So I've got a question:

Suppose you have never felt comfort nor discomfort while praying, not before, during or even afterwards. You are basically neutral to created things in general and also to the things of God even though you may be driven towards them. And suppose you also have a complete faith in the providence of God such that you are not anxious when it comes to God.

How would you tell when or even whether you are going through the dark night of the senses in this case?

We prohibit under anathema that murderous art of crossbowmen and archers, which is hateful to God, to be employed against Christians and Catholics from now on. (Canon 29, Lateran II)

I’m interested to know the answer to this! This is a very unique canon I’ve heard of from Lateran II - it was brought up in a discussion on Church teaching on nuclear weapons - where the Church excommunicated those who shot a Christian/Catholic with a crossbow or other “archers” weapon. Does this still apply these days? If 2 Catholic countries went to war tomorrow and a soldier shot an opponent with a bow, would this result in excommunication where shooting him with a gun wouldn’t? If a Catholic soldier had no means of defending himself except a crossbow, would he be forbidden to use it, but could use a gun?

Good Morning Fathers, I am curious about which generation each of you belongs to. Along with that, what was your favorite thing to do when you were a kid (elementary age, in particular)?

I (F32)was raised and baptized Episcopalian, but was never confirmed, my fiancé (M32) has never been baptized.

Ive never been married. He was married (courthouse) prior to me at the age of 19 to an unbaptized woman, with no kids. They divorced at 24 because she was unfaithful while he was deployed.

We met a few years later, and have been together for 5 1/2 years.

Lately we’ve both been exploring catholic teachings and even considered converting, as I already have family that are catholic and his father’s side prior to my fiancé’s generation were raised catholic.

Given our mixed history: What would be the steps for us to become catholic, and would our marriage be considered valid in the eyes of the church?

Thank you!

This is a sentiment I noticed within my community. I'm from an immigrant community where there is generally pressure to become attorney, doctor, etc. I see the benefits of pushing for higher education and success in a land with many opportunities.

Honestly, it is quite common to look down on people without a formal education.

I didn't know how hurtful it was until I became close friends with someone who didn't go to college and she expressed how other family members look down on her.

If I am friends with someone that first thing my mom asks is if they went to college as if that is a criteria for being a good friend.

I have a good friend that I talk and hang out with online regularly that I met through work. We both share a lot of values and he’s always been a very devout Catholic as long as I’ve known him (goes to mass every Sunday, is involved with his community, volunteers in church functions, is a member of the Knight of Columbus, etc.) and I’m moving back home for the rest of the summer where he is. The issue however is that he attends SSPX services in part due to them being the only group in our area that does the latin mass still. I’m a Byzantine Catholic myself but he’s invited me a couple times to go to latin mass in the past which I’ve been interested in if nothing than to experience it however it’s also left me kinda torn now. Officially they’re excommunicated now, am I even able to go to something like this even if I don’t receive communion there? Thank you

I’m a 26-year-old Catholic from Brazil. I was baptized and received First Communion, but for most of my life my faith was lukewarm. About three months ago, I attended a Catholic retreat (not Pentecostal, but with charismatic elements), and I had an experience that completely changed the way I think about faith.
During Eucharistic adoration, I experienced something that people there called “Resting in the Spirit.” Before that weekend, I was honestly skeptical of these kinds of phenomena and even somewhat prejudiced against them because they reminded me of practices I had seen in Pentecostal churches.
Here’s what happened:
I felt an overwhelming sense of being in the presence of something infinitely greater than myself.
I wasn’t frightened, but I felt deeply exposed and “known.” The best word I can find is overwhelmed or awed.
My body began leaning backward until I eventually fell.
My eyelids trembled intensely, and so did my legs.
I cried in a way that felt completely involuntary.
Afterward, I experienced a deep sense of peace.
Since then, I’ve spent months reading about psychology, suggestion, hypnosis, emotional contagion, Catholic theology, charismatic spirituality, and the critiques of these experiences.
The reason I’m still struggling is that I genuinely care about truth.
I don’t want to convince myself that something supernatural happened if it didn’t. At the same time, I don’t want to dismiss a genuine encounter with God just because a psychological explanation is possible.

One detail that I think is important:
The priest never touched me. In fact, he hadn’t even arrived where I was yet. There was only a retreat leader guiding the prayer, while worship songs invoking the Holy Spirit were playing. That is when my body began leaning backward until I eventually fell.
Another piece of context is that I didn’t go to the retreat as someone with strong faith. I went because I had been struggling for a long time between theism and atheism. I was genuinely hoping to find clarity one way or the other. I wanted to know whether God was real, not simply to have an emotional experience.
Because of that, I often wonder whether my intense desire for something to be revealed to me could itself have contributed to the experience psychologically.
That’s the question I can’t seem to answer:
Did I genuinely encounter God, or was my mind responding to months (or years) of searching for certainty?
Or is it possible that both are true—that psychological mechanisms and a genuine spiritual experience are not mutually exclusive?

Hello Reverend Fathers of all!

Today I have a TLM question that doesn't involve the politics behind it, rather the logistics of it. So from what I have learned is that when the TLM was the norm, there was no microphone usage during the mass (when microphones were a thing) and then obviously in the 1500s to 1900s there was no electronic sound amplification. I also have seen the HUGE churches out in the east part of the USA. That's not something I am used to as there aren't very many big (in size) churches here in New Mexico. So my question is, for those who know or who may be old enough to remember, what was it like for the faithful who sat near the back of these huge churches and Cathedrals during those masses. I can't imagine that somewhere like St. Patrick's Cathedral or even the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception would have good acoustics enough for a family in the way back to hear the priest's cues for their participation and responses...or could they? Like I go to a smaller church for the Tridentine Mass and I have to sit in the front row to hear the priest's words or else I am lost and have no clue what I am doing. Thanks for taking the time to read this and have a blessed Monday!

The Divine Comedy is one of the most significant works of literature ever written on Christianity and the afterlife. Yes, it is an artistic work, but still, Dante takes the reader to hell, purgatory and heaven. The importance of that work and its contributions to our faith are undeniable. Dante was a devout catholic, though he has never been declared a saint. So, what are his chances of him being declared a Doctor of the Church?

Lots to add here but my main take away is - can my husband go to confession with a Catholic priest and be absolved if he is not Catholic?

He “identifies” as Catholic as he has received all his sacraments through the Orthodox Church but I’m really unsure about it all. We are looking into OCIA for him at the moment too. We can talk to our priest but it’s really heavy on his heart to go to confession. I’m telling him it’s a great idea but curious about the thoughts from a priest.

Hello priests of reddit, can someone please help by having a conversation about catholicism with me?

I had a miscarriage a couple weeks ago. My third one. It is rocking me to my core. I have an almost 2 year old and an 8 month old already, but we were so excited to add another sweet baby. I’m tired of losing my babies. Last week, I missed mass due to the pain/bleeding a MC brings. Today, I don’t feel right going. Mentally and emotionally, I’m struggling. I haven’t been happy since the loss. I am grieving my baby. I’m struggling to be around pregnant friends/family members. My parish always has tons of pregnant women and tiny babies. I don’t think I could handle sitting in mass. Is this an acceptable reason to miss, being mental and emotional health related?

I’m supposed to go to my first confession in a year about (since i’m in OCIA) and I was just wondering if it’s common that priests judge confessions or what they’ll do or say if i never went before. Ik a lot of them say that they are happy that people are there but it’s really hard to believe that they don’t judge the people especially if what they did is really bad. (obviously even if they do judge i will still go because i want to get right with God, but idk if it’s actually true that priests could not care less about the sins and only care that people go to confession)

Hi there, Fr. Sparky and all!

I promise I searched posts and comments first.

I am very interested in trying out Folk Catholicism.

I see some users in here still take the Eucharist and other Sacraments, some don’t.nobody says anything about Confessing their practice either.

What is your take on the practices, the Eucharist and anything else related?

Thank you SO MUCH for your time!! And I promise I triple-spellchecked, but shunting out of one eye at 4am! 💚🙏💛🙏💜🙏

So I’m trying to rebuild my faith. I want to start out by saying that I’m Catholic. The first questions is, how does one get religious items like crosses, crucifixes, rosaries, stuff like that, blessed? Secondly, how should one go about living in this society that either rejects the faith or outright loathes it and keeps a positive attitude or to not want to get into a conflict with a person? Lastly, where is the best place to find out more information on how the Catholic Church works and what all of the terms I read or hear mean and its history (that one is for my own interest, as far as I know it’s not integral to the faith to know how and what all that means).

I’m trying to rebuild my faith in Catholicism. One part of it is I want and need to go to confession more. I’m attending a private college that has Catholic masses (as well as some other denominations). I’m not sure if they do confession too. My question is, is there such a thing as virtual confession? I’m not sure of where the closest Catholic Church is when I’m at college, and (currently) I don’t have the ability to drive to it. Even if I do get a car this upcoming school year, I’m not sure if I have the time to (responsibility for classes and my sport). If there isn’t such a thing, what else could I do?

Hi Fathers. I'm attempting to be thoughtful of the rules and ultimately, it's going to be me who decides. I don't feel I'm asking for direct vocational guidance, just a general question from what you know as a Priest and anything you might know about nursing. I plan to pray on it and maybe ask for more direct guidance so I'd like to keep the question simple:

How involved is the Priesthood? What percentage of your life's time does it take up? Then I would ask if anyone else you know about in history was both a medical professional and a Priest and how they managed it.

How do priests actually feel about the various book programs around Easter and Christmas that the Catholic businesses (Word on Fire, Ascension, Dynamic Catholic, etc.) are now offering? Are they actually helpful? Do the books provide value? Do you have hundreds of unused books every year?

I was considering carrying a rosary as a good luck charm (I am not catholic) but was told by someone that they thought it might be disrespectful to the religion. Should I stop my plans?

I hope this isn't inappropriate to ask, considering that of course the initial substance is not in fact what is received in the holy eucharist... But Fathers, what is the wine your parish uses as the raw material for consecration? I've seen a great variety across churches (Red, Fortified, even White where I suspect clumsy priests or servers may have required it), and I wonder if there's any standard or average!

Hi Father(s),

My Archdiocese/Parish is hosting an annual Mass for the Faithful Departed, which takes place at a local Parish run cemetery. I've always been under the impression this is for ALL faithful departed, or at the very least for the deceased loved ones of those who are present.

Well today, I was told essentially that this is solely for those who are buried or in niches at this cemetery, and those that don't have loved ones there shouldn't attend.

If any of you are in a diocese where this annual Mass is said, how do you understand the intentions of such a Mass? Are they only for those buried there, for the deceased loved ones of those in attendance, or for all "faithful departed" in general?

God bless!