Well, I made an appointment to talk to the nun that was so helpful to me. We talked for an hour or more. She asked me a lot of questions about my past and wanted to know why I was interested in the Catholic Church. In our talk she was able to help me understand some of the questions I had. At the end of the talk she said I definitally didn’t need to go to RCIA, thatin her view I was Catechized( I don’t know what that means) and I could start classes in January to study more if I chose to and then take I long as I needed to decide
. She told me she was suprised that I had already read the u.s.c. and the c.c. she also, like you all. Said it was God that made me stop by and enter the church.
I go into the church to pray and go to the grotto to study. I still feel I bit uncomfortable with the icons but I feel that they help me visualize Jesus better when. Pray.i
So now I’m just reading as much as I can and praying a lot. My Mom agreed to give me great grandmothers rosery( which was a miracle it itself) so I’m learning how to use that too.
This whole experience is just awesome!
Perfect! Slow and steady. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to the environment soon enough. Rosary is just ideal! With it, daily mass and a guide (the nun) how could you possibly go wrong?
My advice to you is to get some good Catholic spiritual books on Our Lord Jesus Christ- He’s the whole point of all legitimate Catholic prayer, understanding him from the saints will give you more than enough material for Prayer- His life, suffering and death, resurrection, relationship with the Saints etc. In time Get another on Mary to help you understand her place in prayer and the Rosary.
You may struggle a bit at first with the meditation- Fixing your mind on the mystery (I don’t know if you know what this is yet) while reciting the vocal prayers is challenging at first. Like concentrating on two things at once, after a while your mind will sort it- The mind will be able to fix itself on the mystery while the Hail Marys fall into the background like slow quiet background music.
Just a few tips:
Always start with an act of presence- Really remind yourself you’re coming naked to God and that you’ll spend the next twenty minutes with Mary at prayer. That’s what Rosary is- meditating on Christ with the one who knew and loved him best. So God is there, Christ is before you, Mary by your side with a host of invisible heavenly company.
Always offer the Rosary for a favor- A petition- If for something you personally or a loved one needs, or for spiritual needs, and the church and sinners. Personally I think this is how best to acquaint yourself with God’s mother. Prepare to be shocked by how quickly Christ grants petitions addressed to him through his mother.
Say like The sorrowful mysteries- Third mystery-
the crowning of our Lord with thorns- I always think of Christ humbly crouched into a corner, all bloodied and hardly breathing, and the soldiers mocking him and crowning him and hitting him with a stick in his face, fixing the sharp thorns into his skull and Christ totally helpless to his degradation. I think how they should have been kissing his feet and loving him, how humiliated he allowed himself to be when he was the lord of the universe- I tell him that
I love him,
I’m sorry for the degradation of him and others, of my ingratitude to him, my disloyalty, and my great pride. And how intolerant I am of little humiliations here and there and ask him to make me humble- beautiful like him, so I can give myself to him and love him properly as he deserves from his follower. Before I know it, I’m at the glory be and the decade is over.
After you get the hang of it it’ll get a flow of it’s own, Our Lord will teach you about himself and the significance of those little things in his life here and there. I believe you can be totally transformed, become a Saint through the Rosary because not only do you have a giant by your side that absolutely terrifies the Devil (Mary), you also pray truly by fixing your mind on your Lord and he teaches you about himself, God and you! Catholics know that that to go to Mary is to go to Christ- you’ll discover this for yourself soon enough. If you ever get baptized (and I’m praying that you do) you’ll be able to combine this with confession, that healing oil for our wounds, so wonderful!
Welcome home!
