus would have done this with His apostles at the Last Supper, and it would have most likely been the second peice that He would have used to institute the Eucharist. For the first time, the promise was fulfilled, before their eyes!

"It is unleavened, pure as Jesus was pure. It has dark stripes, as His back was striped by Pilate's scourging. It is pierced, as He was pierced on the Cross. Once it was the bread of life for Israel on the desert, as Jesus is the Jn 6:35 Bread of Life for all mankind. During the Seder, the head of the family takes three pieces of unleavened bread, reminding us of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He breaks in half the second piece, suggesting the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity crucified. He then wraps one of these two pieces, called the afikomen (Hebrew: festival procession), a reminder of Jesus' constant call, "Follow Me," in white linen, reminding us of Jesus linen burial cloth, and "buries" or hides it, as Jesus was entombed. Later the youngest at table "resurrects" or finds the afikomen as Jesus rose from the dead. The head of the family then breaks the afikomen and passes it around for all to eat, as Jesus did when He told His apostles, Lk 22:19 "This is My Body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me." In that way, Jesus through the Seder calls us to follow Him into His death and resurrection, to become a new person in Christ."

The same with the Wine: It has finally been fulfilled! Now we ACTUALLY have blood to drink, not just a representation.

"When the afikomen is broken and passed around for all to eat, Jews drink the third of four cups of wine, called the cup of blessing because it representsthe blood of the sacrificed paschal lamb. It is the cup that Jesus gave to His apostles, saying, Lk 22:20 "This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in My Blood." He did not drink the fourth, the Kalah cup, explaining, Mt 26:29 "I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." But later that evening at Gethsemane, Jesus prayed by moonlight, Mt 26:39 "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me." After He was captured, Jesus asked Peter, Jn 18:11 "Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?" Many Catholics believe that Jesus drank the last cup on the Cross, Jn 19:29 "They put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to His mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, 'It is finished'; and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit."
(http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/scrip/a6.html)

Alerting you to the presence of feastfoods and inviting you to share. Its a place where people can post fun ideas or yummy recipes that commemorate feast days in the Church.

Physical Miracles through the Holy Eucharist.

So much for the basis of
our conference. Now we go through each one of these three levels of miraculous
phenomena. Physical miracles through the Holy Eucharist. The history of the
Catholic Church is nothing less than the history of miracles performed by Jesus
Christ. So true is this that one of the marks of the true Church - besides being
One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic - is also the capacity to perform miracles.
That is, physical phenomena which are beyond the laws of physical nature. And
what we dare not forget is that so many of these wonders are performed by our
Lord through the Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament.

The classic evidence for this are the miracles that occur at Our Lady's
shrine at Lourdes in France. Remember it was Our Lady who obtained from her
divine Son the first miracle He performed in His public ministry when He changed
water into wine at the marriage feast at Cana in Galilee. From the very
beginning the shrine at Lourdes witnessed countless physical wonders. By now
thousands, testified scientifically. We commonly associate these wonders with
the people bathing in the water at Lourdes. What we are liable to forget however
is that part, an essential part, of the phenomena at the sanctuary in Lourdes is
the fact that the sick and even the dying are blessed with the sacred monstrance
containing the Blessed Sacrament.

One of the classic examples is the sudden cure recorded by a physician who
was part of the examining board at the Lourdes shrine. According to this
physician the sudden healing of a women dying of cancer was the most medically
remarkable experience he had in his two decades of working with the examining
board. She arrived at Lourdes in a dying condition. First she was immersed at
the water at Lourdes. The first effect was excruciating pain. Then the pain
ceased but the cancer remained. It was only the next day when the priest blessed
her with the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance that she was immediately cured of
her cancerous condition.

Over the years similar wonders have been recorded about the power of the
Blessed Sacrament through the intercession of Our Lady to perform miracles of
bodily healing in favor always only of those who believed. All that we find
recorded in the Gospels about the miraculous cures performed by Jesus can be
duplicated many times over by the account of similar signs and wonders where the
miracles took place through the Holy Eucharist. - So far the working of
physically miraculous phenomena through the Blessed Sacrament.

Not meant to be serious at all......

Faith, the Condition for Christ's Performing Miracles.

Faith, I repeat
is the condition for Christ performing miracles. Is it any wonder that our faith
in the Real Presence, the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, should be
rewarded by miraculous phenomena. But, what an important adversative, but, you
must believe!

What Is A Miracle?

What is a miracle? I thought before we went any
further it would be useful to explain briefly what a miracle is. It would be
equally useful to know that God works different kinds of miracles. Different
levels, if you wish, of miracles. It would be especially useful to know that our
Lord in the Blessed Sacrament performs the highest kinds of miracles which only
He, our Incarnate God, can produce.

In general a miracle is any effect perceptible by the senses, produced by God
which surpasses the powers of nature. Immediately we must explain that there are
three levels of natural laws that God can surpass and thus perform a miracle.
There are the physical laws of visible nature. Thus the sudden healing of a
fatal disease surpasses needless to say the powers of human physical nature.
Indeed surpasses the powers of all physical nature. Walking on water is
naturally impossible. The raising of a dead human being back to life exceeds all
created power, and no one but God with His omnipotence can raise a dead person
back to life. And just for the record, physical miracles are the lowest level of
miraculous phenomena.

On a higher level than physical miracles is the performance of what the
Church calls moral miracles. A moral miracle exceeds the powers of the human
will in the practice of superhuman moral virtue. For which the Church has coined
the term "heroic moral virtue". This in fact is one of the norms used by the
Church in her assessment of authentic sanctity. The lives of saints like Francis
of Assisi and Thomas More. The deaths of martyrs like St. Agnes and Maria
Goretti. These are witnesses to the miraculous power that Christ has given to
His most beloved followers over the centuries. In other words, every canonized
saint is a moral miracle. And today's world needs (what a safe statement) men
and women and even children who are practicing what the Church calls heroic
virtue.

Finally, still on the different levels of miraculous phenomena there are
intellectual miracles in which God enlightens the human mind beyond all natural
capacity for acquiring knowledge. The most obvious witnesses to this highest
level in the time of Christ were (Shall I say it?) the dense thick-headed
Apostles. God had to enlighten them, and this is part of our faith -
miraculously. However, over the centuries Christ has continued performing these
miracles of the intellect. In a St. Augustine of Hippo, and in a St. Therese of
Avila, or in a Catherine of Siena. These testify to the power of Christ, the
Incarnate Truth, can produce among human beings who believe that He is indeed
the Living God in human form.

quiz time (and no looking it up, its cheating)

First one with the correct answer gets a Hail Mary, Our Father and Glory Be said for their intentions and those of their friends, family and benefactors (all who reply will be especially included in the intentions of my rosary tonight)



When does Lent end?

ok, so the subtitle to this journal is "everything you ever wanted to know about Catholicism," or something to the like.

maybe these aren't theological "facts," but general observations i've made in my nearly two years as a Catholic:

- Catholics eat. A LOT.

- Catholics talk. A LOT, as well. (This week I went to Church of the Redeemer - the Catholic Church I went to growing up - with my dad. And as we walked in, people were talktalktalktalktalktalktalking away. I found it kind of disturbing, even though it was friendly, build-up-the-Body-of-Christ talk among family and friends. Then, one of the lectors came up about 5-10 minutes before Mass and asked everyone to quietly reflect on how they could serve God better, and the whole church shut up. It was wonderful, and so very, very Catholic. ;) )

And this one's more of a question:
- The Gospels say so much about bringing His word to the ends of the earth, proclaiming from housetops, letting our lights shine before all men, etc. etc. etc. Our Protestant brothers and sisters really take that to heart sometimes and apply it very practically. (Ever been asked if Jesus Christ is your personal savior on a street corner?) As Catholics, I think we apply Christ's instructions just as well, but perhaps we do it in subtler ways. (e.g., inviting people over for dinner and spontaneously discussing the faith, March for Life, wearing crosses and medals, serving the poor, hungry, and forgotten, and most of all loving one another) My question to you - how can we, as Catholics, better preach the Gospel - with and without words as necessary?

:)
liz

The Burning question we all have:




And finally, what the protestants must be thinking:


*Note*: as many of you may know, i have trouble with posting images sometimes, so if this doesn't work please let me know and i'll try posting again!

Prayer of St. Patrick-


Christ as a Light, illumine and guide me, Christ as a Shield
o'ershadow and cover me.  Christ be under me, Christ be over me, Christ be
beside me on the left hand and right.  Christ be before me, behind me, about me,
Christ this day be within and without me.  Amen

crossposted in lynzabeth

The BREASTPLATE of Saint Patrick

I bind myself today, -
To the power of God to guide me,
The might of God to uphold me,
The wisdom of God to teach me,
The eye of God to watch over me,
The ear of God to bear me,
The Word of God to speak for me,
The hand of God to protect me,
The way of God to lie before me,
The shield of God to shelter me,
The host of God to defend me

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in breadth, Christ in length, Christ in height

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks to me,
Christ in the eye of every man that sees me,
Christ in the ear of every man who hears me -

Salvation is the Lord's,
Salvation is the Lord's,
Salvation is Christ's,
Let thy salvation, 0 Lord, be ever with us.
Amen.

The Key to the Eucharist is the Humanity of Jesus Christ.

At this point
we turn to the Real Presence and we ask ourselves. "What is this Real Presence?"
In one declarative sentence - It is Jesus Christ - true God, but, with emphasis,
also - true man. It is the same identical Jesus who changed water into wine at
Cana in Galilee. The same who invited Peter to come to Him walking on the water.
The Real Presence is the real Jesus with real flesh and real blood, with the
same hands and feet and open side that He told the doubting Thomas to touch and
believe.

Once this fact dawns on a person - (It is not dawned on everyone who calls
himself a Catholic; how well I know). - But once this fact dawns on our minds
that Christ performed His miracles as God but through His human nature as man,
then the inevitable happens. That person's faith is rewarded by the experience
of miracles.

I am not exaggerating. I am not indulging in hyperbole. We all need miracles
in our lives. Let's be sure we know what we are saying. During His public
ministry the Savior assured His followers they would continue working miracles
in their favor. Even more; He promised that the miracles they would perform
would be greater than those which His contemporaries witnessed during His
visible stay in Palestine.

However, let's have no misunderstanding; Christ the Almighty Son of God, who
became man, worked miracles during His visible stay on earth only in favor of
those who believed. Those who believed that the man they called Jesus was no one
less than Almighty God. We should therefore expect this same Jesus to continue
working miracles. But I repeat, only for those who believe that the same Jesus
is still on earth, but now demanding our faith twice over. He wants us to
believe that He is in the Holy Eucharist with the fullness of His humanity, and
also to believe that His human nature is united with the second person of the
Holy Trinity.

Christ's contemporaries during His visible stay on earth had only to believe
that the man that they saw with bodily eyes was the Incarnate God. We however
are to believe that what looks like bread and tastes like wine is the Son of God
who became the Son of Mary.

I found this really awesome theological paper by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., S.T.D. It's titled "Christ the Miricle worker in the Eucharist". Because it's a lot to digest, i'll be posting it in parts here, so we can read a little and then discuss it if you guys want to. Then after a day or so i'll post the next subdivision or two (Fr. Hardon has broken it up quite nicely for this).

During His visible stay on earth Christ performed countless miracles. He restored sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf and the use of their limbs to the paralyzed. The winds and sea obeyed Him. He told the dead Lazarus to come forth, and Lazarus came out of the grave. The crowning miracle of Christ's visible stay on earth was to raise Himself by His own divine power on Easter Sunday.

But Christ continues performing miracles in our day. I know of no single statement I can share with you that is more practically important than to be convinced that Christ works and wants to perform miracles in our favor today. And that we can add, for the best of reasons, because Jesus Christ is still on earth. And He promised, "Behold, I am with you all days even to the end of the world."

Now our subdivisions -

Miracles through Christ's Visible Humanity. As we examine the Gospel narratives we find two remarkable facts. First, Jesus regularly associated His teaching with working with what John calls "signs and wonders". These signs and wonders made His humanly incomprehensible teaching believable. Miracles are necessary to make God's revelation credible. Please do not forget that. That statement is an article of the Catholic Faith.

Secondly - Christ during His visible stay on earth worked these miracles of course as God, but always through His humanity. In other words, the miracles performed by Jesus in Palestine were always the result of human words spoken, or the result of the touch of Christ's human hands. On one dramatic occasion a women was suddenly healed of years of hemorrhaging the moment she tugged on Christ's garments.

Jesus therefore performed (past tense) astounding wonders related in the Gospels. Always by His divine omnipotence but, (watch the preposition) but through His human nature as man. We are also told that on occasion that Jesus could not (this is the Almighty) perform miracles in certain places. Why not? Because of the people's lack of faith. The two words humanity and faith are crucial to an understanding to the working of miracles.

Next: "The Key to the Eucharist is the Humanity of Jesus Christ."..... just a teaser..... :-D .

Hey ya'll. I got this in my Saint of the Day e-mail today, and I thought it was really interesting. It's a great story. :)

~Jess

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Louise, born near Meux, France, lost her mother when she was still a child, her beloved father when she was but 15. Her desire to become a nun was discouraged by her confessor, and a marriage was arranged. One son was born of this union. But she soon found herself nursing her beloved husband through a long illness that finally led to his death.

Louise was fortunate to have a wise and sympathetic counselor, St. Francis de Sales, and then his friend, the Bishop of Belley, France. Both of these men were available to her only periodically. But from an interior illumination she understood that she was to undertake a great work under the guidance of another person she had not yet met. This was the holy priest M. Vincent, later to be known as St. Vincent de Paul.

At first he was reluctant to be her confessor, busy as he was with his "Confraternities of Charity." Members were aristocratic ladies of charity who were helping him nurse the poor and look after neglected children, a real need of the day. But the ladies were busy with many of their own concerns and duties. His work needed many more helpers, especially ones who were peasants themselves and therefore close to the poor and could win their hearts. He also needed someone who could teach them and organize them.

Only over a long period of time, as Vincent de Paul became more acquainted with Louise, did he come to realize that she was the answer to his prayers. She was intelligent, self-effacing and had physical strength and endurance that belied her continuing feeble health. The missions he sent her on eventually led to four simple young women joining her. Her rented home in Paris became the training center for those accepted for the service of the sick and poor. Growth was rapid and soon there was need of a so-called rule of life, which Louise herself, under the guidance of Vincent, drew up for the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul (though he preferred "Daughters" of Charity).

He had always been slow and prudent in his dealings with Louise and the new group. He said that he had never had any idea of starting a new community, that it was God who did everything. "Your convent," he said, "will be the house of the sick; your cell, a hired room; your chapel, the parish church; your cloister, the streets of the city or the wards of the hospital." Their dress was to be that of the peasant women. It was not until years later that Vincent de Paul would finally permit four of the women to take annual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. It was still more years before the company would be formally approved by Rome and placed under the direction of Vincent's own congregation of priests.

Many of the young women were illiterate and it was with reluctance that the new community undertook the care of neglected children. Louise was busy helping wherever needed despite her poor health. She traveled throughout France, establishing her community members in hospitals, orphanages and other institutions. At her death on March 15, 1660, the congregation had more than 40 houses in France. Six months later St. Vincent de Paul followed her in death.

Louise de Marillac was canonized in 1934 and declared patroness of social workers in 1960.

So I found a new shiny online that my mom told me about from a conversation that she had with my brother William.

Presenting an ONLINE CATHOLIC RADIO

http://www.omegarock.com/index.php

ENJOY MY NEW SHINY!!!!!

this is not so much a "Catholic fact," but an inquiry.

you know how in the Magnificat, Mary says something to the liking of, "He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty."

i thought of something -

maybe He gives the same to the hungry and the rich.
maybe they both get all that they'll ever need
because that's what Christ is.
but perhaps the hungry are the ones that notice it,
while the rich are never full- they are always thirsting for more, and wouldn't know true fulfillment even if they had it
which they do
in Him


any thoughts?