What is a monstrance? Well, in layman’s terms a monstrance is a decorative piece meant for the adoration of christ, or the adoration of the consecrated host.
What is adoration? Adoration is simply the ceremonial appraisal of respect for the host and Christ.
Well, what is the consecrated host then? The consecrated host is the wine and wafers, which represents the body and blood of Christ. The food and drink are considered christ in the same way that god is a part of everything. For example: this wafer is not a metaphor for the body of Christ, it IS the body of Christ. It is through Christ’s existence that we are blessed with this wafer. The substance of bread and wine is transformed into the substance of Jesus' body and blood. The wafer (or host) is placed into the circular glass display of a monstrance, some words are said, the altar boys burn some sage, and then everyone eats and drinks. Basically, it is the ceremonial appreciation of Christ and his blessings.
But here is where it gets very weird. During this event, sometimes, the wafers will bleed. Yes. You read that right. The cookies fucking bleed Jesus. Don’t believe me? Here’s about 100 examples of the Catholic Church’s confirmed miracles, most of which relate to either a monstrance, a host, or an inanimate object bleeding: http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/miengl_mir.htm
Bleeding: http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mienglish_pdf/Betania.pdf http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mienglish_pdf/Sokolka1.pdf
Report of a woman surviving on communion wafers for 30 years: http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mienglish_pdf/Robin.pdf Others reports for 10+ years.
In the 21st century, there have been 4 confirmed Eucharistic miracles, all relating to a bleeding wafer. https://aleteia.org/2018/02/27/4-amazing-eucharistic-miracles-from-the-last-20-years/amp/
And who confirms these miracles? Why, the archbishop of course 😂. But recently, scientists have been more involved. In the blood testing done on a bloody host from Lanciano, Italy: origin 700 AD, tested in 2017. “Dr. Edoardo Linoli was entrusted with the study. He was assisted by Dr. Ruggero Bertelli, retired professor of human anatomy at the University of Siena. Linoli extracted parts of the relics with great care and then analyzed the remains of ‘miraculous flesh and blood.’ He presented his findings on March 4, 1971. His study confirmed that the flesh and blood were of human origin. The flesh was unequivocally cardiac tissue, and the blood was of type AB.” https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/physician-tells-of-eucharistic-miracle-of-lanciano-1866); another from Sokolka, Poland (2008. “A piece of the altered host was taken and analyzed independently by two experts, Prof. Maria Sobaniec-Lotowska, MD, and Prof. Stanislaw Sulkowski, MD, in order to ensure the credibility of the results. Both are histopathologists at the Medical University of Bialystok. The studies were carried out at the university’s Department of Pathomorphology. The results of both independent studies were in perfect agreement. They concluded that the structure of the transformed fragment of the host is identical to the myocardial (heart) tissue of a living person who is nearing death. The structure of the heart muscle fibers is deeply intertwined with that of the bread, in a way impossible to achieve with human means, according to the declaration of Prof. Maria Sobaniec-Lotowska.” https://aleteia.org/2017/09/23/the-eucharistic-miracle-of-sokolka-the-host-is-tissue-from-heart-of-a-dying-man/amp/); in 1988 the Shroud of Turin was tested by Oxford, Tucson, and Zürich, to find rare AB+ blood type; another from Legnica, Poland (2013. “In the case of the Legnica Host, however, because it only contains heart tissue, blood type was not analyzed.” https://www.ncregister.com/news/polish-eucharistic-miracle-in-legnica?amp); in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1996. “In 1999, Dr. Frederick Zugibe, a cardiologist and forensic pathologist, began performing tests on the miraculous host. What he discovered about the composition of the host is truly stunning: The analyzed material appeared to be a fragment of heart muscle typically found in the wall of the left ventricle of the heart, close to the valves. The blood found on the sample was indeed human, and type AB, which also matches the blood found on the host of Lanciano and from samples extracted from the Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus. The tissue appeared to be in an inflamed state, and contained a large number of white blood cells, indicating that the heart was alive at the time the sample was taken, since these white blood cells die outside of a living organism. Furthermore, the white blood cells had penetrated the tissue, further indicating that the heart was under severe stress, as if the person themselves had been beaten severely near the chest area.” https://www.stmike.org/from-the-pastors-desk/eucharistic-miracles-buenos-aires-1996); the list continues!
Reputable scientists test consistently for the rarest blood type AB+? Consistently find heart tissue, specifically dying heart tissue? What do you think? Do you think they’re paid to say this information or telling the truth?
There’s a bunch more I was gonna write about monstrances and their connection to paganism too, but honestly I’m convinced it’s a bunch of bs and I’m not gonna bother lol. One thing I did find interesting, though was that despite having no religious context in scripture, monstrances have been claimed as the cause of a few confirmed miracles. For example, a man allegedly put out a fire, just by holding a monstrance up to it.
TLDR: the cookies are bleeding and I’m scared.

Quick summary from the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum of the plenary indulgences particular to the Sacred Triduum. Under the general conditions, a plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who . . .

HOLY THURSDAY: Feria V Hebdomadae Sanctae

(conc. 7 § 1, 2°)

si in sollemni repositione Ss.mi Sacramenti, post Missam in Cena Domini, strophas Tantum ergo pie recitaverit
piously recite the verses of the Tantum ergo after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday during the solemn reposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament

GOOD FRIDAY: Feria VI Hebdomadae Sanctae

(conc. 13, 1°)

in sollemni actione liturgica feriae VI in Passione et Morte Domini adorationi Crucis pie interfuerit
devoutly assist at the adoration of the Cross in the solemn liturgical action of Good Friday

(or conc. 13, 2°)

ipse pium exercitium Viae Crucis peregerit vel, dum illud a Summo Pontifice peragitur et ope instrumenti televisifici vel radiophonici propagatur, ei sese pie univerit
personally make the pious Way of the Cross, or devoutly unite themselves to the Way of the Cross while it is being led by the Supreme Pontiff and broadcast live on television or radio

HOLY SATURDAY: Sabbato Hebdomadae Sanctae

(conc. 28 § 1)

in celebratione Vigiliae Paschalis vel die anniversario sui baptismatis, vota baptismalia qualibet formula legitime adprobata renovaverit
at the celebration of the Easter Vigil or on the anniversary of their own Baptism, renew their baptismal vows in any legitimately approved formula

I create this Adoration Cliff Notes for teachers at my local Catholic school, K-8th grade, to help explain Adoration. Specifically, what Adoration is, what students can do during Adoration, and the etiquette expected of everyone during Adoration. Also most of the teachers and students have never been to Adoration before, which lead to the creation of this.
I wanted to share it with all of you to get your thoughts on if I need to make changes, and to let other Catholics use it to explain Adoration to the masses.
Eucharistic Adoration Cliff Notes
If you want to see what the Catholic Catechism says about Eucharistic Adoration then follow the link below. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/\_\_P96.HTM
If you want it in simpler terms keep on reading.
Put another way, you are in the presence of the Lord our God in all his Glory and Majesty. It is a place where God will fill you with His strength and His power if you let Him. It is a time for you to rest in the loving embrace of the Lord our God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwell in our midst, and He wants to chat.
Nine Personal Devotions (This is what your students can do during the Eucharist Adoration time)

1. Pray spontaneously
   1. Read Scripture
   2. Ask for intercession/ask the saints for help
   3. Read spiritual works/books that deepens understanding or connection to God 5. Meditate (This does not mean sleep)
   4. Write in a prayer journal (No pen clicking, biting or loud writing)
   5. Look at and listen to the Lord
   6. Practice prayers
   7. Pray the Rosary

Etiquette during Eucharistic Adoration:
Maintain silence. Do not bring anything to adoration that will make noise. If you must bring a phone, set it to silent or turn it off. Do not answer your phone.
Do not bring food or drink to adoration. If you need water then wait until you leave.
Children brought to adoration should be mature enough to understand that they must remain silent and still. If they squirm, whisper, or worse they should be taken out. If you are bringing them to visit Jesus, stay only as long as they are able to remain silent and still.
Do not leave the Blessed Sacrament alone If you have to cry, cry but quietly.
I am willing and able to make time tomorrow morning to meet with each of you to give further explanation and answer any questions you may have.
http://maronitemonks.org/articles/February2006.pdf http://www.ewtn.com/v/experts/showmessage.asp?number=610349

25 years ago today I was confirmed Catholic. Thanks in part to William Shatner. Here is my conversion story [long]
[Actually the Shatner thing was an aside. As you'll see, the truth is I had an insane amount of topmost catechetical opportunities and resources made available to me and yet I was, embarrassingly now, a skeptic for as long as I was.]
"Conversion of the skeptic"
Michael Malak
Written: February 7, 1995 - May 27, 1995
[But square bracket material, which provides 25-year hindsight, added September 4, 2019. Also the names of all non-clergy people have been deleted. I tried to retain 100% of the personal stuff, but there are a couple of sentences I did end up deleting.]
Confirmed: September 5, 1994
From atheism to confirmation took 17 months. I was baptized, raised, and even confirmed as a Missouri-Synod Lutheran. Like many teenagers, I stopped going to church with my parents. I was about 14. I became agnostic, preferring to leave the important questions for "some other time."
Agnosticism is one of the many forms of atheism [taught in my RCIA class]. As I grew older, I developed a few tenets which bordered on deism, another form of atheism. I held that human life was the most beautiful thing to exist, and that everyone should strive to preserve the existence of the human race in the universe. Individual human lives were of secondary importance to the long-term survival of mankind. But since I believed the key to survival was the traditional family, I was pro-life. I believed abortion to be one of the causes of the breakdown of the modern family, so I was against abortion except in the cases of rape and incest.
To back up slightly and concentrate on the abortion issue, my original awareness to the issue came at age 15 from my [best] friend, a Catholic. I knew the word, but was unaware of the fury surrounding it, and I had never before considered the issue. My friend brought it up as an issue, and it didn't take long for him to convince me that abortion was bad. As I grew older, the truth that abortion is murder became more clear. I even became against the I.U.D. and I also argued that a single cell human being should be saved because it had a unique genetic code. But equally as important to me then was the preservation of the human race, and how abortion jeopardized that.
The abortion issue typifies the basis of my philosophy as an atheist.
The goal of preserving the human race was inspired by science-fiction such as Star Trek: The Next Generation. The means to that goal was inspired by the Catholic Church. I recognized the value of the high morals, and the preservation of the family espoused by the Catholic Church. I also recognized the longevity of the Catholic Church and saw its morals as a means to my goal.
I believed the questions of the existence of God and His relationship to Creation and man today to be unknowable. I believed that perhaps the human race was just a group of mice in a cage, as proposed by Kurt Vonneget Jr. in his Sirens of Titan which I had to read for English literature, or as described in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Under those possibilities, man would have little hope as the keeper of the cage could snuff out the race at a whim. But I thought it was worth a shot anyway.
That was the culmination of my atheistic philosophy, which as promised, bordered on deism. Now like most young men, I was interested in meeting young women.
[This is the point where I insert a major portion of hindsight and backstory. Where I lived, the Washington DC area, especially the singles scene, was dominated at the time by Boomers, meaning the women were 8-20 years older than me. The GenX people my own age just hung out in bars. Remember, this was (just) before the Internet. There was nothing else to do; hanging out in bars was the thing to do, and it just wasn't for me.]
[OK, so I was wondering where I could meet women my own age. More than wondering; I was quite distraught about it. It didn't help that I was a computer nerd. Nerds didn't make a lot of money back then (not until the dot-com boom) so we didn't even have that going for us.]
[So, in January 1992 the repeat of William Shatner's famous 1986 Saturday Night Live appearance comes on. But I don't believe I had ever seen it before (remember: no YouTube, no social media). http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/howtowatchTV/clips/shatner-takes-on-star-trek-fans-on-snl/view It changed my life. I vowed to change my life. Yes, I vowed to get a life. My best friend set me up with his neighbor, a young woman my age. I accepted invitation from the (older) women in my office to go country/western dancing. But the real change occurred due to a hard drive crash in August, 1992 from my Internet startup, halluc.com. You see, in 1990-1992 I was an Internet Service Provider. Here is a complete list of every server on the Internet in Virginia in 1992: http://www.mit.edu/afs.new/athena/contrib/potluck/Net-Services/net-directory/maps/uucp.bak/u.usa.va.1 When the hard drive crashed, rather than spending time to rebuild everything from backups, I decided the whole Internet thing would never take off in popularity, and I gave it up, giving me time to develop a social life and, oh by the way as it turns out, become Catholic along the way. OK, so I lost out on an early retirement, but I got the Catholic faith instead.]
So I signed up for every single's event and club in the Washington, DC area. The problem is that no women in their 20's did. The Washington, DC demographics have mostly baby-boomers (30's and 40's), plus young people tended to hang out in bars, which I did not care for. I was distraught.
Then one day in April, 1993, my best friend [a practicing Catholic] invited me to a get-together at Bob's Big Boy. He had been taking night classes that school year at the Notre Dame Institute for Catechesis, based at Queen of Apostles in Alexandria, Virginia [which subsequently got merged into Christendom College and became their graduate school https://www.christendom.edu/about/a-history-of-christendom-college/ ]. One of his classmates, a woman, had arranged a get-together just before one of the classes. Eager to expand my social arena, even with religious zealots, I tagged along with my best friend. It was OK.
Meanwhile, that woman classmate was planning a trip to Denver to see Pope John Paul II for his August, 1993 visit. My best friend had been mentioning this trip for a while, but I was not interested because I was concerned about 30 people trying to share one bathroom with one tiny hot-water heater. The woman classmate invited my best friend to a party, which was to be a combination Denver planning party and birthday celebration for the woman's boyfriend.
Eager to meet more people, I went along with my best friend to this party. Lo and behold, there were lots of nice, young women. Even though I had no intention of going to Denver, I eagerly went to the second planning party. While the first party was all party and little planning, the second involved some planning. They played the first half of the movie about Pope John Paul II, and a videotape advertisement for the ranch we would be staying at. Also, the woman classmate had brought a large posterboard with a floor plan of the ranch. The videotape showed a luxurious ranch, and the floor plan revealed eight bedrooms and four bathrooms. I was guaranteed a bed and a good percentage of a bathroom!
The real inspiration to go to Denver was the movie about Pope John Paul II. Though I scoffed his authority, I saw that we was a great man in his own right. I wanted to see him purely on those grounds.
The other important thing that happened at the second planning party was that a male friend of the woman classmate encouraged me to come to the prayer group that several people at the party attended regularly. He said there were "lots of babes" there. Prayer or not, uncomfortable or not, I was going. I twisted my best friend's arm into going with me. I considered him, a Catholic, my ticket into this strange gathering. I was pretending he forced me to go, when it was really the other way around. It turns out that male friend of the woman classmate was right. After about my second visit to the weekly prayer group, I found I actually liked praying the Rosary. I found it peaceful and meditative. Since it was pleasant, and since I figured it wouldn't hurt to learn about the Catholic faith, I attended the prayer group, weekly without fail.
I actually committed to the Denver trip at the third planning party.
The trip to Denver was a blast. It was constant companionship with 20 other single young adults. It was like going away to camp as a kid. The overnight vigil in Cherry Creek Park with 300,000 other "youth" was great. The ranch was nestled in the Rockies at 9,000 feet elevation [possibly Breckenridge area?].
Every morning and evening we made the 70 minute commute through the continental divide in our rented vans praying the rosary. Every day brought a new level of togetherness. The trip was, up until that point, the best time of my life. I was still an atheist, but I was having a great time.
Around the time of the Denver trip, my best friend had started going to another prayer group [hosted by a group of young women sharing a home in Annandale, Virginia]. My best friend had met one of the young women at a wedding that spring. At the time, I considered her "too religious" for me to be comfortable hanging around her. But my best friend eventually followed up during the summer, and went to one of their prayer groups by himself. He told me that they sang during their prayer groups, so I decided to stay away from that prayer group, despite the reportedly large number of young women there. After many such reports, I eventually gave in. It was intense -- they kneeled through the whole rosary! But it wasn't so bad. I got used to it. I alternated between the two prayer groups during late summer and early fall of 1993, to maximize my social arena.
Another reason I alternated was because every other Sunday at the Annandale prayer group, the leader [who learned at Thomas Aquinas College and would years later become a locally-recognized expert] led a discussion on the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, using the book Light of Faith, which is the [then-] recent translation of his Compendium of Faith. St. Thomas is a father and doctor of the Catholic Church. He is also a philosopher who followed the lines of Aristotle, and used his philosophical methods to explain Catholic doctrines. Since I had jumped in a few weeks into the progress through the book, and since I had never been exposed to philosophy in my life, I was more than just lost the first time.
During my second attendance, they (the leader reading St. Thomas) built on what was discussed during my first attendance, and I started to feel the flow of things. I had the leader order me a copy of the book. Through these discussions, and through my own reading of the book, I quickly became convinced of the existence of God, as well as several qualities about Him: eternal, all-powerful, uniqueness. I wasn't convinced that He was the Catholic God at that point. Through further discussion, I also became convinced, through St. Thomas' explanation of matter and form, of the feasibility of the immortality of the human soul. I was not convinced this was necessarily so, however.
To quote the first non-introductory chapter:

Chapter 3: The existence of God
Regarding the unity of the divine essence, we must first believe that God exists. This is a truth clearly known by reason. We observe that all things that move are moved by other things, the lower by the higher. The elements are moved by heavenly bodies; and among the elements themselves, the stronger moves the weaker; and even among the heavenly bodies, the lower are set in motion by the higher. This process cannot be traced back into infinity. For everything that is moved by another is a sort of instrument of the first mover. Therefore, if a first mover is lacking, all things that move will be instruments. But if the series of movers and things moved is infinite, there can be no first mover. In such a case, these infinitely many movers and things moved will all be instruments.
But even the unlearned perceive how ridiculous it is to suppose that instruments are moved, unless they are set in motion by some principal agent. This would be like fancying that, when a chest or bed is being built, the saw or the hatchet that performs its functions without the carpenter. Accordingly, there must be a first mover that is above all the rest; and this being we call God.

[Another major part of the Annandale prayer group was taking a half-mile walk through a field after the rosary each week to the perpetual adoration chapel at St. Michael Church https://stmichaelannandale.org . The first time I had no idea what it was; I just followed right in. If you've ever been to an adoration chapel, you know what it's like: tiny, with kneelers, completely silent, with the consecrated host displayed in a gold monstrance. The first time, I sort of gathered something important and awesome was going on; I wasn't exactly sure what. This hunch was reinforced by the prayer group leader asking afterward what I thought. I didn't know. By the second or third time, I somehow inferred the idea they were worshipping God in the Eucharist (the consecrated host). No doubt my Lutheran upbringing helped play a role, because Martin Luther described it in his catechism as Jesus being "in with and under the bread and wine". Catholics, of course, believe in complete transubstantiation (change in substance) where the bread and wine become the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.]
Also sometime during the fall of 1993, I happened across a pamphlet on birth control [Couple To Couple League, 1982]. Birth control had always been a reason for me to try to avoid the Catholic Church. Finding out how the Pill actually sometimes aborts fertilized eggs, and how Natural Family Planning is just as effective allayed my fears and concerns. I became more open to the Catholic Church because of that.
One Sunday evening In January, 1994 at the end of a prayer group meeting at the Annandale prayer group, a group of us were standing outside St. Michael Church, and a young woman from the Annandale prayer group walked up and played a big roles in it. But that night she did not attend because she started attending a class at Notre Dame Institute, a tiny local graduate school. The class was on Catholic Apologetics and was taught by Father Most [who would later become semi-famous for being the lead apologist for ewtn.com]. She was saying how great the class was, and that maybe, "Hey, this would be a great class for Mike". I had heard about this course because my best friend had taken it the previous year. I signed up.
Shortly after I signed up for the class, Lent was rolling around.
Dancing [swing/ballroom/country-western] had been an obsession with me since August, 1992. One evening in February, 1994, I invited a couple of women from the Annandale prayer group over to the house of one of my [regular] dance partners [eight years older than me] so that I could teach them some steps. After it was over, as we were leaving, my [regular] dance partner asked when we were going to do it again. I replied that since Lent started the next day, they wouldn't be back anytime soon because they took things further than most Catholics, and so would not be dancing during Lent. Outside, one of the women [yet another of the Annandale housemates] told me that she could explain Lent to me, but that I probably wouldn't care.
I asked her to go ahead anyway. She explained that Lent is a time where we can detach ourselves from worldly things, and spend more time on spiritual matters. She further said that someone like me who was exploring the faith could especially benefit from giving something up, and spend more time in prayer. That was news to me. I had always thought that Catholics gave things up for Lent in order to be more like Christ, and that was it. Since I wasn't convinced about anything about Christ, I had no intention of observing Lent under those pretenses.
But after her explanation, I readily gave up dancing.
With the extra time I had, I learned a lot from Fr. Most's class. Fr. Most is a scholar, well-versed in classical history and languages. The textbook for the course was his book, Catholic Apologetics Today: Answers to Modern Critics [full text is now available for free at https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/most/getwork.cfm?worknum=212 but the book is only 1% of listening to Fr. Most's vast knowledge and engaging personality in person]. The approach he used to explain the Catholic faith was to first use the Synoptics (the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke) as historical documents. He does an investigation as to the validity and reliability of these books as historical documents.
The conclusion is that the following points can be determined with confidence, strictly from an historical perspective, from the books:
1/ There was a man named Jesus.
This fact is borne out of secular history as well, such as the Annals by Tacitus.
2/ He claimed He was sent from God as a sort of messenger.
Note that we are not saying at this point that Jesus was divine, or that He even said He was divine. We are only saying that He [said He] was sent by God.
3/ He did enough to prove this by miracles done with a connection between the claim and the cure.
Not only do we have evidence from the Synoptics, but also from Tacitus, and even more compelling, the modern miracles associated with the Catholic Church. The three miracles which have occurred this millennium which were compelling to me were:
i) The healings at Lourdes. Hundreds of people visit Lourdes daily. Most claim a healing. Indeed, the power of suggestion is a scientifically proven healer. But there is a team of doctors present on-site which investigate the healings to disprove them. Several healings over the past century have completely baffled the doctors, and one doctor was even converted. One example is a blind woman whose optic nerve had withered. Her sight was restored, even though her nerve was still withered. Three months later, her nerve was found to be restored.
ii) Our Lady of Guadeloupe. Mary appeared to a Mexican farmer, and gave him a message to deliver, which he did. He delivered it to the Bishop, who did not believe him. He went back to the field, and this time Mary gave him roses as proof (it was the dead of winter). The Bishop believed him this time, because on his cloak was emblazoned the image of Mary. The image on the cloak has not faded (it's been 150 years), and has been scientifically examined. A small amount of paint was found (evidently from attempted human touch-up), but the nature of the bulk of the image cannot be explained by scientists.
iii) The Host of Lanciano [actually eighth century rather than second millennium]. A priest did not believe in the True Presence in the Eucharist. So one time when he consecrated the Blood of Christ, blood clots appeared where there was once wine. The Host has been preserved for the last 1250 years, and the clots have been confirmed as being blood, yet they have not disintegrated.
4/ In the crowds He had a smaller group to whom He spoke more, i.e., the Apostles.
5/ He told them to continue His work and His teaching.
6/ He promised God would protect that teaching.
"He who hears you hears me, He who rejects you rejects Him who sent me."
From these points, we have that God established the Church on Earth, starting with the Apostles. That Church was started with Peter as the first Pope. Matthew 16:15-19:

Jesus said to them [the Apostles], "Whom do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered, "Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you: That you are Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: And whatsoever who shall loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven."

The Catholic Church traces an unbroken chain of Popes back to Peter.
Peter and the other Apostles ordained priests and bishops, who in turn ordained other priests and bishops, etc. Every priest in the Catholic Church can trace a lineage back to Peter, who was ordained by Jesus.
Except I had a problem with point number 3 above. Just because Jesus, and even the Church, seems to be supernatural does not prove that Jesus was sent directly by the First Mover. Who is to say that we are not mice in a cage? Surely we humans seem to be gods to actual mice awaiting their next biological experiment. Could we not be so fooled, if not by others from this universe, then perhaps by beings from a higher dimension? Perhaps the entire universe is a computer simulation, and nothing really exists (you can see the Star Trek influence here).
I spoke in private [twice] with Fr. Most about these concerns. He pointed out that the First Mover is responsible for every action that takes place, and to fool us with such compelling evidence would not be just. I pointed out that He would need to be just only if man had an immortal soul, of which I was not convinced. Fr. Most reiterated some proofs that man had an immortal soul, but at the time I found them unsatisfying. I was in a catch-22. If the Church was established by the First Mover, then man has an immortal soul because the Church says so. If man has an immortal soul, then God would not allow the compelling evidence that the Catholic Church is the true Church to persist unless it were true.
St. Thomas argues for the immortality of the soul in chapter 79 of his Compendium of Theology (Light of Faith):

Understanding is proper to man beyond all other animals. Evidently, man alone comprehends universals, and the relations between things, and immaterial objects, which are perceptible only to the intelligence. Understanding cannot be an act performed by a bodily organ in the way that vision is exercised by the eye. No faculty endowed with cognitive power can belong to the genus of things that is known through its agency. Thus the pupil of the eye lacks color by its very nature. Colors are recognized to the extent that the species of colors are received into the pupil; but a recipient must be lacking in that which is received. The intellect is capable of knowing all sensible natures. Therefore, if it knew through the medium of a bodily organ, that organ would have to be entirely lacking in sensible nature; but this is impossible.
Moreover, any cognitive faculty exercises its power of knowing in accord with the way the species of the object known is in it, for this is its principle of knowing. But the intellect knows things in an immaterial fashion, even those things that are by nature material; it abstracts a universal form from its individuating material conditions. Therefore the species of the object known cannot exist in the intellect materially; and so it is not received into a bodily organ, seeing that every bodily organ is material.

I personally found the argument unsatisfying at the time. Now that I am Catholic, and now that I understand philosophy slightly better, I appreciate the argument now. Back then, I liked it to the extent that it showed to me that there was a strong possibility, without having to rely on the Catholic Church, that man has an eternal soul.
So with the catch-22, I remained 70% convinced of the validity of the Catholic Church. But to continue on with Fr. Most's explanation of the Catholic Church, he uses the above six points to show that God established and protects the Church. From there, we can let the Church tell us that Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, which is the First Mover. We can let the Church tell us (as it did in the 300's) which books belong in the Bible (i.e., which are inspired and Sacred Scripture). We can also let the Church tell us which parts of the Oral Tradition are valid. Oral Tradition is what Jesus Christ taught the Apostles, but which was not written down in Sacred Scripture.
E.g., the Pope affirmed just forty years ago that Mary was assumed bodily into heaven, even though that is not in the Bible, but it has always been known by the Church.
In April, 1994 I approached Fr. Hathaway [ https://twitter.com/fatherehathaway ] at St. Michael's Catholic Church about taking an RCIA (Roman Catholic Initiation for Adults) class. I had been visiting Mass every week there since October, 1993.
And all my friends from the Annandale prayer group knew him personally, mostly through work with the Legion of Mary. I was interested in the RCIA class as a stalling tactic. By this time I was feeling a lot of pressure to make up my mind. I had been on this path of studying Catholicism for a year, and my new-found Catholic friends were getting a little impatient with me. I figured the RCIA class would buy me some time, since I could decide after the class was over. Fr. Hathaway replied that the current class [the regular RCIA cycle ending Easter] was just ending, and another one would not be starting for a couple more months [what I now know to be a highly unusual expedited summer RCIA], and that since I was baptized Lutheran and had good knowledge of Christian doctrine, he could just talk to me personally. I took that to mean that I would not have to attend RCIA. My stalling tactic blown, I immediately shied away.
Then one day after the semester of Fr. Most's class, I was in a restaurant with a young Catholic woman [connected by an extraordinarily expensive dating service; online dating at the time had a pool of less than five women per major city. It turns out this is the only time I met her and I do not recall her name]. I was explaining how I was 70% convinced. She was a born-and-bred Catholic, and a teacher of young children. I don't think she was well-versed in philosophy and Star Trek. So I don't think she really saw or identified with my doubts. She asked me, seemingly off-hand, "What would it take to convince you?" Either she was a mastermind at Apologetics or it was accident. Either way, I tried to reply but found no words. I realized in the weeks after that that I was merely questioning reality all along, which was absurd. Because what would it take to convince me -- God appearing to me in a burning bush? Could that not also be contrived by the cage-keeper? How could I know anything was real? Is there any way anything other than the First Mover can know anything is real? I think the idea is absurd, and therefore I realized that there was sufficient evidence that the Catholic Church was in fact established by the First Mover. If one believes in reality, one must believe in the Catholic Church. I believe in reality.
I didn't sign up for an RCIA class right away. The summer RCIA class at St. Michael's was on Monday nights, which conflicted with a dance class I wanted to take with another nice Catholic woman I had recently met [online, actually. Recall I was an ISP so as soon as I saw her post I jumped and immediately responded]. After the dance class was over, I went to the beach for a week.
One of my favorite beach activities is reading novels. Since I was financially destitute from being a new home owner and renovating the house, reading was my exclusive activity that year at the beach. One of the books I read was Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. It's a scary book that makes one self-insightful about Satanic temptation. The story is told from the perspective of one devil training another in the art of temptation. The protege devil is responsible for a man's soul. The story follows the man through his life. The ways in which the devils in the story cause the man to avoid thinking about religion, causing him to to innocuously take definitely wrong turns, rang true.
When I returned from the beach late on Sunday, I managed to find out the time and location of the RCIA class that Monday, as well as get permission to start in late. I was able to catch up by reviewing the videotapes of the RCIA class held the previous summer.
I had a shotgun confirmation. I wanted my best friend to be my sponsor, but he was leaving to start the school year at St. Thomas Aquinas College in California. So Fr. Hathaway got permission from the pastor, Msgr. Browne, to hold my confirmation on Labor Day. 30 people attended my confirmation, from both prayer groups, and my best friend's family. My parents were holding a major party at their house the same day, so my mother attended, but my father did not.
[Final notes:]
[1/ To allay confusion about why I now live in Denver: it's mostly coincidence not related to the 1993 visit. Among some other reasons, it was because I no longer wanted to live in the suburbs and I could actually afford (in 2006) to live next to downtown Denver. Also to get away from the pagan temples that define DC. https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/dc-creeps-me-out/ ]
[2/ Although the Shatner thing was something I just added today as kind of a joke to the Reddit title, it remains true that I would most likely never have become Catholic were it not for the timing of the 1992 rerun of the 1986 SNL episode. For example, I recently Googled the name of one of the very few women online back then. I never reached out to her because I assumed she would be very unattractive. It turns out she was just my type. And she was evangelical. So I could have so easily ended up evangelical (or, much more likely, an atheist dating an evangelical) instead.]
[3/ I will try to answer questions posed, but do not feel offended or left out if I decide to not answer for personal reasons.]

Someone from our parish left a lot of cards in our adoration chapel with this written on it. I thought it would be nice to share, to pray for our priests and their sanctity, so I wrote it down.
It's called the Chaplet of Reparation For Priests (from In Sinu Jesu), and is prayed on regular rosary beads.
--
Start with:
Incline (+) unto my aid, O God; O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Alleluia.
(If it is during Lent, replace the alleluia with the following: Praise be to Thee, O Lord, King of eternal glory)
On the Our Father beads:
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Precious Blood of Thy Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb without blemish or spot, in reparation for my sins and for the sins of all Thy priests.
On the Hail Mary beads:
By Thy Precious Blood, O Jesus, purify and sanctify Thy priests.
Instead of Glory Be at the end of each decade, say the following:
O Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named, have mercy on all Thy priests, and wash them in the Blood of the Lamb.
--
It's recommended to end it with The Divine Praises or the Salve Regina. I prayed the Salve Regina, and at the line "Pray for us, O holy Mother of God", I said "Pray for our priests, O holy Mother of God", so that's an option too. I'll link both prayers in English and Latin for those who don't have them memorized!
It's a short chaplet, even praying all five decades. Probably took me all of 10 minutes to finish it, and I tend to pray on the slower side. Hopefully y'all find some time to pray this! Christ's priests need all the prayers they can get.

I have been trying to get back to my faith after a decade of being on and off (mostly off), and have attended confession in order to become whole with the church again. In order to further my faith, I am going to try and say the Rosary daily and I was thinking of doing so while commuting (driving) via listening to the recordings from EWTN. Eventually, after I’m consistently praying the Rosary, I’d like to enroll in the Brown Scapular.
I had a couple of questions about this and more: * Is saying the Rosary while driving not as valid as if I weren’t doing something else while praying? It is a consistent half hour that I have and I do well with routine.

• I was thinking of buying a 1 decade Rosary for when I travel. According to this article from the Sisters of Carmel, praying a Rosary without physical possession of a full, five decade Rosary doesn’t grant the same indulgences. Is this true? Is there a different/better source for this with more detail?
  
• Pope St. Pius X decreed that a Scapular Medal was an acceptable substitute for a cloth Scapular “in most cases,” but the Sisters of Carmel disagree.I was planning on wearing a Scapular Medal I have had since childhood. I’m inclined to agree with St. Pius here, but I was wondering if there was a more thorough explanation somewhere before enrolling.
  
• I have a really trivial question concerning Gossip and professional sports. (I’m pretty sure I’m overthinking this, but wanted to throw it out there.) I am a sports nerd who adores discussing sports and I have been researching the sin of Gossip. The most succinct description included the phrase “if you wouldn’t say it in front of the other person, don’t say it.” Does discussing professional athletes fall into this? I would never in a million years tell Evgeni Malkin in person that his retaliatory penalties are harmful and they need to stop or walk up to Bill Hamid and tell him his distribution needs to be better. I’d never say that in front of them. What I’m double checking is that those types of discussions about Athletes isn’t Gossip. I’m 99.9% sure it isn’t, but figured I’d ask.
  

This week above most, if not all others, is when the devil most keenly knows his defeat. It's a great time to strike out, sow division & despair, and otherwise distract us from Jesus' saving work.
For us who need saving, it is the perfect time to return to and renew our life of prayer. Whether it's the Liturgy of the Hours (http://www.ibreviary.com), the rosary (http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/rosaries/how-to-pray-the-rosary.cfm), devotion to a particular saint (I'm a fan of St. Michael - https://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/prayers/michael.htm), or simply spending time in quiet prayer (especially in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament), we would do well to be aware of Satan's desire to drag us down.
I know my prayer life could always be better. The Triduum is an invitation to step away from the pettiness of the world, go to confession, and spend time with the Lord.
How will you take advantage of the graces offered in this holy week?

Finally, those who have not yet received the Gospel are related in various ways to the people of God.(18) In the first place we must recall the people to whom the testament and the promises were given and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh.(125) On account of their fathers this people remains most dear to God, for God does not repent of the gifts He makes nor of the calls He issues.(126) But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind. Nor is God far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for it is He who gives to all men life and breath and all things,(127) and as Saviour wills that all men be saved.(128) Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.(19) Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life. Whatever good or truth is found amongst them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel.(20*) She knows that it is given by Him who enlightens all men so that they may finally have life. But often men, deceived by the Evil One, have become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the Creator.(129) Or some there are who, living and dying in this world without God, are exposed to final despair. Wherefore to promote the glory of God and procure the salvation of all of these, and mindful of the command of the Lord, "Preach the Gospel to every creature",(130) the Church fosters the missions with care and attention.

The teaching of Lumen Gentium seems to teach something much too close to universalism, and knowing the climate of that time period, does it seem so unreasonable that the modernists in the Church were trying to teach universalism?
If God didn't deign for certain people to receive the Faith in their lifetimes, it must be because He doesn't deign for them to be saved.
It really seems like there's room in LG for broad interpretation, ranging from universalism to a very narrow, cynical interpretation. I find myself being able to reconcile it with Scripture and Tradition if it's read very narrowly and, honestly, sort of Pelagian-ly. My reading would be that some hypothetical atheist was showered with so much grace as to be impeccable, but somehow not enough grace to actually be Catholic, and was therefore able to follow perfectly the Law by the extraordinary grace bestowed on them. Thus, having no personal sin, God also at some point (perhaps even after death) decided to grant them the extraordinary grace to be immaculate as well, so that they would not suffer the consequences of Original Sin. Kinda like how some would presume that aborted/miscarried babies go to heaven (I subscribe to Limbo).
Unfortunately, rejecting this gentle universalism taught by Lumen Gentium would imply double predestination of some sort—that God predestined some people to never hear the Gospel and be saved.
Fr. William Most, a Catholic priest and author, said in his "The Tragic Errors of Leonard Feeney" that "Feeney consigned literally millions upon millions to hell, even though He gave them no chance." Doesn't that place the "blame" on God, admitting that He gave those souls no chance of ordinary salvation, rather than on Feeney for acknowledging that that is objectively true? Another criticism in this is that Fr. Feeney rejected the salvation of infants who die without baptism. But Limbo is a perfectly acceptable stance for a Catholic to hold, and has great traditional/historical support.
Are the faithful obligated to accept those teachings? And if so, are they dogmatic or part of the ordinary Magisterium?

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About Post:

---	---	Notes
Submission	Sincere Protestant asking about Mary, Icons and the Sacraments!
Comments	Sincere Protestant asking about Mary, Icons and the Sacraments!
Author	2BrothersInaVan
Subreddit	/Catholicism
Posted On	Sun Oct 01 08:26:40 EDT 2017
Score	69	as of Tue Oct 03 18:40:54 EDT 2017
Total Comments	60

Post Body:

The usual accusation by Protestants is that the veneration of Mary and intercessional prayer request to the saints turn into idol worship, elevating humans (albeit very holy ones), into the status of God, which Catholics deny.
Can any of you explain how the veneration and intercession are practiced practically? Do people think about God/Jesus at all when they pray to Mary or the saints? Do Catholics ever speak of a "personal relationship" with Jesus? Or is God/Jesus seem more of a far removed entity that only Mary or the saints have access to?
As for the sacraments, many Protestants accuse it of becoming a very mechanical thing - do A, B, C,D, check the boxes to maintain salvation, no real deep faith required. How do sincere Catholics see this?
Much thanks in advance guys!
EDIT: How do Catholics explain the adoration of many Holy sites associated with the saints? It seems almost like the saints are being worshipped.

Related Comments (1):

---	---	Notes
Author	Trubea
Posted On	Sun Oct 01 12:27:57 EDT 2017
Score	5	as of Tue Oct 03 18:40:54 EDT 2017
Body	link

Jehovah's Witnesses accuse Protestants and Catholics of worshiping Christmas trees because we set one up in our homes and decorate it. I've never heard anyone say, "Oh, it was just pointed out to me that our Christmas tree is idolatry so we had better get rid of it." This is because we know our own beliefs about worship and holiday customs.
Similarly, we Catholics understand that our theology describes latria, dulia, and hyperdulia. Latria means to adore and is only given to God. Many people use the word worship for the adoration given to God alone, but the meaning has changed over the years. The root of worship is worth, and worship simply means to ascribe worth to. Dulia means veneration, and hyperdulia is the special veneration given to Mary. This is all very clear in Catholic theology.
Practically speaking, Catholics have all sorts of prayer requests, just like Protestants. We ask the saints to help us by interceding for us. This fellowship with Mary and the saints in no way takes us away from Christ.
Catholics often don't use American Protestant language like "accept Christ as personal Lord and Savior" or "personal relationship," but we strive to unite ourselves to Christ and to know Him. That's pretty personal.

As for the sacraments, many Protestants accuse it of becoming a very mechanical thing - do A, B, C,D, check the boxes to maintain salvation, no real deep faith required.

If I believe that baptism will wash away my sins, confession will forgive my sins, my exchange of vows with my spouse will obtain the grace needed for marriage, etc., isn't that faith???
Dulia, Hyperdulia, and Latria
May God bless you. Please stay around our sub and ask more questions if you feel so led.

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Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, foundress of the Eternal Word Television Network, passed away on March 27 after a lengthy struggle with the aftereffects of a stroke.
One, on behalf of Sister Mary of the Cross, was mailed to the bishop of Saint Cloud, Minn.; the other, on behalf of Sister Mary Angelica, was mailed to Mobile-Birmingham, Ala., Archbishop Thomas Toolen.
In November 2015, the Hanceville community was augmented with the arrival of nuns from St. Joseph Adoration Monastery of Charlotte, N.C., which was merged with Our Lady of the Angels, under the leadership of Mother Dolores Marie.
"When Mother first had her stroke [in 2001], a lot of people said what a shame because she was a voice of the Catholic faith and for the truth," said Mother Dolores.
"The first thing you detected with Mother was her spousal love of Jesus. She was always telling people, 'Jesus loves you,'" said Father Joseph Mary Wolfe, one of the original members of the men's religious community founded by Mother Angelica, the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word.
"Her long-term contribution is hard to assess, of course, but there is no doubt that Mother Angelica has helped root the Church in America more deeply in the Catholic Tradition; and at the same time, she has helped make the Church more innovative in how she communicates that tradition. All Catholics in America should thank God for Mother Angelica."

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