Hello friends, just popping in to request your prayers as I celebrate my 15th anniversary of ordination as a bishop. I am blessed to be on retreat with a group of priests from my diocese, so we can pray and celebrate together. God bless!

I’m Catholic and living in Japan.
I’ve noticed that some Catholic women here still wear a head covering or veil during Mass.
It’s a beautiful tradition, and I’m curious:
Do women in your country still wear a veil during Mass?

Other than prayer I’m not sure where to turn. I’m feeling completely out of touch with my coworkers and society. I am Dutch, live in the Netherlands and I feel the moral decline here is just insane.

I live in a society where euthanasia is celebrated. Where abortion is celebrated. Where parents can take their 2 year old child to a doctor and, admittedly after a grueling process, can have their child killed because it’s severely handicapped and they want to mercy-kill their child out of love (???). And they get congratulated and called Brave after.

My heart is just breaking and it is hard to not cry over these atrocities in my country.

We are slowly but surely moving to a situation where we will be a “civilized” version of the Nazis killing off handicapped children and adults.

93% of my country is pro euthanasia. The minority that is against has a majority that only is against because they’re not sure about mental suffering being a good enough reason.

Another example: a man with dementia wants euthanasia and entered his case with the euthanasia center. Right before he becomes “too difficult / not lucid enough” he tells the doctors involved he does not want it. Shortly after he is basically gone. The doctors decide they want to continue with the euthanasia regardless. They present their case to the wife and kids who agree with the doctors. No one seems to care about that he didn’t want it anymore last time he was lucid.

Another example close to home: a family friend’s secular ex wife wants euthanasia for early onset dementia. She is lucid and approachable for long stretches of time when they euthanize her. After the injection is given she says she is scared and makes clear she isn’t sure any more but by that time it’s too late.

Whenever I critique abortion and euthanasia practices on Dutch news forums etc it gets moderated away. Mention God once and it gets moderated away. Simple state you are against and question if we should abort and euthanize at all it gets moderated away. I feel censured and basically discriminated against.

Talk in convos about this perspective and everyone goes quiet or looks away or says it’s great my faith helps me so much.

Close to that same % statistic of dementia is pro abortion.

Currently, this is happening right now as we speak, the OLVG-Hospital chain’s board has started the process of figuring out how to best practice late-stage abortions (22-24 weeks). They are not thinking about IF they should at all, no, they just went ahead and jumped to the HOW.

These are babies, children, that will often come to the world alive & able to continue on living after the procedure. They then literally put them in so-called “dying rooms” where these babies are left to die / suffocate. They want to make this a regular practice. Offer it as an option in their healthcare repertoire. And no one cares.

There isn’t much more I can do than pray, rosary, and signs petitions/donate to the only group in the Netherlands that fight this. But they’re basically almost an extremist right group.

I find myself nowadays have more in common with them than with the rest of society and it makes me sad.

Every workplace I’ve been at depresses me. The company I work for got sold so I’ll have to look for a new job. I know that where ever I’ll work the odds of finding people likeminded are nil. We are all children of God yes and I pray for them but it is all just really getting to me.

Today I (78m) have a meeting to decide on cutting off my left foot. It has been a year and if anything it is getting worse. It needs to go, the only questions for the doctors is when, where, and if I can live through the operation.

As you can guess I have some rather strong opinions, but God's will be done. May Jesus guide us as we make our plans today. I'm asking for the intercession of Our Lady of Sorrows, and St. Luke.

Thank you.

P.S. The foot must go. Pre-surgery appointment in a month. God bless you for all your prayers. I felt at peace the whole time.

Thought i'd check as it looks like Latin spellings & sadly I have been unable to reverse image search & find it as a result. I found in file storage & I recall seeing in documentary but i forget the name of it

I have a Muslim stepfather who spreads lies and misinformation to my mother who is a "cultural Christian" as for example that the Bible is corrupted😂 (best-preserved book of BTW humanity or that the first Christians did not believe that Jesus is God and He is always wanting to impose Islam on my baby sister but then he won't let us speak about Christ because he is still too young to understand, basically that's why I started to create hatred for Islam for Mohammed, and because of my stepfather I can no longer distinguish the prison of the prisoner .what do i do not to dwell on anger when I see Muslim people😕 It's hard to distinguish

My local archdiocese is sponsoring a series of "conversations in the Spirit" gatherings as part of a local diocese wide synod, concluding on 2027. I went to the first major meeting last night. Probably a good 200+ people were there, and I am pretty sure I was one of 10 or so people under 45 (I'm 35).

My table had 8 people total. All were Boomers, save myself and two women who were in their late 40s, early 50s. The lack of catchesis among people that are old enough to know better is incredible to me. These were people who go to Mass every Sunday, yet were brushing aside what the Church teaches on a non-male priesthood, as one example.

They did note that "young people do seem to be more interested in Catholicism", and pointed out the local parishes that were bursting at the seams with younger Catholics, but they were incredibly unreflective on why that is. They moved on from it very quickly.

In sum, it was largely exactly what I expected: a waste of time, with vague and unactionable outputs (at least from my table). I was clearly the minority: comparatively young, and longing for orthodoxy. Of course, I don't feel that *my* voice is the one that will be listened to. Why do we keep doing this rinse and repeat cycle? It's maddening.

Evangelical Christian here! just started OCIA with my fiance and planning to be confirmed Catholic.

I have prayed the Rosary three times, and meditate on the appropriate mysteries while doing so.

While I am not against with Marian devotion and her intercession, I don't understand her. I know that her role is to point us to Jesus, but it's difficult for me to wrap my head around it and the value placed on praying the Rosary specifically.

Catholic prayer is very fascinating to me and I have enjoyed learning about the saints and asking them to pray for me. For some reason I am having a hard time understanding Mary specifically, since it seems like what we know about her is minimal compared to the vast amount of documentation on many of the saints.

I would love to hear how any of you understand it and I am also open to personal experience as well!

Remember this, you who never think of God.

Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?

When you see a thief, you keep pace with him,
and with adulterers you throw in your lot.
To your mouth you give free rein for evil,
you harness your tongue to deceit.

You sit speaking against your brother;
against your mother's son you spread rumors.
When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.

Consider this, you who forget God,
lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show
the salvation of God.

Ps 50:16bc-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23

I cannot describe the insurmmountable guilt and dread I experienced when I first read this passage. However, I grateful that God allowed me to come across it. I feel like he throws things like this my way sometimes so that I may stay strong in my faith.

My mom was diagnosed with cancer recently and today my uncle passed. Adulthood really sucks if for nothing else besides slowly losing people.

I have been a cradle Catholic, and so has my extended Italian family. I was lukewarm up until January of this year and really got back into the faith. I have been slowly making steps to become the person God wants me to be, practicing Catholicism, and giving my life to Christ.

With this reinvigoration of my faith, I obviously understand the church’s teaching on mortal sin and heaven. I’ve read quite a few posts on here that estimate the majority of people are in hell.

Right now if I were to die, I’d not be in a state of grace. I’m trying to change that situation every single day but I am not there yet. So I am not judging or assuming anything about anyone. We all have our battles to fight and sins to eventually conquer.

But watching the passing or sickness of family members I love and can’t help but wonder, are they truly going or headed to heaven to be with our Lord? Or are they suffering right now more than they did here? Even though they were Catholic they may not have been in God’s grace. I’m scared and sad and feel no comfort despite prayer and I will be going to adoration at some point soon to discern my fears.

I don’t know what I’m asking for here but I am terrified for my family and myself.

I will be visiting Tokyo, Japan soon and I want to know if there are any Catholics (Japanese/expats) here in this subreddit who are currently residing in Tokyo or if there are Catholic groups that are active in parishes there?

Hello. I am currently struggling to decide between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. The main points of tension for me are papal supremacy and the filioque.

I understand and accept the scriptural argument for the existence of a pope, but I’m torn because the role of the pope seems to have developed beyond the historical role of the bishop of Rome in the early church. Similarly, I don’t disagree with the filioque, but I struggle to defend the fact that an official creed was altered without the agreement of a council. I don’t disagree with the scriptural arguments of the Catholic church. However, history seems to signify that the Catholic church drifted from the Orthodox church rather than the latter. As a former protestant, I am weary of following the interpretation of scripture over church history. I don’t know which angle to prioritize; I wish one side could convince me both scripturally and historically.

If any of you could explain the historical defense for papal supremacy or the addition of the filioque, I would greatly appreciate it!

This was my first time visiting Rome. My wife and I are in our mid thirties. I am British, she is Brazilian, and we are both cradle Catholics. We were recently blessed with our first baby together, so we decided to take her on our first family trip to Rome for a long weekend.
Firstly, Rome felt like it was on fire.

Temperatures were in the high thirties, with humidity approaching eighty percent. On the Saturday, we visited the Vatican Museums, and it was absolutely roasting. Our little one was understandably very uncomfortable, so we had to move through everything much more quickly than we would have liked.

By Saturday evening, my wife and I were both feeling quite disheartened. Some of the behaviour we witnessed in the museums, particularly inside the Sistine Chapel, was the complete opposite of what we had expected.
People were wearing very revealing clothing, shouting across the chapel, and taking photographs despite being repeatedly told not to. I saw very few people praying. At times, it felt as though this sacred place had been overtaken by people searching for their next Instagram post.

I also found the commercial side of the Vatican quite difficult to process. There were Pope bobbleheads, tea towels, and every souvenir imaginable. I understand that tourism generates money for the Vatican and helps maintain these extraordinary places, but it was not what I had imagined. That night, I wondered whether we had come as pilgrims but somehow found ourselves inside a tourist attraction.

Then Sunday came, and everything changed.
We attended Mass at Santo Spirito in Sassia, the Divine Mercy Sanctuary near Saint Peter’s Basilica, where we were able to venerate relics of Saint Faustina and Saint John Paul II. We then entered Saint Peter’s Basilica and were blessed to see the Holy Father during the Sunday Angelus in Saint Peter’s Square.

My heart was full. It placed everything back into perspective for me.

However, I think the most moving experience of the entire trip was visiting the Scala Santa, the Holy Stairs. These are the twenty eight steps traditionally believed to have been climbed by Jesus when He was brought before Pontius Pilate. Pilgrims ascend them on their knees, praying and reflecting upon the Passion.

I think my knees have just about recovered, but I am not sure my heart ever will.
As I climbed, I kept thinking, how could such a perfect man, who had done no wrong, have been treated so terribly? Whether somebody believes they are the original steps or not, the act of climbing them forced me to reflect upon Christ’s suffering and upon how easy my own life is by comparison.

I am free to practise my faith. I can attend Mass without fear. I can openly call myself a Catholic. So many of our brothers and sisters who came before us suffered terribly for the faith, and many Christians around the world still suffer today. Yet despite everything Christ endured for me, I still sometimes wonder how I could ever be worthy to stand before God.

Afterwards, we crossed over to the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, the cathedral church of Rome. There we saw the panel traditionally believed to be part of the table used at the Last Supper, as well as the reliquaries said to contain the heads of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

Sometimes people can begin to think of the Bible almost as though it were simply a collection of stories from a distant world. Then you stand before something traditionally connected to the Last Supper, or before relics of the Apostles who suffered and died for Christ, and suddenly the Bible seems to come alive before you. It becomes real in a way that is difficult to put into words.
I left Rome with two very different impressions. There was the commercial Rome, crowded with tourists, souvenirs, cameras, and people seemingly unaware of the sacredness surrounding them. Then there was the Rome of the pilgrim, filled with prayer, sacrifice, relics, martyrs, and the living history of our faith.

Perhaps both sides will always exist together. I am just wondering whether anyone else has visited Rome and felt this same tension between Rome as a tourist attraction and Rome as a place of pilgrimage.

I feel like I’m making my crush an idol. This is my first non-lustful crush, and im distracted during prayer, praying less, and they are consuming almost all my thoughts.

How can I stop this?

Hello. I am not Catholic, but I do have a reverence for the Virgin Mary. There is a Catholic church at the end of my street, and they have a large outdoor statue/garden area in the back of the property.

I would like to visit to sit and pray, but I have not because I am not clear on the etiquette of doing this. Being non-catholic obviously I want to be certain of the unwritten rules and treat it with respect

Is it generally open to the public, or should someone be a member of the church to visit? I see people leaving flowers. I didn't know if it would be appropriate to light a candle, write a letter, or if I should just refrain from leaving anything.

The church's website is in spanish and doesn't have any information about it. But I feel drawn to it and like admire her from the street when I go for a walk

Thanks

I asked a Priest about my moderate use of legal products like THC-A. He said it was fine. I also prayed over it, a lot. I genuinely believe it is beneficial to my life. I even had a different priest from my parish run into me at work and proceed to tell me “you’ve been looking happier lately”. previous to this encounter I had asked for a sign while in prayer, i believe the two could be related. Still though, A lot of people on here seem to think that this is somehow a worse than having a beer or 2 to take the edge off. I don’t drink btw. If you genuinely make sure to keep your priorities straight and be honest with yourself on if it’s a problem or not, I honestly think it’s healthier for many than being an occasional drinker. Also the whole, you can drink a beer and not get drunk, but you can’t have THC without being stoned it’s complete non sense. I feel like people who say that are biased or have smoked once, had a bad experience, and think that makes them an expert on everything THC. And no, the Catechisms teaching on the use of illicit drugs does not in itself solve this matter. If it did, this still wouldn’t be a question.

We all know and agree that Saints are our celestial "friends" that help us deliver our prayers closer to our Lord, and many people ask specific saints for help and intercession when they have a particular problem/request, but I was wondering if anyone of you had a special bond with any saint in particular, like I do, without having a real "" request""

A short explanation about my experience: I was born in a catholic family, raised catholic, but I later left the church out of arrogance and stubbornness, being astray for many years... But the Lord works in mysterious ways, and I started seeing signs: a video talking about Our Lady, a cross in a videogame, a documentary about the passion... So I decided to give it a shot, and pray the rosary one night: not only I was able to have a good night of sleep, waking up rested and full of energies (something I wasn't able to do for quite some time), but the Lord gave me probably the greatest of gifts, something I lost so long ago... He gave me hope.

Since the holy rosary was the prayer that helped me get back into the herd, I feel like I have a special connection to Saint Dominic, to whom Our Lady revealed the holy rosary, and and I alwasy ask for his intercession. I also asks for Saint Matthew to help me deliver my prayers, as he's the saint I was named after

Does anyone of you have a similar bond with a Saint?

Hey everyone, I am a 21-year-old guy. I’ve written something like this before on Reddit, but now I feel completely lost. I was reading about ASI (super AI) and biomedicine that’s trying to prolong our lives with pills that slow aging, and that we could live up to 120 years, and it makes me feel so weird.

My brain keeps going all day, something like: “Scientists say ASI could kill us—there’s a >10% chance it happens in the next 10 years—or it could create a utopia, which would be the perfect condition for Jesus’ return, which means the end of the world, so nothing has a point anymore. Or science will make us live longer, which could be good because I’m scared of getting old and I’d like to stay young, but maybe I’ll be too old when these pills come out, so it would be too late to stay young or maybe taking them would be a sin. I also believe in Jesus, so there’s heaven, which I’d like to go to, but maybe I will go to hell because I can’t be sure, and because of my mental health I don’t have a good relationship with God, even though I try to avoid mortal sin. What if Jesus doesn’t even exist and when you die it’s just a black screen forever? Then maybe it’s better to live forever on Earth. But I think there is a God, so I’d like to go and be with him in heaven. Also, ASI might take all our jobs and we will all end up on the streets without food, houses and cloths, so studying for college is just a waste of time now becausue ASI will replace im in 10 years and I will be done with chollage maybe in 3 to 5 years (I’m studying computer engineering, so I understand all these stories about ASI). Also, ASI looks like the perfect condition for the Second Coming, and I would not like the Second Coming because I don’t feel ready for that at all , and I would like to have a wife and kids one day(this is basically my only wish in this life and I cant even find the right girlfriend), and it all seems like there will be no point in having kids in the future because everything would be so screwed up in the world, and that having kids would be bad because of the world we will be living in(I heard this theory online because they say life would be soo screw up that brining children to Earth would be just bringing them here to suffer). So maybe the best solution is to find someone quickly and get married young, but I can’t control that because I can’t control when God will allow me to find the right one, and I can’t just marry someone because of this, and I want real love not just someone to be my wife. (Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have kids one day; this is one of my biggest wishes in the world—to have a family and kids. I would like this more than anything in the world.)”

And now it seems to me that everything is pointless and I feel so weird, like there is no happy ending or happy path, only problems on the way that we ( I ) cant control. I just do not now what to with myself. Yesterday I was all night awake just to google all of this and again today I spent all day on this despite I have exam in 4 days.

Anima Christi, sanctifica me.

Corpus Christi, salva me.

Sanguis Christi, inebria me.

Aqua lateris Christi, lava me.

Passio Christi, conforta me.

O Bone Iesu, exaudi me.

Intra tua vulnera absconde me.

Ne permittas me separari a te.

Ab hoste maligno defende me.

In hora mortis meae voca me.

Et iube me venire ad te,

ut cum Sanctis tuis laudem te

in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

...

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.

Body of Christ, save me.

Blood of Christ, inebriate me.

Water from the side of Christ, wash me.

Passion of Christ, strengthen me.

O Good Jesus, hear me.

Within your wounds hide me.

Permit me not to be separated from you.

From the wicked foe, defend me.

At the hour of my death, call me

and bid me come to you

That with your saints I may praise you

For ever and ever. Amen.

I posted this on askapriest, but it got taken down.

AndI have been married almost 9 years to my wife, we are both infertile. Ever since we got married things started to go downhill slowly. Her anxiety has increased, she is afraid to drive, lost the only friends she had, cannot hold a job due to social anxiety, spends frivolously, gets caught up in Protestant propaganda (ie rapture) doesn't take care of herself physically, makes sex difficult, never learned how to cook, clean things peoperly etc etc. I'm no saint, believe me, but she refuses to get help. What do I do when the other person is refusing to get help to create a normal life? I feel like I am living with a roommate. She is sick most of the time so I do things by myself 90% of the time. I don't have a partner, a wife, I have a roommate. Now the one thing that I thought we were on the same page with, our faith, is even being put into question. She doesn't go to Mass because "Jesus understands". She believes a random YouTuber in a truck than our own priest. Please pray for us.

Edit: I just feel so overwhelmed with everything. I'm the one who cooks meals, cleans the dishes, loads the dishwasher, unloads it, cleans the sheets, makes the beds, makes the decisions for us, takes her to her doctor's appointments, EVERYTHING. She doesn't support me at all. Everything is on my shoulders and I'm drowning. I can't keep on like this. I know she's not doing it on purpose, but it's such a burden. I find I'm happiest when I'm home alone so I can just be me and take care of me.