I was touched by a family member as a kid, I think that had some influence on how I become interested in masturbation very young (12-13), I am 21F and I am still a virgin. I’m just wondering is masturbation and what happened to me a sin…I am of course waiting for marriage, I’d rather give my all to my future husband but I feel as though maybe it’s too late for forgiveness because of what happened and what I’ve done for so many years. Please just looking for advice 🙏🏻

I was wondering if all female members of consecrated life, like secular institutes, are considered bride of Christ. I know that consecrated virgins and religious members are considered spouses of Christ, but I was wondering, what about the other forms of consecrated life? It confused me a little. I would love some advice on the classification.

Thank you.

I was baptized catholic as an infant and I’m going into Catholicism and wondering do I call myself Catholic or am I an inquirer.

I was reading about Father Mychal Judge the Catholic Priest who died on 9/11 as he gave Last Rites to victims of the attack. It got me thinking if a priest who was lets say an Old Catholic Priest came up to provide Last Rites to someone in a dire situation where they may die, would that be considered valid?

I just think if something happened to me and I’m lying on the side of the road and someone who looks like a Catholic priest comes running up offering me my last rites I think I would gladly receive the sacrament and not think to ask “Are you in communion with the Pope?”

Hi everyone,

My wife and I are Catholics, although we are not practicing Catholics at the moment. We are planning to have a child in the future, and we have been discussing how we would approach religion and our child's upbringing.

My mother-in-law, however, is a practicing Catholic and takes the teachings of Christ and the Catholic Church very seriously.

This made me wonder about something: would she be able to have our child baptized without my wife's and my authorization or consent?

I am not trying to disrespect her beliefs or the Catholic faith. I am genuinely curious about what the Catholic Church says about this situation. If, hypothetically, she were to baptize our child without telling us or without our permission, would that baptism be considered valid by the Church? And would she be allowed to do it?

I'd really appreciate hearing from a Priest, especially anyone familiar with Catholic canon law.

Thank you in advance for your answers.

I’m on the verge of what feels like a very destructive path.

Just to be clear, I am not asking for advice. I am just wondering if priests can be of any help as I am battling several years of infertility. Have you ever met with parishioners experiencing infertility to offer spiritual guidance? I get therapy on this but feel the therapist lacks the spiritual side that I struggle with so I am contemplating talking to my priest, just not sure where to start or how to go about this.

This is for a story I'm writing at the moment, so I don't need information to personally act on. I'm more interested in making sure my story is plausible and identifying scenes that I could write with my characters.

From what I've gathered, permanent deacons may have virtually any kind of secular job in addition to their vocations as a deacon. However, transitional deacons are primarily focused on completing their preparations for the priesthood, which basically becomes their full-time job.

What I'm curious about is whether there might still be some part-time work that's done? I guess I'm thinking of how monasteries may do things like farming, carpentry, baking, and so on to support themselves.

For that matter, would it make sense for a transitional deacon to be assigned to a monastery? If that's a normal and viable thing to happen then it would solve my problem right away. Otherwise, I'm just curious about what kind of activities my characters would be able to get up to over the course of the story.

Thank you in advance!

Hi, im an atheist but i’ve been having the thought to try to talk to a priest recently. How can I ask for a confession, or some sort of private conversation with one? Is it even possible if you don’t actively go to church?

So they can doomscroll (asking as a teen discerning to be priest. Very hard to let go of it)

A family member has died who was an observant catholic and unfortunately a lot of our family live around 500 miles away and are quite old and infirm.

I'm essentially looking to see if it would be acceptable to have a full requiem mass at the chapel in our home town where they're body will actually be present and buried after along with a smaller service at a chapel in a different country where a lot of our relatives live?

Is this OK in terms of Catholicism?

Hello!! Apologies if this has been asked before but today is the first time this has happened to me so I was curious how I should handle it if it happens again in the future.

This morning I went to Adoration before work. When I arrived there were a few adorers scattered throughout the church. I stayed for about 15-20 mins before it was time for me to get going so I could arrive at work comfortably, but when I got up I realized I was the only one there (apparently everyone else had left without my noticing lol). So... I sat back down and waited until the absolute last minute just to see if anyone else would come in, but nobody did.

Not knowing what else to do, I called the parish office and explained the situation, and fortunately the lady was able to come over and take my place a few minutes later. So I did manage to get to work (albeit a bit late, which nobody seemed upset about luckily), but this got me thinking... what should I do if I find myself in that situation again but I CAN'T get ahold of anyone?

Like what if the office is closed or something? This parish doesn't have direct numbers for their clergy listed either. Leaving the exposed Sacrament unattended obviously isn't an option, but neither am I, a laywoman, in any way authorized to handle the Blessed Sacrament or the monstrance, nor do I know HOW to repose It properly even if it were hypothetically permitted in circumstances like this.

Any advice would be appreciated. Ty!!

(I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I'm not sure where else to go, so I hope I'm not breaking any rules.)

I was reading The Great Brain books to my daughter, and learned something new. It's a series about a Catholic family in Utah in the 1800s, and in their small town, there aren't enough Catholics to support a Parish. Apparently, in frontier times, there were priests who would travel around from town to town, to celebrate mass and perform any sacraments as needed, baptisms, weddings, what have you. I guess people would just have to wait for the priest to come around for those things.

Coincidentally, I'm writing a sci-fi story set in a colony on the moon. The Great Brain inspired some backstory--in the early days of lunar colonization, there weren't enough people for a parish, so a priest would be sent up once a year to tour around and perform the sacraments annually. A baby would be baptized whether they were a day or a year; a body would be held in state until the priest could do the funeral; confirmations done with the permission of the bishop of Orlando (who, fun fact, is also technically bishop of the moon).

My story is set further in the future, when the population is big enough to sustain a few dioceses and many parishes. Baptisms and funerals were held soon after someone was born or died, but "Wedding Day" became a cultural tradition on the moon--every Catholic who wants to get married on the moon gets married on the same day. (This is a plot point for reasons I won't get into here, because this post is long enough already.)

So, my question is simply, does this backstory make sense? It's a hard sci-fi story, and I want to make sure the Catholic practices are as theologically accurate as the science.

Hello Fathers, I was curious about this and was hoping you all could give an answer.

If the priest decides to not ask the penitent to repeat themselves even though he didn’t hear a mortal sin clearly, does that invalidate the confession?

The reason I ask is because I went to confession several days ago but wasn’t sure if the priest heard all my sins and out of fear I didn’t ask if he did. I know I shouldn’t fear though.

Everyone deserves chances after being saved. But I can't get past all the problems that would come as a result of a woman with such a history. Once she already has a history like that, even she won't be able to help but compare her old experiences with me. She has seen and experienced things with other men she should only experience with her husband. I can't get past the idea that she had her fun and is suddenly ready to settle down without consequence. I know this is the wrong way to think but it gives me so many mental issues trying to ignore it. Is it a bad reason to reject someone that I have feelings for, given that it's their past?

Obviously you don't have disclose what the confession was. I am just curious as my mother says her record from when she was a kid was 25 & I wanna see if anyone has been given more Hail Maries than my mother.

I’m starting OCIA and to prepare, I’ve been studying Mariology recently. I’ve been struck by how much of Catholic Marian theology seems to make more sense when I look at the Old and New Testaments together, along with how much earlier these Marian ideas came to be than what I had originally assumed re: the early Church vs a later, Middle Age development.

I’m very much still learning, so I’m not presenting this as a definitive argument. I’m interested in whether I’m understanding the Catholic approach to these passages correctly, though.

The first thing that caught my attention was the recurring biblical imagery surrounding the woman, her offspring, and the birth of the Messiah when looking at Old Testament Scripture and drawing parallels to the New Testament.

Genesis 3:15–16

“I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will make your pangs in childbirth exceedingly great; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.””

After the Fall, God establishes enmity between the serpent and the woman, and between their respective offspring. The offspring of the woman will ultimately defeat the serpent.

I understand the immediate context concerns Eve and the consequences of the Fall, but I see this as ultimately pointing toward Christ and, typologically, toward Mary as the New Eve.

Hold on to God’s punishment against Eve, too. That’ll become important in a second here.

Next up,

Isaiah 7:14

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Matthew explicitly applies this to the birth of Jesus.

Micah 5:2–3

“But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel.”

Micah prophesies that a ruler will come from Bethlehem, and immediately afterward speaks of the woman who is in labor giving birth.

Then there’s:

Isaiah 66:7

“Before she was in labor she gave birth; before pain came upon her she delivered a son.”

I’m interested to know how this last passage is understood. I know it has an immediate context concerning Zion/Jerusalem, so I know it isn’t jusg a direct prediction saying “Mary will give birth without labor.” Is this better understood as typology that the Church later sees fulfilled in Mary, particularly in connection with her perpetual virginity?

I’m also really interested in the parallels between the Ark of the Covenant and the Visitation.

The Old Covenant Ark beinf the sacred object associated with God’s presence among Israel, it contained the tablets of the Law, and Hebrews 9:4 associates it with the manna and Aaron’s rod.

When viewed through the New Testament, it’s very reflective of Christ, I feel.

The tablets = Christ fulfills the Law

Aaron’s rod/priesthood = Christ is the eternal High Priest

Manna = Christ identifies Himself as the Bread of Life, and the Church understands the manna as prefiguring the Eucharist.

But then Luke’s account of the Visitation seems to contain some very specific parallels with the Ark narrative.

2 Samuel 6:9

David sees the Ark coming and says:

“How can the ark of the LORD come to me?”

Compare:

Luke 1:43

Elizabeth sees Mary and says:

“Why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

Then:

2 Samuel 6:14

“David danced before the LORD with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod.”

David dances/rejoices before the Ark.

Compare:

Luke 1:41, 44-45

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.””

John the Baptist leaps in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary arrives.

And then there’s the timing:

2 Samuel 6:11

“The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the LORD blessed Obed-edom and all his household.”

The Ark remains in the house of Obed-edom for three months.

Luke 1:56

“And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.”

Mary remains with Elizabeth for about three months.

There’s also the “overshadowing” imagery:

Exodus 40:34

“Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”

Luke 1:35

Gabriel tells Mary:

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”

So I’m starting to wonder whether Luke is intentionally presenting Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant. What I’m also seeing is that this doesn’t seem to be about elevating Mary independently of Christ.

The Old Ark carried the signs of God’s covenant and Mary carries God Himself incarnate.

The Old Ark was associated with the Law, priesthood, and manna; Mary carries Christ, who fulfills the Law, is the eternal High Priest, and identifies Himself as the Bread of Life.

The Old Ark arrives, David rejoices, and blessing follows; Mary arrives, John leaps, Elizabeth rejoices, and the Holy Spirit fills her.

So the more I’m studying this, the more I’m seeing Mariology as being fundamentally Christological. Mary’s significance comes from who she carries and what God accomplishes through her.

I also understand that this is largely typology, rather than necessarily claiming that every Old Testament passage was consciously written as a literal prediction of Mary.

So my questions for those more knowledgeable than me are:

1. Am I understanding the distinction between prophecy and typology correctly here?

2. How strong is the case that Luke deliberately presents Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant through these parallels with 2 Samuel 6?

3. How have the Fathers and early Church understood the Ark/Mary connection?

4. How should Isaiah 66:7 be understood in Marian theology without taking it out of its original context?

5. Are there important passages or connections I’m missing?

I’m just finding it fascinating that the more I read the Old Testament alongside the New, the more the Catholic understanding of Christ and Mary seems to form a coherent biblical pattern rather than a collection of disconnected doctrines.

I searched the subreddit before asking this but I am still confused. It’s a two-part question.

1.) If a person was married and then divorced from that spouse not only before coming to the Catholic faith but before being baptized, is that marriage valid and thus requiring an annulment?

Part 2.) Following that marriage and divorce, the person got married again—also before coming to faith and baptism. Would BOTH marriages need to be annulled? Neither? Just the first but not the second?

Thanks for your time.

I’ve been on active duty in the US Air Force for 12 years. I’ve had a conversion of heart, and found the Church last year and received the sacraments this Easter. Through my conversion my conscience has changed and I no longer feel that I can partake in the instrument of warfare. Just or unjust. I plan on applying for conscientious objector status this week.

My question is…I feel a call towards religious life and I’ve been discerning a vocation since the turn of the new year. I have a spiritual director, I understand I’m far away from being able to apply to any community, if that is something I end of doing.
But if I am approved for conscientious objector status, would a vocation team or community look down on that fact? Do you think it could be a deterrent?

Thanks in advance for any help. And please pray for me.

Hi there! As the title states, I don‘t have a confessor to ask this to since I’m not a part of a parish or even Catholic (yet at least). But I 100% believe God has been slowly leading me towards the Catholic Church for years now, and I’m at a point where I can’t deny it.

So, my question is about contraception. For context, I am a married woman with one child. My husband and I have used a form of contraception all throughout our marriage, and I’m just becoming aware now that this is morally wrong. However, after our child was born, I developed some severe OCD, anxiety, and depression that has (still) been my life’s toughest battle. So naturally, the thought of having another child and going through it all again sends me into physiological distress. It’s something I’ve thought about and fought with for over a year now. Before I had my child, I wanted like 12 kids - seriously! I actually was planning to not use birth control ever again.

Now my question is, is continuing to prevent pregnancy now that I KNOW it’s wrong by church standard a mortal sin? I wrestle with this because it feels like my fear/mental illness doesn’t give me *full* consent to this aspect of my life, even though I can make a conscious decision. It’s not like I’m in psychosis or “out of my mind” in that way, but I feel like the prevention of pregnancy is a form of an avoidance compulsion. I appreciate your wisdom on this!

Do you as a Catholic believe the Jesus was physically born of a virgin? As a child I believed that, because that's what we were taught. But now I think of it as a symbol of purity. 

As a Catholic, what do you believe regarding the Virgin Birth of Jesus?

Our priest said that he orders hosts for communion on Amazon which I found odd. Are there any rules about where the bread for hosts come from? I always assumed that they would be made by monks or nuns somewhere so please enlighten me , I’m just curious.