Miscellaneous Catholic Facts and Resources
The Credo of the People of God
A Simple Catechism ( The treatment of human sexuality may be outdated and uninformed from previous years as the Holy Spirit still moves in The Church for a broader and more pastoral acceptance of LGBTQ+ relationships as true expressions of Christ’s self giving love.)
The Encyclopedia of Catholic Devotions
Vestment Colors Explained (Note the Pope’s Cassock has 33 buttons to reflect the age of Christ at His death.)
Catholicism 101 Note: It's good to have answers but not be obsessive or scrupulous, let alone prideful of knowing everything. The simplest summary of apologetics is that The Catholic Church practices those beliefs as the Early Church founded by Christ did and there was no other church before Her.
Certain posts for the year hold information about various dogmas ie Pentecost holds Holy Spirit information and Corpus Christ and Holy Thursday have Eucharistic Info.
INDULGENCES:
A Brief on Indulgences: Although mortal sins are forgiven in the Sacrament of Confession, we still have to do penance and shorten our time in Purgatory. A Plenary indulgences “cancels” all our time while a partial indulgence shortens it. We can gain one plenary indulgence a day and they can be applied to purgatory but not another living person. An indulgence is not based on the abuse of God’s mercy of paying into Heaven but doing good works and having the merits of Mary and the Saints applied to you.
How to Gain Indulgences
1) Have the right intention of gaining the indulgence.
2) Be in the state of grace (Confession 20 days before or after receiving the indulgence. One confession suffices for all indulgences obtained in this period.)
3) Fulfillment of the good work prescribed.
4) Receive Holy Communion within 20 days of gaining the indulgence, for every indulgence desired Communion should be received.
5) Prayers for the Pope’s intentions (if no set prayers are prescribed, the Our Father and the Hail Mary are recited once. The Our Father and the Creed are required to be prayed when the indulgence is related to a church visit in addition to the prayers for the Pope.)
6) The attachment to even venial sin must be absent.
MARY:All About Mary
Marian Consecration (St. Louis, 33 Days)
Note: For this method the prayers may become cumbersome for some so while the readings stay the same as do the prayers, the frequency of the prayers I modify at least for the annual renewal as follows:
The first period of 12 days: Daily Pray the Magnificat followed by the Glory Be. The first week: Pray the Veni Creator daily and the first day of this week include the Litany of the Holy Spirit. For the second week: Each day pray the Ave Maris Stella and the Prayer to Mary by St. Louis and include the Litany of Loreto on that first day. The final week: Pray the Prayer to Jesus by St. Louis and O Jesus Living in Mary daily but on the first day include the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus.
Marian Consecration (St. Maximilian, 9 Days)
Marian Apparitions, Miracles and Feasts
Our Lady and the Charismatic Renewal
Two titles of Mary that are most perplexing are 1. Mediatrix of Graces, while Jesus is the sole mediator between God and Man, Mary intercedes for us with Her Son, is a perfect witness of Faith and through Her “Yes” Jesus came into the world. 2. Spouse of the Holy Spirit is because it is the Holy Spirit that conceived Jesus in Mary’s womb as He overshadowed Her and found favor in Her whereas Joseph is Her legal and also faithful husband.
Note that in the prayer book of St. Gertrude and Mechtilde that can be found online are the prayers for the Office of the Blessed Virgin revealed to St. Gertrude
WITH HER FOR GUIDE YOU SHALL NEVER GO ASTRAY; WHILE INVOKING HER, YOU SHALL NEVER LOSE HEART; SO LONG AS SHE IS IN YOUR MIND, YOU ARE SAFE FROM DECEPTION; WHILE SHE HOLDS YOUR HAND, YOU CANNOT FALL; UNDER HER PROTECTION YOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR ... - ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
“If you invoke the Blessed Virgin when you are tempted, she will come at once to your help, and Satan will leave you.”-Saint John Vianney
"The salvation of the whole world began with the "Hail Mary, hence, the salvation of each person is also attached to this prayer." -St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort
"Know that of all devotions the most pleasing to Mary, is to have frequent recourse to her, asking for favors." -ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI
"HE WHO IS DEVOUT TO THE Virgin Mother
WILL CERTAINLY NEVER BE LOST." -St. Ignatius of Antioch, c.35-108, Apostolic Father Bishop of Antioch (appointed by St. Peter), Disciple of St. John the Apostle
PILGRIMAGES: Eucharistic Adoration Live
A Spiritual Pilgrimage to Purgatory
Virtual Tour of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Our Lady of Fatima Chapel Live Stream
Our Lady of Guadalupe Image Live Stream
Our Lady of Knock Apparition Chapel Live Stream
Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto Live Stream
Our Lady of Lourdes Virtual Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage Sites (US and International)
More Pilgrimage Sites (US and International)
PRAYER AND SPIRITUALITY:
RELICS: Relics
Note:
Although most resources about relics neglect to mention so, anything touched (with the intention of creating a relic) to a third class relic is a third class relic just as much as touching a first or second class relic creates one.
In Messina Sicily, the local port and clock tower reflect devotion to
Our Lady of the letter and Her blessing to the city. Pious legend tells
of a letter She sent to the faithful tied with a strand of Her hair in
the early years of The Church.
See also the Holy Cloak of St. Joseph, The holy House of Loreto, the Santo Anelo and the miraculous Staircase.
SACRAMENTS, SACRAMENTALS and SYMBOLS
Fruits of the Sacraments Note: Baptism is only a Christening technically when the child is unnamed until then.
Through, With and In Him Explained
Holy Water:
Church Posture: When passing in front of the tabernacle, genuflect, a bow is reserved for before Communion or when passing the altar when the tabernacle is separate from it. During exposition, genuflect on both knees and on Good Friday you genuflect to the cross. To receive the Eucharist: (when in the state of grace, and no more than twice a day as long as received when participating at Mass) approach slowly and without wandering eyes and hands folded, you can bow your head, genuflect, kneel or remain standing. Then the minister will say “The Body (or the Blood) of Christ”, respond Amen* and make the sign of the Cross. You can also receive in the hand, non dominant on top of dominant and gently pick up the Host with your dominant hand, place it on your tongue and receive the Host and let it melt. Communion on the tongue is also an option but make sure you have your tongue out far enough. (During Covid19 please follow your Parish’s guidelines for Communion). Make sure your hands and mouth are clean. Posture for Holy Communion
Differentiating between Church Buildings
SAINT JOSEPH:
All about St. Joseph (Ignore the Itapiranga and Sister Ephrem visions on the apparitions page, see more about concerning apparitions at the bottom of this post.)
St. Joseph's Response to Mary's Divine Maternity
Q. Why is Wednesday chosen for St. Joseph?
A. Wednesday is the middle or bridge of the the beginning and end of the week. Sunday honors Christ's Resurrection and Saturday honors our Lady, St. Joseph is our bridge to them.
SAINTS: All About the Saints
Saint Fun Facts
Allergies and Asthma: St. Bernadette
Aunts: St. Hedwig
Cousins: St. John the Baptist
Lost Pets/Spiders:Felix
Uncles: St. Sabbas
SHOPPING/GIFTS: http://www.happysaints.com/p/ebooks.html
https://www.littledropsofwater.com/
https://www.tinysaints.com/
Https://www.sockreligious.com
https://shininglightdolls.com/
The Catholic Week
Sunday: The Holy Trinity
Monday: The Holy Souls in Purgatory
Tuesday: Guardian Angels
Wednesday: St. Joseph
Thursday: The Eucharist
Friday: The Passion of Christ
Saturday: Our Lady
The Three Powers of the Soul: Memory, Intellect, Will.
The Three Duties of the Ordained: Teach, Sanctify and Shepherd as they and we all are Baptized into Christ as Priest, Prophet and King. We all have these duties but Priest’s even more so by their ordination.
The Three Parts of the Church:The Church Triumphant (Heaven) who can pray for The Church Militant and Suffering, The Church Militant (Earth) who can pray to the Church Triumphant and for The Church Militant and The Church Suffering ,The Church Suffering (Purgatory) who can pray to the Church Triumphant and for The Church Triumphant.
The Twelve Apostles: Peter, Andrew, James(the Greater and the Lesser), John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, Jude, Simon, Judas the traitor and Matthias his replacement.
The Order of Creation:Day 1- light, Day 2- The sky and the waters, Day 3-land,Day 4-the sun, moon and stars, Day 5- birds and fish, Day 6 land animals and man.
The Three modes of Reverance: Latria- For God alone, Hyperdulia- For Our Lady, Dulia- For the Saints. Note: Less officially Saint Joseph is given the class of protodulia, the first honored.
Why is St. Joseph, patron of the dying? 1. He is the foster father of the Eternal Judge, Who can refuse him no request. 2. He is terrible to the demons; the Church calls him the Terror of demons and Conqueror of Hell. 3. His own death was most beautiful, for he died in the arms of Jesus and Mary; this is the principal reason why he is the Patron of a happy death; the death of no other Saint was so happy, so glorious. St. Francis de Sales was of the opinion that St. Joseph died of the love of God.
The 4 Last Things:death, judgement, Heaven and Hell.
Holy Days of Obligation : December 8th- Immaculate Conception of the BVM (Mary is conceived without the stain of sin) December 25th- Christmas (Jesus is born) January 1st- Mary Mother of God (Mary’s role in our salvation) 40 Days after Easter- The Ascension of the Lord (Jesus goes to Heaven) August 15th- The Assumption of the BVM (Mary goes to Heaven) November 1st- All Saints Day (Honoring the People of God)
Christian Greetings: Anytime outside of the Octave of Easter: Praised be Jesus Christ Now and Forever! Easter-Divine Mercy Sunday: Christ is Risen He is Risen indeed!
Various Catholic Resources: Laudate (smart phone application) Essentials of the Catholic Faith (brief yet informative book) The Didache (the earliest “Catechism”) A list of the De Fide Dogmas of the Church (found on google) and "The Golden Legend" by Jacobus de Voragine
THE NEW COMMANDMENT: Love another as I have loved you.
Our Lord revealed to St. Bridget for the discernment of spirits a good spirit will always inspire the love of God and neighbor
THE THREE EMINENT GOOD WORKS: Prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
THE THREE EVANGELICAL COUNSELS: Chastity, poverty, obedience.The Conditions for the Forgiveness of Sin (in Confession):Contrition, Confession, Satisfaction.
The Four Pillars of The Church: The Apostles Creed,The Seven Sacraments,The Ten Commandments,The Lord's Prayer.
Misc Catholic Beliefs or Opinions
The Problem of Evil and God's Involvement: Most evil is due to humanity executing their free will selfishly. God cannot automatically end hunger and poverty when it's our job to aid our fellow man and be selfless, otherwise we'd lose our free will. This applies also to God curing some people and not other handicaps, such as amputees. God gives us options that we choose, He knows the outcome but He doesn't force our will. If we pray even in "petty" things, God can intervene if it brings us peace. When He gets credit when we do a good job, we don't demean ourselves but thank Him for His gifts of strength, agility, knowledge etc. God doesn't magically give powers ie if you don't study, but gives strength to remember.
Hell: Gehenna was actually a place referring to the worship of Moloch, Only for those in mortal sin! The purpose of punishment is reformation. See also: Dare We Hope
End times: 1. The Gospel preached universally. 2. Apostasy. 3. Antichrist 4. Signs in the sky. 5.Jesus appears. 6. Trumpet sounds and bodies raised. Why Catholics Don’t Believe in the Rapture
Conspiracies: Note the mathematical impossibilities of conspiracies The Cannibal Catholic Conspiracy .Note: Christianity baptizing and using pagan symbolism is not the same as our beliefs, symbolism reflects belief and correlation doesn’t equal causation.
Correcting Traditionalists: The dissent to Vatican II is due to the false spirit taken out of context, instead many things deemed originating from the council were instead things that existed during the Age of the Apostles.
Private Revelation: Be warned too of many interpretations of revelations like La Salette that falsify the message as well as that of Anne Emmerich. When someone is canonized or a feast is established, the church is not asserting the importance of the event but the virtue of the author or themes of the vision i.e. Lourdes honors the Immaculate Conception.
The death of Christ: happened in order to return us to our original state and not to appease a blood thirsty, vengeful God.
Where there is one person of the Holy Trinity or Holy Family, there are all 3.
The Holy Spirit always discloses new depths to the faith, static conformity would allow Him no room to act!
A Warning Against False Apparitions:
Sometimes it's easy to be wearied that we are living in the end times but as faithful followers of Jesus if we are prayerful and seek to do good and repent of our sins and cling to Jesus we should fear nothing nor are there any “practices” we need to undertake to “be prepared” as some visionaries claim, other then the Sacraments and Sacramentals of the Church including blessed candles and being faithful to prayer. No private revelation is binding and we need not be scrupulous to follow every letter of private revelation.
Note that some places state Marie Julie Jahenny as approved but I myself find her end times practices strange and superstitious. Although there are many mystics with beautiful stories that have indulgences, I haven't included them in my devotional if I felt I was unsure of their approval. While technically a Bishop's approval is all that's needed to consider an apparition authentic, I included those that have Vatican approval. I am still unsure of the approval of Mary of the Divine Heart, The Act of Love of Mother Aimee and the Act of Love of Sister Bertone. I mention these here so if you personally decide, you may rersearch and pray them.
Please note that usage of the preceding links doesn't assume agreement with the totality of the site besides the specific link...Any resource is used simply for the link itself and is not meant to be seen as an endorsement of the site itself or it's views, ads etc nor to take personal credit for its views. This disclaimer is given to prevent the assumption of agreement with ultra conservative or traditionalist views of Catholicism, culture or human sexuality. Per Catholic Teaching, the latter is preferable to the dictates of one's individual conscience.
Resources Used: Mary: Mediatrix of all Graces
Mary Spouse of the Holy Spirit
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