Charlie_Eleanor

I am starting to research for my NaNoWriMo story, and my MC is going to be Irish Catholic. I am not Catholic myself, and would appreciate any information anyone can offer, including links to informational websites, regarding the Catholic faith, and personal opinions/feelings/emotions that might be unique to people in the Catholic faith.

I am especially interested in the timeline of Catholic youth and the 'rituals' (such as Baptism) they experience, and what age these occur at.

Thank you for your time!

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red lantern

I am Roman catholic by birth, my great grandparents were Irish by birth my grandparents were born in Australia. I live in a small town where going to church on Sunday is still seen as a big deal. I went to a Catholic school all my life and went to church every weekend and only in the past few months have I stopped going to Church entirely.

I can only offer biased personal viewpoint (naturally) but I have mixed feelings about my schooling and catholic upbringing.

Personally I feel the church really needs to get itself sorted and 'get with the times' so to speak. It has dominated a lot of western societies and influenced a great many things in western culture, but now its position has lessened and as a whole has sort of fallen by the wayside a bit because people no longer believe a great deal of the stuff they have had pounded into them at school and at church to be entirely true or the only way to think. Now days people like to think for themselves and see things from more than the point of view the church offers, be it moral, social or sexual issues. Naturally their is massive variation in specifics but this would all depend on your character.

To me the church is not into 'accepting' new ideas and this is one of the things that has separated it from wide society in my part of the world at least. Also the image of the church has taken a fair beating with the stories of child abuse, cover ups and dodgy real estate deals.


No doubt you want a more balanced perspective so I suggest you do a general wiki search and look at traditional, modern and young catholics as different groups. The church itself divides the 'flock' into these groups. Specific rituals: first reconciliation, baptism first communion, confirmation, marriage, funerals, as well as events such as advent, Christmas, Palm Sunday, shrove Tuesday, good Friday and ash Wednesday can all be searched. If your really serious I suggest you get a copy of the complete idiots guide to catholicism.

For me the church has done good (eg charity, soup kitchens, community) but it has done bad as well (for example I went to one sermon where the priest said that a certain priest he knew was being accosted by the media as a known child abuser and that god should sort it out and not the law - hello!)

Personally I believe that if god is all powerful and wants to smite me, well he knows where I am at and I don't need to go and parrot fashion repeat some words every week to tell him I appreciate all his handiwork.

Hope this is of some value.

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Charlie_Eleanor

Thank you so much red lantern. That is very helpful. Biased opinion or not, I asked for opinions, and I am so glad to have yours. Thank for your time sharing. It will help me a lot! I will consider buying the idiots guide to catholicism, lol. Thanks!!

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cassie30

www.diometuchen.org

Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen

The Catholic Spirit - The official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen


en.wikipedia.orgwiki/Roman_Catholic_Diocese_of_Metuchen - 20k

try these links

smilinghelps

Charlie, would be happy to help out with sacraments (baptism and such, there are 7) (ironically, 7 deadly sins as well). And there are commandments (10 of those) just in case you weren't sure.

Raised Catholic, Catholic school graduate, parents in the choir, pto, scouts, you name it--oh and we were excommunicated.

Hope I can help. PM me.

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lisajane

As a guideline, as a Catholic, for me:

Baptism - baby
First Communion - 8/9 years old
First Reconciliation - 9/10 years old
Confirmation - 11/12 years old

I don't think there's any religious rituals for the youth as a teenager, unless you get married...

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Oracle

I went to catholic school all through childhood, even though I'm not a baptized catholic... But I can give you a rundown of the rituals.

There's seven sacraments, and they're as follows:

1. Baptism- usually parents have their babies baptized. The whole family goes to the church and the preist dunks the baby's head in water. The family usually celebrates. Some people don't get baptized until later in life, and do so out of personal choice. You can get baptized at any age you want.

2. Eucharist/Communion: 1st communion is usually when the child is around 8 years old. They have to be baptized in order to do this, so if you're baptized later in life, then you can have your first communion later in life too. Basically, at every mass there's a part where everyone lines up and takes the bread (small circular disk of very flat bread, symbolizing the body of christ), and wine (sipping from the cup of wine is optional, and children don't do this. The priest will always sip the wine though). As they take the bread, they put it in their mouth, make the sign of the cross with their hand, say amen, and go sit down. They don't chew it-- just let it dissolve.

3. Confirmation: Occurs around age 13 or 14 (8th grade). The child decides whether or not they want to become a fully devout catholic. That's not to say that all confirmed catholics are all that devout, but it's a ritual that takes place to give the child their own choice to pursue their faith. I'm not sure exactly what takes place, since I've never been to one, but the priest blesses them and says some things, and the family often celebrates this.

4. Confession: Catholics are expected to go into the church regularly (for some it's once a week, and for others it's not at all... It all depends on the person) and confess their sins to a priest. They sit in a confession booth, and can decide whether or not they want the priest to see their face. They say "forgive me father, for I have sinned" and recount how many days it's been since their last confession. They confess their sins and the priest gives them advice on how to right their wrongs so that they can be forgiven. Sometimes this just consists of a few prayers, but sometimes it involves apologizing to the person you sinned against and making amends somehow. Many people choose to go to confession to seek advice for problems they're having.

5, 6, and 7 I can't really remember all that well, so I won't number them. I'll explain the ones I can remember though.

Marriage/ Holy Order: People are expected to do one of two things-- get married, or become a priest/nun. Weddings are pretty much your standard wedding. It is expected that the man and woman are both virgins (although today that isn't often the case), and they consummate their marriage shortly after getting married. They're expected to have children, especially since the catholic church forbids the use of contraceptives (although there are catholics who disagree and use them anyway). Annulment is allowed if the marriage isn't consummated, and divorce is frowned upon but allowed in extreme circumstances. As far as holy order goes, you have priests(only men can be priests, although there's alot of debate in the catholic community about changing this. they must also be celibate), deacons (men and women can be deacons. they help out at the church with masses and stuff, and they can get married and have families.), and nuns (women who vow a life of celibacy and devote their lives to god. They often do missionary work in other countries, foreign aid, and teaching. Lots and lots of charity stuff). Priests are referred to as "Father", and nuns are referred to as "Sister" but the head of a nunnery is sometimes referred to as "Mother". To my knowledge, there are no reverends or ministers in catholicism but I could be wrong...

Annointing of the sick: It's not as common as it used to be, but as someone is sick or on their deathbed, a priest annoints them with oil, lays his hands on them, and the dying person gives their last confession so they're forgiven of their sins. The community will often pray for the person, and the names of the sick are mentioned in masses so people can keep them in mind as they prey. Sometimes people have "miraculously" recovered due to community prayer, but I put this in quotations because there are a number of reasons why this could've happened. There is alot of talk about the power of prayer in healing though, outside of christianity, so it's something to consider.

Anyway, that's all I can remember for sacraments.

Other tid-bits of info:

They primarily use the bible as a religious text, but there's also a book called the Catechism, which is the catholic church's interpretation of the rules set out in the bible. If you're unsure about what your character is allowed/not allowed to do, check out the catechism. It'll give you the run-down on pretty much anything.

Also, catholics primarily worship the holy trinity (the father(god), the son(jesus), and the holy spirit(god's presence on earth). It's understood that the 3 are expressions of the same entity (god).

They also pray to Mary (Jesus' mother). And she's considered a model of what women should strive to be like.

And they often pray to various saints. I'd look up a whole list of them if I were you. There's different saints for different purposes.

And a thing to note about women, especially in Irish catholics, is that they're expected to be submissive, obedient, supportive housewives who have many children and raise them. It's not uncommon for Irish catholic men to beat their wives a little too. (it's probably not as common now as it used to be... and the catholic church does frown upon but doesn't forbid it).

Prayers:
Look up "The Our Father", "The Hail Mary" and "The Apostles Creed" as those are the 3 major prayers. There are others too, which you can find through google and such.

Anyway, I hope that helped.

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Charlie_Eleanor

Thanks Cassie!


Thanks smiling. I do know about the ten commandments, but as a protestant I did not learn about 7 sacraments. I will be pming you, I just wanted various views at first. Thanks!


Thanks lisajane! that helps a lot.


Oracle: Thank you so much for writing all that out. It is really goind to help.

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Loulou

I'm not a practising Catholic but was brought up as one. My Granny was an Irish Catholic, devout. I can't help much with 'facts' but maybe insight into the person. My Granny gave her life to God. She went to church ever day. She volunteered and helped the disabled and the sick. She washed the cloths from the church. I guess that's not exclusive to Catholicism though is it? She loved the Virgin Mary the most. Mary is big in the Catholic church, as big as God and Jesus, which I admit when I was a kid I thought was cool. I think my Granny aspired to be like Mary - the perfect, pure, ideal, loving woman. And she was.

I think in the UK the Holy Communion is a little younger, I was five and so were my sisters. I (reluctantly) did the Confirmation at 12. I was forced to go to confession but I just used to make shocking things up. When I grew up and didn't want to go to church it hurt my Granny. Until she died I pretended to believe in God so I wouldn't break her heart.

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Charlie_Eleanor

Thanks for sharing that Loulou. I really want to get individual perspectives on the Catholic faith and that is very helpful.



I have a specific question, if anyone cares to answer it: Can you tell me a little about the Catholic churches views on abortion? Including, what are the consequences of getting an abortion, on earth and in heaven?

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Loulou

Oh dear, abortion is a complete sin. No question. I remember my Granny saying that it was against God's will, that he gives life and only he has the right to take it away. In no circumstances, as far as I know, is it permitted. Maybe if the mother may die but even then I'm not sure. On earth I don't know what would happen to a Catholic girl who has an abortion - lots of praying for forgiveness, Hail Mary's and confession? In heaven.... well, she'd go to hell.

Only stating Catholic beliefs (as far as I know) and not mine.

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Pete_C

Irish Catholicism for Dummies (or Protestants)

Birth - As I was premature with a potential heart defect, I was kindly offered to God to be a priest by my Father on the condition that I lived. Thanks Dad, I needed that.

A Few Days Later - Baptism. I was put in a bloody dress and dipped into cold water by some old priest.

Age 4-8 - Schooled by Nuns who beat you for anything, with a fucking cricket bat! Big emphasis on religion at school. At home we had pictures of Jesus, Mary and the Sacred Heart (basically Jesus with his heart in his hand) everywhere. Despite the Church moving away from latin, my father beat the High mass in Latin into us. I was still expected to be a priest.

Age 8 - First communion. I was dressed up in a white shirt, white shorts, white socks and black shoes. My hair was combed and my humiliation was complete. An old man with a frock on put a wafer in my mouth, and suddenly I was culpable for the world's wrongs.

Age 8-14 - My father decided that I wanted to be an altar boy. Thanks again Dad. The latter years were spent pinching money out of the collection, pinching altar wine (poor man's sherry) and playing cards. The priests were generally very old, but one young one would press up against you in the corridor.

Age 11 - Confirmation. You get another name, a Bishop slaps your face, and wanking becomes a sin. My grnadmother made a fantastic ice-cream cake for me, but my Dad wanted a photograph of me in my confirmation suit (a shitty grey one). When I came back the cake had fucking melted. It was the first time I really thought that God was a cunt for doing that to me.

Age 14 - Left the Altar Boys under a cloud after too much Altar Wine and a scrap with another Altar Boy during mass. It was a territory thing. Everyone knew that collection money to the west of the Nave was under my durastiuction, and that included the Chapel of the Virgin. He tried to hot-foot it on my turf, and thought he'd get away with it because the priest was saying Mass. Big mistake, eh David Yeates?

Age 16. With free will in my pocket, I turned my back on the church. My Father disowned me because I didn't want to be a priest. He also hated the fact that I had a Chinese girlfriend, as the Chinks were heathens.

Age Mid 40s - I still carry Irish Catholicism with me, like a sign that lets other Irish Catholics know that I'm onto their charade, and that they should keep the whole Catholic Mumbo-Jumbo well away from me!

Charlie_Eleanor

Wow, thanks Pete_C! That is some great info! I appreciate you typing it all out for me...and I'm glad you go through all that and are still amazingly talented, etc.

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smilinghelps

I do recall having to make first penance (first confession) before first communion b/c you had to be forgiven before you could eat a piece of God.

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"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."
E. B. White

Lost in Some Story

I was never Catholic, but since my current piece is about religion, I've gone to a couple of church services recently. They've been very enlightening since I haven't been since I was a kid. Have you been to a Catholic mass yet for research? I would suggest going. Maybe confession too, just to see what the inside of the box looks like.

Or is that sacrosanct? What do I know?

Lost

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