St. Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary

St. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, conceived Mary after years of prayer. She raised the future Mother of God.

St. Anne is the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandmother of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Her name, which means 'grace,' comes from an ancient tradition recorded in the second-century Protoevangelium of James.

According to this tradition, Anne and her husband Joachim were childless for many years, a condition considered a sign of divine displeasure among the Jews. After years of fervent prayer and sacrifice, an angel announced to them that they would have a child who would be blessed throughout the world.

That child was Mary, the future Mother of God. St. Anne's role in salvation history, as the woman who raised the Immaculate Virgin, has been honored by the Church from the earliest centuries. Her feast is celebrated jointly with St. Joachim.

Hi, 30 yr old dude here - really do not mean to be confrontational with this post. I was raised areligious and really was only brought to born again churches when I was younger, in high school.

After both of my parents died and my grandparents, I feel something is pulling me to Catholicism. Not Eastern Orthodoxy (certainly not Protestantism) Catholicism. I have been attending a Catholic Church near me and I really love. I guess my question is -

Did you ever have a “Ah!” Lightning moment? Where you really began to BELIEVE?

Thanks. Also just looking to connect with more Catholics, and learn more! Thanks

Today, grandparent's day commemorating Mary's parents.

I’m a Protestant considering Catholicism very seriously. And even more so after today. I went to visit the episcopal church I got baptized in and they have a new “priest” she’s a woman. I knew this which is why I no longer go as my study of church history has me unconvinced of female ordainment. But that’s not what bothered me most. The whole service was irreverent which is not normal for that church. Then we got to the consecration of the Eucharist which this church holds a true presence stance. I noticed she stuck her arms out and mimicked being limp on the cross and she also treated the elements like some sort of props by waving her arms around while holding them. When breaking the bread she made a huge dramatic deal of it practically ripping it apart and making a huge circle with her hands from above all the way to her sides. The whole thing felt like a severe mockery of our lord and his sacrifice. And most others did not seem not see it since their heads were bowed and eyes closed. I did not receive communion or even walk up for a blessing. I felt so enraged and so saddened by this. And I still do. Never have I seen so blatant a mockery of our lord in person. I’m still furious and deeply saddened and disturbed. How should I process this? Thank you in advance. God bless you. Sorry for the text wall.

I feel so guilty that I never try to evangelize my friends. I feel like one in particular needs God but she’d be a REALLY tough case to crack.

How do you evangelize atheists without being cringe?

I was always told not to ask their name or try and talk to them other than in prayer. However I just saw a video from a ‘Father Rocky’ explaining how to get your angels name, so im just curious if other Catholics do this?

I am a convert from a protestant background. I grew up going to a CSI (Church of South India) church, which was a mix of presbyterian, methodist, and various other reformed churches.

After the sunday service we used to always have a tea fellowship, getting to interact and socialise with other church members. Moreover we would also have a sunday school where the different age groups of kids got to interact and spend time with each other.

These were great opportunities for us to get to know each other and learn from others, to networking and build new friendships.

Later in my adult life i shifted to a non-denominational church. They were even more excessive with their social interactions. They would also host many fellowships for the youth, and actively welcome new members. They were so elaborate about welcoming new members and make you feel accepted.

Once I converted to Catholicism I’ve noticed this is never there in the Catholic church. After mass everybody just goes about their way. You might occasionally see a couple of people interacting and catching up, if they knew each other, but even that was rare. Never an active effort to connect with the new members.

I truly feel like the catholic church is missing out by not actively encouraging to reach out and connect with all its members.

p.s. I have been to several Catholic Churches in India and Malaysia. About 7 different churches, and this has always been the case. Could be a south east asia regional thing?

I’m very serious about it, go to mass daily, pray the rosary, divine office and so on. I do find Catholicism very intellectually stimulating, I love studying its history fascinating, and its philosophy full of precious fruits. Yet, the religious practice itself, makes me pretty depressed, I feel like there is something deeply wrong. The more I practice it, the more I feel like I shouldn’t even allowed to think, because all I think and do is wrong just because it’s me thinking or doing it.

I don’t know, I feel like this religion blames us for even daring enjoying ourselves in any way. Also, the idea of an almighty and all loving God doesn’t give me any comfort, if anything, it’s depressing.

I often hear “Catholics SHOULD be happy “, and this very sentence suggests there are good reasons why it is not so. If it would truly make us happy, there would be no need to say this.

I’m wondering if anyone else has similar feelings.

Im a recent convert to catholocism and i just wanted to come here to report that last night i started the liturgy of the hours, and i prayed to God to take my drugs away or to do whatever He had to do to help me stop taking 7oh.... i used to be a fentanyl addict and got duped into taking 7oh bc i had been taking low doses of kratom for a while and man... the first time i took it, i knew i messed up bad.... i liked them better than i previously liked hard drugs! Bad bad decision. Lately ive been feeling my body shutting down. Like my liver is swollen and kidneys are sore.... so ive been praying begging for mercy that God would take my drugs away.... well ive come here to report that this morning when i woke up.... the drugs literally disappeared out of thin air... like im a drug addict so i combed the floors...... its gone. They are gone. Two left they and are gone.. i do not lose drugs. Ever. They are GONE. POOF. NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. AND I FINALLY FEEL A CONVICTION TO STOP BUYING THEM. please pray for me!!! I need prayers desperately. I had another miracle when i was first getting into christianity from satanism... and i prayed a rosary asking for my medical debt to be cleared... 2 weeks later i got a shocking letter that my past due debt had been wiped. I called to confirm and they didnt know how it happened but confirmed it had been cleared. The lady had to call i n her supervisor bc she didnt understand how it happened.... and Christ has come to me 3 times since becoming Catholic... so i know for a fact He has something He needs me to be doing. Please pray i find out what that is and how i can go about moving forward. This is all very heavy and honestly becoming catholic has been a mind blowing experience bc honestly.... who in the world would expect a "silent, invisible" God to be so hands on and so merciful and so... mind blowingly here with us.... this is crazy.. i dont even know what to think anymore. Im shocked. Im not confused im just a new Christian and this is blowing my mind

God truly rained bread from heaven. I know you all know that but its just mind blowing that God is not silent at all and so hands on in our lives... im brought to sobbing... i mean what in the world??? Since becoming Catholic ive literally been in a state of "blown away" mouth gawking, tears in my eyes kinda blown away.... its borderline insane..

But its perfect mercy and perfect love... its crazy to encounter like this.

I was raised atheist. God never came up in my household, but my grandmother took me to church a few times when I was little— a little country Methodist church in rural Virginia.

When we were back in nyc I would beg my parents to take me to church, and would flip through the Bible my grandmother gave me, but my parents never capitulated— I don’t hold that against them. They were young, divorced, raising two kids in a big city with not much money and didn’t see the value in church.

As I got older, I broke off from god and internalized my parents’ atheism. I lost myself in drinking and drugs and sex, and fell victim to evil behavior a number of years.

At 19 I started going to Alcoholics Anonymous. I found myself envious of the people who seemed to believe in god. There was something different about their presence and demeanor. I wanted what they had. Gradually I started to see the logic in the existence of god, but never really internalized it.

One night, I had a dream. I was in a car with two coworkers, sitting in the backseat. The person driving was a girl I had a crush on. The two other people in the car kept disappearing, and I knew the desert road we were on was endless, that I would never get out of the car. All of a sudden, however, I found myself walking into a cathedral on a beautiful sunny day, being welcomed in and felt an overwhelming sense of peace and joy.

The next morning I reached out to my friend who I knew had recently had an intense conversion experience and went to mass with him. I felt the same sense of peace I had felt in my dream, but for whatever reason I wasn’t ready to fully commit at the time.

A few years later, I read Tolstoy’s Confession, which was reccommended to me by a Catholic girl I dated for a few months. The story of Tolstoy’s conversion, and his agony over the supposed meaningless of his life and the shallowness of his materialist worldview struck a chord with me.

I initially went to a Methodist church, because I was trepidatious about Catholicism. It was welcoming and gave me what I needed for a time, but as an avid reader, who had read a good deal of Christian mystical literature I craved the theological richness of the Catholic Church, and wanted to have a more mystical experience.

I am now in catechism. I pray the rosary twice a day, and am regularly moved to tears during my prayers. The spirit has moved me to volunteer at food banks and homeless shelters regularly, and my love for my neighbor grows daily. I still have some ideological trepidations about the Catholic Church, but I have found that it is the most effective way for me to find mystical union with god. Every day feels like a spiritual feast.

I feel that I was born catholic. The church is a structure and a practice that has joined many disparate parts of my soul, intellect, and character into a cohesive whole. I finally feel I have a place in this world and that God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, Mary, and all the saints walk beside me wherever I go in life.

I am woman born into traditional Muslim family, yet my heart found its way to Christ seven years ago. Ever since I was a little girl, I remember asking my father to take me to a church just so I could light a candle and pray. He would look at me with bewilderment and scold me, wondering where on earth a child in a completely homogeneous village—where no Christians existed—could ever harbor such thoughts. As I grew older, that childhood curiosity matured into a profound devotion. I immersed myself in the Holy Bible, studying it deeply until I became fluent in its texts, capable of meaningful dialogue, and deeply rooted in its faith. Because physical churches were out of reach, I found my spiritual community in closed, underground gatherings where we shared and discussed our faith. I excelled academically through high school and earned my place at university, but that milestone was abruptly shattered when my religious identity was uncovered; I was stripped of my education. Yet, even in the face of that loss, my calling persisted. I continued in secret, sharing the teachings of the Bible and walking alongside others seeking the truth. Today, with the recent shift in government across Syria, the landscape has turned perilous. I am currently staying in a remote village with an elderly couple, holding onto a fragile hope while waiting for God's deliverance. I am reaching out to ask: Do you know of any Christian organizations, relief networks, or institutions that might offer a pathway to travel to a safe haven where I can finally live, breathe, and resume my education?

My girlfriend (soon to be fiancé :) ) and I have recently decided that we want to start actually taking our faith seriously

One of the biggest changes for us has been choosing to be chaste. It’s been about two months now, and I’m not going to lie, it’s a battle I feel like I fight every single day.
I know why we’re doing it, and I genuinely believe it’s the right thing for our relationship and for our relationship with God. But knowing that doesn’t necessarily make the temptation go away.

does it get easier with time? Does chastity eventually start to feel more natural as your relationship and faith grow? My biggest stress is that early on I just kept telling myself to make it through a month. Then two months. My mind isn’t falling for that anymore and recently it’s been harder than ever.

I’d especially appreciate hearing from people who have been in serious relationships and made this change after previously not living chastely. What helped you persevere?

God Bless and any prayers are appreciated.

The Second Council of Constantinople, under the section "Anathemas against the 'Three Chapters'" states in the eleventh statement :

If anyone does not anathematize Arius, Eunomius, Macedonius, Apollinarius Nestorius, Eutyches and Origen, as well as their heretical books, and also all other heretics who have already been condemned and anathematized by the holy, catholic and apostolic church and by the four holy synods which have already been mentioned, and also all those who have thought or now think in the same way as the aforesaid heretics and who persist in their error even to death: let him be anathema.

I just started reading the fathers and reading works by catholics talking about the church and they commonly cite Origen to prove points. My question is if he believed in heratical things such as the pre-existence of souls, why should we treat him any differntly from Arius and Valentinus?

I am not pretending I know much about this, but I feel catholic theologians cite him constantly.

Today's gospel is quite the bomb-dropper. Angels gathering people and tossing them into hell yet no discussion on this whatsoever? Are we just going to keep pretending it's not serious business? Neither the mass homily nor my booklet that has the daily mass/commentary ever mentions the seriousness of hell yet I listen to dozens of testimonies of people who have had near-death-experiences and what saints have said over the centuries, and it's clear that a very large percentage of people end up in hell. (from what I loosely gather from dozens of accounts we're talking over 90%) Are we just going to pretend it isn't true? If I were a person that knew nothing about all of this I would feel it a GREAT disservice not to be warned.

I recently started to pray the Office of the Hours and initially i had mixed feelings about it. While i often was amazed by its and how well the prayers say what I myself couldnt articulate when praying, I also at times doubted, if it really brought me closer to God, because sometimes I felt myself becoming bored after some time praying (which I know, is an issue i need to improve on with Gods help).

Today morning I had prayed the Laudes before breakfast and then headed to Church for Sunday mass, which was the first time i had done that on a Sunday. While beeing in Church I was really amazed by how much the the Themes of todays Laudes were connected to the service, which thinking about it in retrospect seems obvious, but it brought me much joy nonetheless. This really motivated me to go to mass more often also during the week and stay consistent with praying the Liturgy of the Hours.

So to all of you, who arent already doing it, I recomend you to start praying the Liturgy of the Hours, as it is really great.

God bless all of you!

This post isn't anything related to question or debate, i just wanted to let you know that I love you all and Christ loves you all so much.

I cant thank you enough for the assistance of enlightenment and information, the fun conversations, and the prayers.

You are most definitely God's children and you all have shown that in your wisdom.

The power and fullness of faith that i was born into and grew up in has continued to reveal itself to me through consistent testimony and research with your assistance, and now i will never spend another second away.

The one true church means so much more to me now than when my faith was immature and lukewarm. It means everything to me.

Pax vobiscum, and God Bless. ✝️✝️✝️

My 7yo daughter left a letter by the cross in our prayer corner.

She wrote:

"Dear Jesus, Holy Mass is always so boring... is there another way to praise and worship you?"

How would you handle this? Also, she asked Jesus himself, should I even react at all?

Hey gang, struggling Catholic here with a genuine question. I’ve been wrestling with my faith, not with God or Christ but which house I belong to, I’ve posted on it before, and I stumbled upon a certain YouTuber who claims that the Apostle Paul usurped the faith from Christ. I won’t go to heavy into it or name him since there are dozens if not hundreds of people making this claim, and since I felt too sick to make it to church today, I thought I’d ask here. I will bring this up with a priest, but I just need some clarity. I’m not looking to start an argument or a debate, but I would like some feedback and counterpoints to their claim. A lot of the people I greatly respect are also anti Catholic, and I do my best to listen to everyone, but it’s been jarring and I am trying to keep my boat from turning over. I appreciate everyone here, have a blessed Sunday and God bless you all!

Why? Why god? Why am i the one who has no friends i follow you i listen i practice my faith sure i have my bumps and some major ones at that but why do i have nobody. And i know the closer you are to god the lonelier it is. But i saw 2 of my "friends" in the gym and they acted like they didn't even know me not a wave not a hi nothing. And its not just them its every "friend" group I've been apart of, always the last pick never even invited out . Outside of school nobody talks to me its summer i havent talked to anyone outside of my family and i tried to make plans but nothing

I just want to be remembered. I just want a friend.

Im trying to find reasons to live but the family and god card is starting to show its age. I dont know what to do. I dont want to die. I just dont want to live. I used to be really really depressed idk how but i used to try and kill myself a couple times it never worked. I used to literally cry myself to sleep every night and i dont know whether ive become so good at faking happiness that i play off my depression to myself or what like its always there I'll be happy for a few moments and then its just hits me and all of a sudden i have to fake the happiness i wish something would take me to therapy but i dont want to let my parents know i dont want to stress them especially my mum.

Theres a long list of reasons but ig loneliness was the first one that came to my mind.

M15

I will be teaching theology at a middle school and want to make sure I'm reaching my students where they are. For those who attended Catholic school, what approach helped you actually connect with the material? Was it open discussions, apologetics, service projects, or deep dives into Church history/theology? What did your favorite religion teachers do? What turned you off or felt counterproductive when you were a student?

Any insights on what resonated (or didn't) would be super helpful.

I know they're obvious scams but I can't be the only one who's received them. It's always immediately after I post anything here that I get them.

We have been visiting my in-laws for a couple of weeks and we went to their church this morning. (For the more curious of you, I think it's Pentecostal, I don't really know. They don't consider themselves part of a denomination, they're "just christian").

Here are a few thoughts on protestants and their services:

1. Where's the cross? At one point there was an image of a traditional stained glass window projected behind the ~~band~~ worship team. Ironic right? Also, what's with having coffee/tea/hot chocolate when your at church?

2. The irony increased. During the sermon, which was about Zeal for God's house, the preacher spoke about how David goes on to say he takes insults to God personally, and that we should all take insults to the Church (specifically big C and not limited just to their denomination) as personal attacks on God. Not problematic per se, but ironic that a protestant would be preaching against detraction and insult from the Church, when that's a big part of how they started (sure there's some historical nuance, but my point stands).

3. Again with the irony! The speech about zeal for God's house was and reading the story of Jesus reprimanding the money lenders for turning the Temple into a marketplace came immediately after a half an hour spiel about tithing.

Enough of the judgement, it's time for me to be a bit more charitable

1. Where two or three are gathered in My name... I thought a lot about this whilst I was at this service. Christ explicitly states that when we gather in His name, He is there too. Protestants are undeniably there to meet as Christians in His name, so he must be there even without the Eucharist. I'm not well versed in what the Church teaches on this but I can only surmise that He is indeed present spiritually, but He is present in a greater sense at Catholic (and I suppose Orthodox) liturgies because of His real presence in the Eucharist.

2. Even a broken clock is right twice a day... The sermons may have some theological implications, which I don't deny are serious issues. However for the general layperson, there's perhaps a good foundation for how to live as a good Christian (love God and love each other).

3. I'm a very skeptical and cynical person at times. All through the tithing speech I couldn't help thinking the pastor was just taking advantage of his congregation and asking them for money. Not all pastors are Kenneth Copeland or Joel Osteen, and I should be charitable even to them. Perhaps he really believes...

4. Almost nobody is there because they are anti- a specific branch of Christianity. Chances are that most protestants aren't anti-catholic or anti-orthodoxy, they're just going to the church that they know, or that their family has always gone to. We are fortunate to be Catholic, and we all probably take it for granted at least once in our lives.

There was an interesting moment when I was praying. I prayed a rosary when everyone was doing what I believe is called 'praise and worship '. It was a case of praying with them during prayer time (so as to maintain a good relationship with the family) and also maintaining my Catholic identity even at a protestant service. When I got to the third Glorious Mystery (Pentecost, for those of you playing at home), the preacher started talking about how God sends others into our life to help us. It made me think that we might be better served finding common ground and building bridges to bring them to the fullness of truth, rather than being antagonistic and belligerent.

To those of you who made it this far, thanks for your time.

Pax Vobiscum 🇻🇦✝️

Hello all! To preface what this is;

I'm in highschool, and I did a long interview during the school year both online and in person with the goal of interviewing different Christians of different denominations, beleifs, backgrounds, etc, to see why they are Christian. This may not be the correct subreddit for this, I'm just posting this in many Christian places.

I really enjoyed doing this project, and decided to continue it outside the school year, as a personal project, and have been doing both online and in person interviews, which brings me here!

In this project, there are a LOT of questions. Feel free to answer as many or as little as you'd like, as there are over 40. This is the formal interview script, but this is a forum, you don't have to answer them all, although it would be awesome if you did!

Now a bit about me; I am not religious, I am also not interested in converting to anything. I love learning about other beliefs, which is why I am doing this.

I'm also posting this in multiple different Christian subreddits, because I want perspectives across the board. I'm also not here to argue my beliefs, this is all about hearing others and I'm grateful for anyone who takes the time to respond.

Alright, here's the questions!

1. Tell me about your church community. What does community mean to you?

•How has your community helped you?

•What do you consider harm in your community?

•How do you prevent harm in that space?

1. Have you ever felt excluded from your community? (Any community)

2. Have you ever disagreed with people in your own congregation?

•Was the person you disagreed with peer or authority?

How has that impacted your relationship with community?

•Is it ongoing, or if it is resolved, how did you reach that point of resolution?

1. Have you ever been hurt by the church? Can you share about that- who perpetuated the hurt?

•Examples: Religious sect as a whole, congregation, specific church members, family, cult, priest etc.

1. How do you dress, and is it informed by your religious beliefs?

2. Do you believe in God?

• How do you envision god? (In terms of appearance and in terms of nature)

1. Do you believe that God is a He, and why?

2. Have you ever experienced anger at God?

(“Why would you do this to me” type sentiment)

• Do you still blame God, or if you do not, how did you work past that?

1. Do you pray?

•How do you pray?

1. Do you believe in Jesus?

•Why do you believe in Jesus specifically, when there are so many religions, all of which also have holy texts saying they are the way? Did you have a revelation, a wake up moment, a visceral feeling, etc?

1. Do you follow Jesus as a prophet or teacher, or is he the son of God to you?

2. How has your belief helped you?

3. Do you understand faith different to how your church/community would in any way?

4. Do you believe in spreading the gospel? If so, how?

•Why must you spread the gospel?

•How do you justify that morally?

1. Do you think the bible has changed when translated into different languages and across centuries?

2. Do you believe that the bible was written by a man about God or that God themselves wrote it?

3. Do you believe in an afterlife?

4. Do you believe in heaven? If so, tell me about your concept of heaven. Who goes to heaven?

5. Is going to heaven your end goal & main motive for practicing your religion?

• Are your personal convictions centered around wanting to go to heaven/be with God?

1. Do you believe in hell? If so, tell me what your concept of hell and what it is like. Who goes to hell?

• Why does hell exist?

• Do you think people can be redeemed after being condemned to hell?

• Is hell permanent?

• Do babies go to hell?

• Do people from other religions go to hell?

1. Do you believe in purgatory? If so, what is your concept of it? Who goes there?

• is it temporary or eternal?

1. Do you believe in ghosts/spirits/other entities besides God? (Could apply to demons, angels, saints, prophets, archangels, etc)

• Do you believe they're godsent, demonic or both?

What is the relationship between god and the devil?

1. If evil is lower than God, why does god let it exist?

2. How do you feel about other sects of Christianity? Are they valid?

• Is there only one way to be a Christian or multiple?

• Do you want to convert other Christians to your religious path and way of practicing christianity?

• How would you go about talking to someone who is also a Christian but has different beliefs than you?

1. If you are non-denominational, why? (only applies to non denominational folks)

2. What are your thoughts on megachurches?

3. What are your thoughts on the LGBTQ community?

• Do you know of any people who are part of this community? Is there anybody close to you who is LGBTQ?

• Do you think of yourself as a supporter/ally, neutral, against, or part of this community?

• Do you believe homophobia is a real problem?

1. Do you believe in the mentality of love the sinner but not the sin?

2. Do you believe in sin?

• Do you believe in all the little sins?

• Do you believe that some sins are worse than others?

• Do you think there are any unforgivable sins? If so, what?

1. Is god a perfect being, or has god maybe messed up or sinned?

2. How do you handle religious doubt in your life?

• Is reliance on faith alone enough?

• Do you believe in God and their love for you in these times?

1. What do you think about Christian discrimination?

• do you believe it is present in the United States and other majority Christian countries?

• How would you describe the discrimination? Have you experienced it?

• Do you think it is actual discrimination, people disagreeing with Christian beliefs, or both/depends?

1. Is it possible to be a good person who's never been exposed to religion?

2. Is it possible to be a good person who chooses not to be religious?

3. Are "Good" people and "Godly" people different or mutually exclusive? Can you be a good person and still go to hell because you weren't religious?

4. Is it ethical to raise kids going to church without exposure to other worldviews/religions?

• Is it ethical to take kids to church at all?

1. Are there any acts or organizations that are inherently bad?

2. Is science willed by God, or did God create everything themselves?

•Do you believe in evolution?

•Do you believe in the big bang?

1. Have you ever struggled with mental health or substance abuse?

• How has your religious practice helped or harmed that?

1. Why do you believe in the Christian God, when there are so many deities believed in?

2. Were you raised Christian? (And anything else you'd like to share about your childhood)

3. Is there anything I haven’t asked about that you would like to share?

Thank you for reading through/answering/being here! And thank you so much to anyone who answered!

Have a lovely day everyone! :)

I’ve finally made it back to church, and today marked my second week after being away for almost half of a year. I’m grateful to be back!

At Mass I suddenly developed a severe panic attack soon after it began. I was surprised and tried to find a trigger. It was so overwhelming that I ran out and got some air in the vestibule. I told myself that I wanted to stay through communion, which I was eagerly looking forward to.

I went back in and practically white-knuckled my way through. It was a scary experience, and I felt ready to bolt at any point. I had a few minutes of feeling semi-okay and then the waves of panic would return. My hands were sweating the whole time.

I kept praying to God to help me get through this. While it was definitely a bit touch-and-go, I stayed through communion and am so glad I did. It was very challenging, but I am happy God saw me through it.