St. Mary Magdalene said to St. Mechtilde: "Whoever shall give thanks to God for all the tears I shed upon the feet of Jesus, our most merciful God will grant them, through my intercession, remission of all their sins before their death, and a great increase of love of God."

Holy Holy Holy Mary Magdalene, lamp of the world ablaze with love, your faith has saved you, pray for me at the feet of our Redeemer. Amen.

"With agonied black tears,

Mary prostrate on the floor adores

Wipes His feet dry with her own hair

Then forth her precious perfume pours."

EDIT: I am SO SO SORRY for the title!! 😭😭 I totally didn't mean it like that. It was very poorly phrased on my part, I apologise for any confusion or negativity caused. When I was writing it, I genuinely didn't have the slightest clue it could be interpreted like that, at all. I'm Asian myself, so trust me I was not trying to be racist in any way!! I simply meant the whole DECOR and ARCHITECTURE was the COLOUR white. As in the sort of white you see when you put typical printer paper into sunlight, that sort of shade. NOT the race!!! But I cannot blame anyone but myself, apparently I do not have a way with words. Again, I'm sorry please forgive me.

For those who did answer about the church that is DECORATED in white, thank you!! I haven't found it yet, and there's a great chance I'm misremembering, but I have found looking into the churches you suggested really interesting, and I really really appreciate it <3

Also, does anyone know how to change the title???? Everyone's telling me to do it but I really don't know how to 😭😭

One time I went to France, I distinctly remember going to a 6pm mass.
It was spoken in French I think (we were trying to find an English one but I'm pretty sure we ended up at this French one), and I most vividly remember it being an all-white church.
Like blindingly white. Well, I could still see of course, but the floor, walls, pews, altar etc. all the purest shade of white.

Before going back there, I spent years truly believing it was in Lourdes, but when I went two years ago, I went everywhere I thought it could be but I couldn't find it!! I'm going again this year so I kind of what to know if it actually exists or not.

Another thing is I remember it being quite small, more like the size of a small chapel than a typical church building , and it wasn't on the ground floor, you had to walk up at least one flight of stairs to get there.

Does anyone know if this is real? or is my memory making things up lol?

Whenever I tell people I am catholic they just hate for no reason and throw comments that they don’t even understand. I am sure others have felt this before and I just don’t know what to do.

I am currently pregnant with my third child, and my OB is telling me that I should get a tubal ligation to prevent another pregnancy since all my kids are born via Cesarean Delivery. My CS cut is too near in my bladder already and she said I can only deliver 3 kids based on my medical history and age.

I know its a grave sin to have your tubes tied. I don’t like to commit a sin but i am so confused right now. Can someone enlighten me on what to do. Thank you.

I honestly feel less delusional than people who follow man-made religions and conquered the despair and nihilism that come with atheism.

Now that I found my chill, I went from 15 years on disability collecting an emo check, now I’m at the busiest store in my market because I don’t crash out or tap out. I’m on the verge of promotion and getting my own store.

Sometimes I thank God for my mental illness it’s almost like divine intervention. I honestly don’t think I would’ve been humble enough to accept the truth if it wasn’t for having a kryptonite.

God only knows if I’d be an Andrew Tate or Jeffrey Epstein if I conquered the world when I was a younger opportunist.

Instead, I did other questionable things in my past like marrying a mental health social worker to get ahead and even dating my boss. Until I realized why not be in a relationship with the ultimate authority? So I did.

I just don’t know what to do from here. Like what do I do now? I don’t have the time or money to go to seminary and my love life is DOA as I have a separated wife. My best friend told me that maybe God has something bigger for me.

I literally proved the entire world wrong that I am not just crazy including medical professionals. Low key I have been off my pills for months and I don’t feel the need for them anymore. Maybe I should take them but I don’t see the point of having super sayain sanity like the bar is really that low.

I'm teaching a secular subject to children at a Catholic school starting next month. Any advice anyone has as to how to navigate this school year?

A couple of notes:

• As far as I know, I don't have to attend weekly school masses because I don't have a homeroom to escort. However, there are a couple of faculty-only and faculty-led masses on the calendar that I'm not sure about.
• I don't mind sitting respectfully and not participating during masses. The only thing I can't do is kneel.
• I know not to take communion.
• To my knowledge, I'm the only non-Christian working there. Everyone else is Catholic and maybe one Protestant.

Is there anything else I should know? When I worked at a Jewish school, the non-Jewish teachers participated in our services/celebrations. I plan on respecting my new co-workers' religion just as those non-Jewish teachers respected mine.

Im unsure of what will happen to me after leaving this place. I believe in the Trinity and the Catholic canon but I've not been baptised or set foot in a catholic church, not even as a catechumen.

I believe in a few days I'll be gone and I'm unsure of my fate after that.

I've tried confessing everything to God directly but im not sure if it's valid without the involvement of a priest.

I've been a seeking convert since age 12 so about 6 years at this point, have covered some theology across the works of St.Augustine and St.Thomas Aquinas in that time period but haven't had the chance to receive the Sacraments.

Will appreciate any clarification.

Question: How do I pray through this? I'm already looking for a new job.

* I'm not a parent and my time at the chapel doesn't detract from my vocation or duties at home.

---

I need some advice. I've been a practicing Catholic for 11 years and have been actively involved in my previous parish and adoration chapel.

I moved and a brand new 24/7 adoration chapel opened in my city two months ago. As soon as I signed up for weekly commitments at the chapel (I'm doing 4 days a week), all hell broke loose in my life. This all happened after I signed up to now:

-Tire spring snapped on my 2022 minivan and as soon as I got the vehicle out of the shop, had a tire issue.

-Got a big metal shard in my tire and had to replace it

-Permit I was getting help with, fell apart and people turned on me and no longer want to help me

-Job went really bad and turned abusive (got yelled at...)

-The apprenticeship I moved to a different state for ended after I found out the mentor was a sham and a scammer (taking advantage of people)

-My parent had a second stroke

- Everyday has been horrible at work due to my dysfunctional manager (she told us she was named after a witch. Isn't that fun.)

- My husband's new job took a turn for the worst

- My job had layoffs

- My music teacher became verbally abusive and I had to end the relationship

- I've had to get subs for about 2 weeks of adoration commitments

- I'm having trouble sleeping and eating, mostly due to the stress of the dysfunctional job.

....

Essentially, in the last two months, I've had 5 really abusive or highly dysfunctional work-related relationships that have manifested or ended.

We only give glory to God and I'm not complaining. It's just been a lot of crazy stuff that has happened in a short time and I don't know if I need to be praying differently. I don't think anyone is praying for protection for the adorers at the new chapel. The founding priest of the chapel is on sabbatical, but I did contact the chapel staff to learn more.

What do I do? Just wait it out? Do I pray differently? I told God he's got to fix this or I'm going to have to quit the chapel. This is too much.

(I am interviewing for new jobs).

Has anyone gone through this before?

Thanks for listening!

Edited: For clarity.

***NOT LOOKING FOR MEDICAL ADVICE, but rather spiritual advice. I am not in a position to experiment with various medical interventions, as my husband works out of state 70% of the year and I have zero family or support with 3 children. BC is life saving and completely addresses the underlying issues for me at this time.***

Exactly as the title says…how do I reconcile with the relief of being 99% unable to get pregnant (3 kids, 3 c-sections, major post partum, we are done for now) and the fact that this medication is life saving for me. For years, I’ve experienced suicidal ideation, wanting to divorce my husband, and feel like running my car into a wall and ending it all from my PMDD symptoms. On birth control, I stop having a period, and PMDD vanishes. I am a better mother, wife and human, and I actually want to be alive. But I also appreciate the relief of the contraceptive effect. How do I reconcile this as a Catholic woman? Thank you.

Content Warning: This is a very long post. It discusses religious persecution, emotional and sexual coercion, su!cidal thoughts, and loss of faith. I'm looking for advice because I don't know where else to turn.

I am a 20-year-old woman who was born into a very strict and very poor Muslim family in a strict Muslim country in the Middle East. When I was 16, I discovered Catholicism almost by accident. The more I learned, the more convinced I became that it was true, and I secretly converted in my heart. For the past four years I have practiced my faith in complete secrecy. During that time, I have come frighteningly close to losing my life on multiple occasions because leaving Islam is considered a crime where I live, Muslims are not allowed to attend church, and even associating with Christians is heavily stigmatized.

When I was 17, I met a man online. We quickly became best friends, and when I was 18 we began a long-distance relationship. He lived on the other side of the world. He knew everything about my situation and spent years helping me emotionally and financially. More than anyone else, he believed in my dream of escaping my country so that I could finally practice my faith openly. For three years, he was almost the only person I spoke to regularly.

Unfortunately, because of severe family and personal circumstances, I wasn't able to graduate high school on time and had to repeat my final year. During that time I lost nearly all my friends, became deeply isolated, and became the laughingstock of my family and acquaintances. My boyfriend eventually broke up with me because he lost faith that I would ever be able to leave my country. After I explained a new plan to escape, he decided to give our relationship another chance.

By what honestly feels like a miracle, after countless sleepless nights of studying while juggling overwhelming responsibilities, I earned a highly competitive fully funded scholarship to another country where I will finally be able to practice my faith much more freely. The university is located in a town that is over 90% Catholic. It felt like God had finally opened a door after years of suffering, and my boyfriend was overjoyed. He had written my resume for me and edited my personal statements and offered so much help.

But there was one issue that kept bothering him. We had known each other for three years without ever meeting in person. He repeatedly pressured me to send nude photos and perform increasingly degrading sexual acts over video calls, promising that he would marry me one day. At first I refused. However, whenever I said no, he threatened to take a break from our relationship so he could date other women.

I eventually gave in because I was terrified of losing the only person who had stood by me through everything. Looking back, I feel ashamed beyond words. Before meeting him, no man had ever seen anything beyond my face and hands. I wear the hijab in real life. I had never dated anyone before and had never even shown a strand of my hair to a man. No man has ever touched me or talked to me. I feel like I completely lost myself and became someone my younger self would hardly recognize.

What makes everything even harder is that his twin brother entered a relationship with a local woman, had a child with her, became engaged, and moved in with her—all outside of marriage. Throughout our relationship, my ex had always insisted that both he and his brother were devout Catholics.

Shortly after his brother became engaged, my ex suddenly ghosted me for three days. When I expressed concern, he became angry and disrespectful towards me. Then he called me for less than ten minutes and told me that he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. This happened only three weeks before my final high school examinations, which determine whether I keep my scholarship.

He laughed on the call when I reacted in shock. Immediately afterward, he deleted our entire three-year conversation—including photos, call history, and countless memories that I had never backed up (things we had planned to show as evidence in the future for the engagement visa)—and blocked me everywhere imaginable: every single platform you can possibly think of, and every other way I could think of contacting him. Soon afterward, he began dating a local woman from the same area his twin brother's fiancée came from.

Those three weeks before my exams completely destroyed me. Every time I tried to study, I would break down crying. I became su!cidal. I regretted being born. I even began wondering whether God simply did not want me to become Catholic, and whether every opportunity to escape my situation would always be taken away from me.

I lost almost all of my faith and became deeply agnostic. I had always been one of the top students in my class, but I entered those exams completely broken. During one of the exams I had a complete emotional breakdown, cried in the examination hall, begged other students for help, and ended up cheating on several questions because I simply couldn't think straight.

Now I am waiting for my exam results, and I feel consumed by guilt. Even if I pass and keep my scholarship, I feel like I don't deserve it because I cheated. Everything feels meaningless.

Since the breakup, I have barely been able to pray. Part of me keeps thinking that if I had never converted to Catholicism, none of this would have happened and my life would have remained peaceful. I know that isn't a healthy way to think, but I can't seem to escape it.

I am terrified every single day that my ex might leak the intimate images and videos I sent him. I also fear that I have ruined any hope of one day marrying a faithful Catholic man because of everything that happened. I feel as though I carry so much shame and baggage that no one would ever want me. My ex came into our relationship with an extensive sexual history, while I had none. I feel like I allowed myself to become someone I never wanted to be.

Perhaps the hardest part is that I know Christ calls us to forgive those who hurt us, yet all I can bring myself to do is pray for my ex's downfall. I hate that my heart has become so full of hate and anger, but I don't know how to let go.

I desperately want to believe that God has not abandoned me, but I no longer understand why my life has become so difficult after finding Christ. I cannot afford therapy, and I have talked to AI chatbots so much but they offer the same useless sentences, and I have no one I can safely speak to in real life, so I am turning to strangers here.

If you have read this far, thank you.

I would be grateful for any advice, especially from Catholics who have struggled with despair, religious persecution, coercive relationships, or rebuilding their faith after feeling completely broken. Please pray for me. I truly need it.

My dear friend and her husband have been trying to have a baby for years with no luck. I truly believe that prayer can aid or change her situation - there is nothing medically wrong. Do any of you have special prayers or acts that you believe helped with infertility? I am Catholic, she is protestant. I believe prayer and invoking specific saints helped my husband and I conceive our first child when we were not sure if we could.

I have been praying for them via St. Gerard, St. Anne, and Mary. A lot of the prayers I have found for the intention regarding conception/fertility are focused on the person praying them. I have sent her prayers and novenas for this cause but she says she struggles with prayer.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I just became Catholic in April and before my first communion I felt pulled to only receive communion by the tongue and to not touch the host myself. I know there is nothing wrong with receiving it by hand, but personally I just felt called to not do so. However, every time I go up I feel like I have awkward encounters. I leave thinking “did I stick my tongue out enough?” Or “they looked at me weird when I opened my mouth.” I leave feeling embarrassed somehow every single time. But still every Sunday when I go up I can’t bring myself to receive by hand. I would love to hear others experiences with their decision on how they receive communion. Does this embarrassment go away the longer you do it, or is this embarrassment a sign I should stop receiving it this way? Or maybe is this an opportunity to work on my pride and I should fight through the awkwardness? Really just looking for other’s thoughts or advice on the matter.

I am relatively new to this forum, but I already read several posts of how difficult it is for some people to follow the rules of catholicism (i.e. avoiding 7 sins or following 10 commandments, etc.). Now for me these constraints have always been a relief, because they facilitate my decision making tremendously and I have to think less about the various options in most situations in life. For example: I am married, and a person starts flirting, I don‘t need to think if I am interested or „what would be …“ stuff, because I should not commit adultary and therefore there is no choice in how to handle this situation.

I hope I do not offend anyone with this question, I am just curious how you see these rules for yourself.

Sloth has always been my deadly sin. I am a very lazy person that enjoys being as my grandfather would say “horizontal,” meaning always laying down. It’s hard for me to exercise, be social or do more than the minimum society demands.

When I discovered weed, this made it a million times worse. Fast forward 10 years later, I am trying to quit weed because I simply don’t get high anymore and it is a hinderance in my life . I would smoke more and more and now it’s been 24 hrs since my last drag. It’s like I only been smoking out of habit, and want to break it. It is by far my worst enemy. Im sure Jesus would say to me something like “I gave you all these gifts and all you did was smoke weed.” Weed is a comfort zone that Im trying to leave.

Any tips or advice? Again, it’s like I smoke out of habit, not enjoyment. What can I replace this with or what is the reason this thing wont go away?

Hi! I guess this is more venting than asking for advice, but I thought maybe someone would have some insight I didn’t.

I’m a born and raised Catholic, never left the church, only attended two parishes in my life (and only because I moved from my hometown). Up until I got married I was heavily involved in the parish, volunteered for everything, from cleaning to planing events and to be honest I was always kinda overlooked for friendships with the other ladies at the parish, but I really didn’t mind, it was good enough for me. Then I met my husband when he started attending Mass. We got married very quickly, which I was told was one of the problems for people. We married 5 months after our first date, another thing is: he is very much older than me. I was freshly 26 and he was 48 at the time, didn’t matter to me and we got married quickly cause I wanted three kids before 30, and by the grace of God we did, our first child was born 10 months after our wedding and I’m currently pregnant with the third, I’ve been basically pregnant since our wedding night at this point. All of this means I don’t have enough time to do all the volunteering I did before and the ladies at the parish are incredibly mean to me and don’t want to even let their kids play with mine. One told me my marriage makes them uncomfortable and that my husband’s past doesn’t belong around children. Now, my husband used to be a musician and has struggled with addiction, he’s been sober for 5 years now is a wonderful person, so I don’t understand the prejudice, we are all sinners. I’ve talked to our priest, and as much as he is supportive of me and I do consider him a friend, he can’t exactly force people to be nice.

Is this a weird thing? Should we go to a different parish? Or is it just my hormonal brain malfunctioning? My husband says he doesn’t mind, it’s his cross to bear, but he says he’ll happily go to a different parish if that will make me happy.

First time I heard that I was shocked, what is thaat my brothers?!

Mortification of five senses, this is nuts!!!

They never said it's easy to be catholic

God have mercy on us

We can pray for them, here on Earth. But can souls pray? They have time, they have eternity.

I want to clarify one thing first. I am not complaining about modern shapes or materials like concrete or steel.

The real tragedy of modern church architecture is the sudden disappearance of figurative art, statues, and visual storytelling. By stripping churches of images, we broke a long tradition and ignored basic human psychology.

Here is why this was a huge mistake.

1. A Break of Tradition

Sacred art was not a medieval invention. Dura Europos in Syria, one of the earliest Christian house churches from the third century, is covered in biblical frescoes. For nineteen hundred years, Christianity was a visual and narrative religion. Completely bare churches are a historical anomaly.

1. The Literacy Myth

People often claim we only used sacred art because past generations were illiterate. This is false. Monasteries, which were reserved for highly literate monks, were packed with frescoes. In the late nineteenth century, literacy in Western Europe was near one hundred percent, yet churches were built with more detailed art than ever. Humans need visual resonance regardless of their reading ability.

1. Psychology and the Intellectual Trap

Some theologians argue that a completely bare room is necessary for pure devotion because it removes visual distractions. However, this is a purely intellectual theory that completely ignores how the average person actually experiences prayer. We are highly visual creatures. Expecting everyday people to walk into a plain concrete room and instantly reach a state of mystical awe is absurd. It treats humans as abstract minds rather than embodied beings with senses.

1. The Loss of Attraction

A historic church is a visual treasure chest. Even an atheist can sit in a Baroque or Gothic church and spend an hour captivated by the details. In contrast, you can visually process a bare modern church in thirty seconds. After that, there is nothing left to explore. It feels like a sterile lecture hall.

By abandoning figurative art for total abstraction, an elite group of architects threw away our most powerful tool for emotional connection. We did not fail because we used concrete. We failed because we forgot that we need stories, faces, and forms.

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share my story with you as I am a bit lost right now.

I am in my late 20s, I was raised in an atheist family, but with Catholic culture (sounds a bit confusing, I know - think wrapping advent wreath, very occasional church visit, suggestion to pray to the Virgin Mary but no specific prayer etc.).

Religion hasn’t play a big role in my life until a few years ago when I got closer to Israel and then subsequently started exploring Judaism, which really resonated with me - and especially the radical monotheism of Judaism, the belief in One God (compared to the Trinity). I still keep this belief.

I went very far with my conversion and even underwent the circumcision a year ago. Yet I am doubting things and I feel like I might have done a mistake with this. As much as I love the Jewish people and I have a sort of similar spirit, I still don’t feel like I fully belong to the “tribe”. And I dislike that a lot of emphasis is put on the community life, rather than the faith itself. The faith is rather secondary, keeping the commandments and being active in the community is what is valued. Of course this differs among the various streams.

Deep down I miss the bits of Catholicity I experienced and I still feel that it is my culture. But my believes still align with Judaism, especially when it comes to the teachings about God.

Thanks for any insight.

Hi, I’m a Catholic nurse and I’m trying to deepen my understanding of the Church’s teaching on healthcare ethics.

In my work, I regularly encounter situations involving significant medical interventions such as tracheostomies, long-term mechanical ventilation, feeding tubes, dialysis, and other life-sustaining treatments. Many of these patients have severe chronic illnesses, complex genetic conditions, profound neurological impairments, or terminal diagnoses. Some interventions can prolong life for many years, while others may only extend it or delay an inevitable death.

I understand that the Church teaches the sanctity of human life and rejects euthanasia, but I’m hoping to better understand how Catholic moral theology distinguishes between ordinary/proportionate and extraordinary/disproportionate means.

Some other questions I’ve been thinking about:

Is there a point at which life-sustaining treatment can be morally declined or withdrawn?

How are quality of life considerations weighed, if at all?

What guidance does the Church provide to healthcare workers who must participate in these decisions?

Are there recommended Church documents, encyclicals, or writings from Catholic perspectives that address these issues in depth?

Thanks for any insight!

Was it a feeling? a Catholic friend? Or a Catholic you were dating? Being inside a Catholic church? Hearing a Catholic choir? Leaving a Protestant church? An illness or near death experience? Another hardship? A sudden moment of clarity? The Catholic doctrine itself? The Eucharist? A papal inauguration?

TIA :)

Are there any non-clergy here who pray the Divine Office? If so, for how long, and how has it helped you?

For about six months I had a subscription to the Word On Fire monthly paperback edition but I cancelled it because I didn't take the time to do “the work”, so to speak. Since then I have read the Office on the iBreviary app, albeit sporadically.

Now here comes the gorgeous WoF, USCCB-approved, re-translated edition and I have an itchy finger to pull that Buy trigger. My excuse is that someday I will devote the time it takes to pray the office properly — I don’t want to just buy pretty books.

I have Vol I-V of the beautiful WoF Bible and I have (nearly) read every page of it to great personal benefit. But the Office puts you on on a schedule that the Bible does not

Has anyone here purchased an advanced copy of Word on Fire’s Liturgy of the Hours?