...fascinating are: They pray to The Virgin Mary and to The Saints if they are a monotheistic religion why pray to Saints? I've always believed that Confession is a sure fire way to be absolved, and a ticket straight to heaven. I also did not understand that they believe in salvation of young children (babies) through baptism. I set out to see for myself about these misconceptions surrounding the Catholic Church, and I was quite surprised to what I found. Why do Catholics pray to The Virgin Mary and Saints? I was always under the impression that Catholicism is a monotheistic religion meaning they believe in one God. So to say the least I was confused as to why they would pray to Mary and the Saints thus meaning it would have to fall into the polytheistic (many Gods or Idols) category. I was told its more of an interception of prayer. "When we are in need of prayer we ask those closest to God." Hence praying to Mary or the Saints, because they are close to God. (Woodruff, 2012). To put it in another way of thinking, think about a child who has done wrong by his/her parents. If this child favors, say the mother over the father, and knows the father would be harsher on them if they told them their wrong doings. They would then go to their mother, and tell them their troubles. That way their mother will intercede on their behalf, and go to their father and tell them of the child's wrong doings, in hopes that they will not receive has stern a punishment. In doing this, Catholics hope that a...
Words: 1038 - Pages: 5
...sin. This is the reason why we are born without sin. This is important for Christians as we can get to heaven. • Also as a christian The catechism teaches that Jesus’ death brought salvation upon us people yet again providing evidence that Jesus did die to save us people on Earth. (c) Explain how one religion community expresses its love of God.(8) They take vows to be obedient to God, one community is the Carmelite nuns who take vows. These vows are very strict and by following them you are showing your love to God. Also religious communities should spend time with God in private prayer. The Carmelite nuns spend almost 12 hours of everyday in pray2011-Beliefs And Values 2011-Beliefs And Values er, worship and contemplation. This truly shows they are committed to God. Also in religious communities the people give up their freedom. In order to show their complete love towards God, the Carmelite nuns give up things like money and sex so theres simply no distractions. Lastly, the Carmelite nuns live in an enclosed area away from the rest of the world simply not to get distracted allowing them to show full devotion and commitment to God. (d) “Christian should not believe that god is three” (6) Do you agree? give reasons for your opinion. I disagree with this statement and so would Roman Catholics because in the 10 Commandments it tells us catholics that there is only one God therefore we should only believe in one God. Also as Catholics we listen to the churches...
Words: 1928 - Pages: 8
...better understand the beliefs and teachings of The Catholic Church, I thought that it would be prudent to not only research the topic, but also to speak with a member of the Catholic faith. That being said, I began my research by educating myself on the particulars of the Catholic faith before speaking with Josefina (Josie) Ramirez. Josie, a 53 year old native of Lake Jackson, Texas, was raised Catholic, is quite devout, and takes all of the teachings of and dictates of the Catholic Church to heart. When asked what differentiates the Catholic Church from the Protestant version of Christianity, Josie indicated that one area was how Catholics regard religious authority. “[Protestants] seem to turn only to the Bible for religious instruction. It seems to me that they listen to their ministers, but stick to their own opinions if they disagree with anything. Catholics, on the other hand, believe that the traditions of 2000 years of study, prayer, and revelation are not something to be disregarded. Nothing in Catholicism contradicts the Bible, but we have the advantage of all those centuries of thought and guidance to help explain the mysteries of Christianity and how to lead a better life.” Most scholarly Catholic websites seem to justify Josie’s perception, by suggesting that while “Christ is [Catholicism’s] primary authority; this authority has been passed from Christ to His Apostles” (Basic Catholic). While the Catholic Church recognizes the authority of the Bible, it...
Words: 2172 - Pages: 9
...RAMIREZ, RJ RUIZ, Bianca TEH, Mia SA 21 – D It is apparent that Filipinos take their religion very seriously. Many Filipinos are willing to endure large amounts of pain just to profess their faith. Some choose the easier route in trying to express their belief by simply visiting a church and spending a few minutes in prayer. Our recent visit to Quiapo Church exposed us to both these forms of worship. When we arrived in Quiapo during our visit there a few days ago, we took a few minutes to survey our surroundings. The first thing we noticed is the large amount of people in the area. There were many people not only inside the church but around its surroundings as well. After this short moment of observation, we then decided to enter the church. This was the first time to enter Quiapo Church for all three of us and it’s unlike any church we have visited so far in the Philippines. The sheer size of the church’s interior dwarfs most of the churches we go to every Sunday. Even with its size, Quiapo Church is jam packed with numerous devotees. Most of the pews are filled with people and it is difficult to find an empty spot to sit down in. The first thing we noticed once we entered the church was the people who were walking on their knees towards the altar. These devotees would kneel down at the church’s entrance and then they would slowly go towards the altar on their knees. Given the size of the church, this painstaking ritual would take a while to complete. We saw...
Words: 2840 - Pages: 12
...As a child, I grew up in a religious Catholic environment, with my grandparents playing an active role in shaping my siblings and I’s religious views. From grade one to six, I attended catechism every Tuesday afternoon in order to complete my First Communion and Confirmation. In addition, my grandparents would teach me the common prayers such as the Our Father and the Hail Mary in English, French as well as Italian, the language I speak with them. They also taught me the fundamental pillars of the Catholic Church and we traveled to Italy a few summers ago together, where they showed my family and I the churches they would go to as well as the saints they venerated. Saints were important in my grandparents’ lives and I would get a phone call every time it was my “name day”, where Saint Sarah would be worshipped. As well, I learnt about the life and legacy of San Cataldo, as my grandmother said that when she was ill she prayed to him every single day, and...
Words: 1666 - Pages: 7
...people have many misconceptions about the catholic religion myself included. Among the misconceptions that I had will also come the correct explanation of what really takes place or how things are really done within the religion of Catholicism. I had always believed that people of the catholic religion prayed to different saints and the Virgin Mary as kind of like you would an idol. What I did not realize was that this is not the case at all. As most people of the Christian faith do if we are having a hard time or if we have a prayer request, we ask those of faith to pray for us. In the catholic religion they do the same thing, a lady named Annie who has gone to St. Augustine’s Catholic church since she was a baby explained it to me as. “When they are praying to the saints or to the Virgin Mary they are praying for one of two things, either to ask that person to pray for them, or to ask them to intercede on their behalf.” (Adair, 2012) What interceding does is like when a child gets in trouble, or if they know they are going to get into trouble. They usually will go to one parent and talk or try to explain their side. So that, that parent can go to the other parent on their behalf, and explain what happen in hopes of a lesser punishment, or that the parent that is going to be the one disciplining them. Will have a little more sympathy on them and they won’t get has hard of a punishment. Doing this they hope praying to one of the saints will happen that they will intercede on...
Words: 1731 - Pages: 7
...world. The Church owns one of the largest and most valuable private libraries in the world. The Church owns one of the largest and most valuable collections of ancient writings and texts in the world. The Church has, through the centuries, been rocked by persecution, wars, and scandal, but has survived and thrived. To its members, The Church is a living, breathing line, unbroken, from today back through the decades and centuries to Jesus Christ. The Church is a symbol of traditional faith, an icon of traditional values, and a sanctuary from the evils of the world. To outsiders, looking in, The Church is a dichotomy of imagined and real legends and myths. But to the members, it is their faith and their anchor. The Catholic Church. I was fortunate to visit St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Garland, Texas, where I observed a beautiful, modern building. Where I had expected a stodgy, overbearing environment, I was taken aback to find myself in an almost a park like setting, with well manicured lawns and flower beds, walk ways and even humorous signs proclaiming that “Thou Shalt Not Walk Upon the Grass.” The stereotypical massive medieval cathedral...
Words: 2492 - Pages: 10
...the Day of the Dead and Halloween, yet they have very different origins. They both started out as their own separate festivals/celebrations but over time they gained either Catholic or Christian tendencies. Which only served to make them even more similar, leading confusion for many Americans now a days. Most people know of the similarities but do not know of the origins of either! Even most Americans who celebrate Halloween do not know of it is origins! Day of the dead was a celebration to celebrate the Aztec goddess Mictecacihuatl, Lady of the dead. They celebrated for about a month long in their calendar what all know as August. They had all the same traditions as they do now but back then the altars/shrines they made were at the graves themselves to bring the family/descend person back to the land of the living. Aztecs would spread the flor de muertos (flower of the dead) from the grave sites to their homes. A way of leading the lost souls to their families and loved ones. Aztecs would even make foods and treats with the deceased name on the calaveras de azucar (skull of sugar). This all went on for many centuries until the Spaniards came and influenced their religion with more Catholic ties. Example being they changed the month-long celebration to be only two days coinciding with November 1, All saints day and November 2, All souls day. The Aztecs use these two days now to celebrate the children who have passed the first day and the adults the second day. Or another way...
Words: 1122 - Pages: 5
...generation is growing up away from the church. Within that same research some additional findings were as follows: “Two-thirds of former Catholics who have become unaffiliated and half of former Protestants who have become unaffiliated say they left their childhood faith because they stopped believing in its teachings, and roughly four-in-ten say they became unaffiliated because they do not believe in God or the teachings of most religions. Additionally, many people who left a religion to become unaffiliated say they did so in part because they think of religious people as hypocritical or judgmental, because religious organizations focus too much on rules or because religious leaders are too focused on power and money”. (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Story?id=7513343&page=1) I agree that society has changed the way that religion is conducted. Speaking from my own personal beliefs there are may times that I question whether religion and the church has moved away from the Bible. It seems to me that most mega churches that I visited are so concerned with political views and building the church that it lacks the focus of fellowship. Again, could this be a sign that we as a society are abandoning God? When we were younger the concept of church and God had been drilled into our systems yet, as we grow older we no longer adhere to those beliefs; why is that? I remember being told there was no salvation without God, there are no miracles without him and he is the...
Words: 1591 - Pages: 7
...the day my parents stopped keeping me quiet with cheerios and coloring books, I’ve been asking why we couldn’t skip just one week of mass. My mother tells me, “We have to thank God for all He’s given us.” On vacation in the Cayman Islands, we attend the Baptist church to thank God for a week of scuba diving. Before dinner each night, we hold hands and pray. Thank you, God, for our lovely family, our health, our happiness, and the lasagna on my plate-which I cannot wait to eat. Sometimes I reflect on how truly thankful we are, other times I just dig into the lasagna. I’ve always believed in God, but never expected to be as pious as my grandmother, who shakes the priest’s hand more vigorously than a five-year-old being introduced to Mickey Mouse. If I touch my head or sneak a piece of gum during the sermon, my grandmother mutters that I may as well be an atheist. She prays to St. Anthony for me, and when I ask why she’s praying to the patron saint of lost items and travelers, because all I did was tie my shoe, she tells me to stop being wise. Although my mother thinks this is just a phase, I have begun to have my doubts. I have some trouble believing Jesus turned ten fish into meals for thousands, and doubt anyone could even stand on water without a surfboard and some killer abs. My mother and father wanted to visit Italy. My grandmother wants to pay for my trip because it’s a Catholic country and will do me some good. She’s right, at least initially. The first city in our tour...
Words: 941 - Pages: 4
...Immersion Experience with the Baptist Church CNS 6565-10 Multicultural Foundations Winter 2015 Immersion Experience with the Baptist Church Of the fifty four churches located in Hinesville, Georgia the Baptist Church has thirteen churches located throughout the town. The purpose of selecting the Baptist Church Sunday service was to examine how Sunday services differ from the Sunday services at a Catholic Mass and to increase the cultural awareness of the Baptist Services and to explore why one member of its congregation chose this particular church over the other twelve Baptist churches available. Description of Activities On 1 March, 2015, The First Calvary Missionary Baptist Church was visited for its Sunday service. The church was full with almost every seat taken. A majority of the church members were African American. There were also two Hispanic families and three Caucasian families. The order of the church was praise and worship, choir singing, devotional services, church covenant, welcome and announcements, song selection, tithes/offering/benevolent, scriptures from the bible, hymn’s of worship, the sermon delivered by the pastor, altar call, invitation to discipleship, communion and benediction. The service was three hours long. It included many songs song by the choir in between each order. The orders of welcome and announcements, sermon delivered by the pastor, communion and benediction were each approximately forty minutes long with the...
Words: 1791 - Pages: 8
...Why Elizabeth 1 didn’t marry? Elizabeth I was the queen of England from the age of twenty-five to the age of sixty-nine. She was the only daughter of Henry the eighth and his second wife Anne Bolyeyn. So why did she not marry? Was it because of her Dad or because of something else? Does anyone really know? Evidence shows that it might have been her dad relationship with his wife’s or that it was because her true love she could never marry. She was born on September 7 of 1533 in the Greenwich Palace. The news of her birth caused rejoicing in the country. But her father was disappointed because she was not a boy. But was the heir to the throne. She is the only surviving Child of Henry the eighth and Anne Bolyeyn. Her father wanted a male heir, and when Anne could not give him one he had her charged with treason. Elizabeth was only two years and eight months old. On May 19, 1536 at eight o’clock in the morning her mother was executed, and striping Elizabeth of her title and claim to the throne. Elizabeth’s father remarried one week after Anne’s death. He had a son with his third wife Jane Seymour, Anne’s Lady-in-Waiting, one year later; who later died...
Words: 1287 - Pages: 6
...Edition. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1999. Trask, Willard. Joan of Arc: In Her Own Words. New York: Turtle Point Press, 1996. INTRODUCTION In the face of your enemies, in the face of harassment, ridicule, and doubt, you held firm in your faith. Even in your abandonment, alone and without friends, you held firm in your faith. Even as you faced your own mortality, you held firm in your faith. I pray that I may be as bold in my beliefs as you, St. Joan. I ask that you ride alongside me in my own battles. Help me be mindful that what is worthwhile can be won when I persist. Help me hold firm in my faith. Help me believe in my ability to act well and wisely. Amen. This is a Catholic prayer for Faith said today to Saint Joan of Arc who was canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV. According to the official Catholic Church web site she tops the list of the most popular Catholic Saints. So why was this woman burned at the stake for heresy and witchcraft on Wednesday, May 30, 1431? Why is she so important to the Catholic Church? And what legacy did a nineteen-year-old peasant girl that lived in the early fifteenth century leave behind that is so important that it be covered in a junior level college course? THE ROAD TO ORLEANS Joan of Arc was born Jehanette in Domremy in what is now France in 1412...
Words: 1898 - Pages: 8
...in Egypt and the Middle East. The foundational roots of the Church are based in Egypt, but are now worldwide. The church was established by Saint Mark, an apostle and evangelist, in the middle of the 1st century. Coptic Orthodox Christianity started in Egypt but has become worldwide and has become a common faith around the world. Egypt is identified in the Bible as the place of refuge that the Holy Family sought in its flight from Judea: "When he [Joseph] arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod the Great, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt I called My Son" (Matthew 2:12–23). The word Copt is derived from the Greek word Aigyptos, which was, in turn, derived from "Hikaptah", one of the names for Memphis, the first capital of Ancient Egypt. The modern use of the term "Coptic" describes Egyptian Christians, as well as the last stage of the ancient Egyptian language script. The word ‘orthodox’ literally means ‘straight opinion.' The Coptic church is based on the teachings of Saint Mark , he brought Christianity into Egypt during the roman era when Nero was emperor. Christianity spread throughout Egypt within a half century of Saint Marks arrival in Alexandria. According to the tradition when Saint Mark arrived on his missionary journey to Egypt...
Words: 2301 - Pages: 10
...Apostolate Talk – Retreat 25 March 2016 Good Friday “Hidden wisdom and unseen treasure, what advantage is there in either of them?” Apostolate is really sharing, an overflow of our own interior life. As I was preparing for this talk, I was going over my old notes. It’s good to write down what inspires especially in spiritual activities such as this one, and go back to from time to time to draw lessons. I came across the following passages in my notes to answer the question on “how do you re-Christianize Society?” or how do you do Apostolate? I do not own these lines nor do I remember where I got it from but these are as relevant as it is now. To quote, “Since doctrinal subjects have to be repeated, we should make a special effort to present them attractively, so that people don’t get bored with hearing them again and again. We say the same things, but in different ways. Faith and morals obviously remain the same, but our style can be fresh and varied. The same ideas but in a hundred different languages, pleasantly, so that our speech may always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. Addressing people “in their own language” is certainly a start, but in doctrinal apostolate we also need to say the same things over and over again, firstly because what we say may not be properly grasped in a single hearing, and secondly because it may not be retained. Fearless repetition is the norm. One has to go back over things. Ideas...
Words: 3274 - Pages: 14
