I need to learn to be Catholic

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Hi. I was rec’d at this Easter Vigil into the Catholic Church. And I’m thrilled. But, as I attend Mass, I realize how out of the loop I am about a lot of this. I can follow most of the prayers, but some I can’t. I haven’t ever said the Rosary in a group; I don’t know about the order of whoever and the processsion for something else. How do I figure this out without looking like an idiot. Who do I ask to help me?
 
trooper said:
Hi. I was rec’d at this Easter Vigil into the Catholic Church. And I’m thrilled. But, as I attend Mass, I realize how out of the loop I am about a lot of this. I can follow most of the prayers, but some I can’t. I haven’t ever said the Rosary in a group; I don’t know about the order of whoever and the processsion for something else. How do I figure this out without looking like an idiot. Who do I ask to help me?
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Well Congrats on your being rec’d! In any case - I don’t even know some of the prayers, so don’t worry about looking foolish 😉 Also if you have any specific questions about the Mass you can ask them here.

Catholig
 
You can ask a lot of your questions here I’m betting, especially in regards to specific questions about mass or certain prayers.

About wanting to pray the rosary in a group - do you just want to experience this once, or do you want to do this often, or have you never prayed the rosary at all and want to know how?

About knowing which procession occurs when and who’s feast day is September 29th, and what particular sacramental you traditionally use when there’s a raging storm, don’t worry about it. Nobody but the cradle Catholics who’ve…been around for a while, know them all. The rest of us are still learning. You’ll pick it all up. I was just confirmed at Easter Vigil too, and the stuff I know I’ve gotten from reading up on sites online (as well as in a great RCIA). We don’t have to know it all right now - we have the rest of our lives to be Catholics! 👍
 
First, welcome, and congratulations!:tiphat:

If you’re talking about the prayers during Mass, you could just learn them the way the rest of us did: through repetition, Mass after Mass after Mass. But I recognize that’s uncomfortably slow. Another trick would be to get a missalette, which is a small paperback that has all of the parts of the Mass, along with the scheduled readings for a designated period of time (e.g., the missalette for April 8 through July 29). It can be a little difficult to follow at first, because there’s a lot of “After this prayer, go to page ___” passages (plus there are parallel passages, because the priest has choices about which prayers to use during Mass), but with only a little work you’ll be able to follow along pretty smoothly. It even has “sit” and “stand” notations in it (though you have to watch out, because some bishops dispense with some of those notations).

But Rawb is right. You’re there, and that’s what counts. Pick up a little at a time, and pretty soon you’ll be amazed at how much you’ve learned.

Again, welcome!🙂
 
trooper said:
Hi. I was rec’d at this Easter Vigil into the Catholic Church. And I’m thrilled. But, as I attend Mass, I realize how out of the loop I am about a lot of this. I can follow most of the prayers, but some I can’t. I haven’t ever said the Rosary in a group; I don’t know about the order of whoever and the processsion for something else. How do I figure this out without looking like an idiot. Who do I ask to help me?
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Get yourself your own personal Sunday missal. This is a good one: Saint Joseph Sunday Missal. This is the one that I have:
The Vatican II Sunday Missal: Milllennium Edition All the prayers said in the mass are in the missal. These two are pretty inexpensive. You can also buy the whole year of daily mass readings, but that comes in several volumes. If you just want to be able to learn the mass, then I’d suggest you start with just the Sunday missal.

No matter what you think, I doubt very seriously you ever look like an idiot in mass. Unless maybe you wear a plaid blazer with white shoes and a white belt… but that’s just me… Someone else may think that’s very smart looking… 😉

My particular parish has very good missalettes, but I’ve been to other parishes that don’t go to that expense and have very small missalettes. I think the smaller ones are becoming more common. Either way, see if your missalette already has the order of the mass spellled out in it. Those which they have in my parish have the order of the mass in the front of the missalette.

I love new Catholics. They’re so shiney and new! :newidea: and they make me wanna :extrahappy:
 
And, in case you’re a convert from a Protestant church, here’s a free tip:

STOP AFTER SAYING “DELIVER US FROM EVIL” !!!

;)😃
 
And, in case you’re a convert from a Protestant church, here’s a free tip:
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STOP AFTER SAYING “DELIVER US FROM EVIL” !!!
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😃 :rotfl: :rotfl: 👍

I used to concentrate real hard “I know it’s coming, I know it’s coming” and then bite my tongue to keep from saying it to train myself. Now I can concentrate on the prayer itself, but those first couple times I had a sore tongue!
 
After you’ve become familiar with the prayers and feel comfortable, I’d suggset getting a copy of the book “The Lamb’s Supper” by Scott Hahn. A whole new world will open up for you every time you attend Mass, and everything you do and say will take on a much deeper meaning.
 
trooper said:
Hi. I was rec’d at this Easter Vigil into the Catholic Church. And I’m thrilled. But, as I attend Mass, I realize how out of the loop I am about a lot of this. I can follow most of the prayers, but some I can’t. I haven’t ever said the Rosary in a group; I don’t know about the order of whoever and the processsion for something else. How do I figure this out without looking like an idiot. Who do I ask to help me?
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Your Sponsor is who you ask.
 
Rawb said:
😃 :rotfl: :rotfl: 👍

I used to concentrate real hard “I know it’s coming, I know it’s coming” and then bite my tongue to keep from saying it to train myself. Now I can concentrate on the prayer itself, but those first couple times I had a sore tongue!
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Hahah, I’m a revert who went to Mass faithfully every Sunday for the first 20-some years of my life … and I still have to stop myself saying at least ‘Amen’ at the end of the Our Father.
 
BeeSweet said:
Get yourself your own personal Sunday missal. This is a good one: Saint Joseph Sunday Missal. This is the one that I have:
The Vatican II Sunday Missal: Milllennium Edition All the prayers said in the mass are in the missal. These two are pretty inexpensive. You can also buy the whole year of daily mass readings, but that comes in several volumes. If you just want to be able to learn the mass, then I’d suggest you start with just the Sunday missal.

Please hold off on purchasing a Missal. There are some changes to the Liturgy coming soon. I believe they have been sent to Rome for approval and are expected to be returned shortly, within a year or so. (That’s shortly for the Church!😃 )

Peace,
Linda
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Welcome to the Church!

The advice to wait to buy an expensive missal is good. You may wish to pick up a copy of Magnificat, a monthly magazine with all the readings for every Mass, plus Morning and Evening Prayer. You can subscribe at www.magnificat.com. They may send you a free copy to try out.

A good book for you would be Catholicism for Dummies, by Fr. John Trigilio and another priest. Don’t mix it up with The Complete Idiot’s Guide, which is not as good. This book has all kinds of great information about traditions and practices that should interest you. And of course, it does not imply that you are in any way a dummy!

And I’m on a personal crusade to remind our new Catholic brothers and sisters to go to Confession regularly. It’s been a month since you were received - now is a great time to go to Confession and keep going every month. Many wait until the Advent Penance Service in their parishes and miss out on the benefit of regular confessions. I don’t know about you, but I’d be hard pressed to remember my sins from April and May when December rolls around. And there are no sweeter words to hear than, “I absolve you from your sins.”

Betsy
 
Time will fix your problem.

After 1 year & a minimum of 52 masses later, I think you’ll have it down pat! 👍
 
I agree that time will help you with remembering the order of Mass, prayers, etc. I’m still a little fuzzy on the Gloria and the Nicene Creed (I was used to the Apostle’s Creed). I’m ok when we sing the Gloria but for some reason I can’t just speak it:o !

And I’m sure there are still some cradle catholics that get confuddled too b/c the other day during the Rosary when we were saying the Apostles Creed aloud, everyone kept wanting to say the Nicene creed. I shouldn’t have thought so but I couldn’t help but giggle to myself a little! :o I wasn’t the only one getting tickled either, though!😉
 
AngelRose81 said:
I agree that time will help you with remembering the order of Mass, prayers, etc. I’m still a little fuzzy on the Gloria and the Nicene Creed (I was used to the Apostle’s Creed). I’m ok when we sing the Gloria but for some reason I can’t just speak it:o !

And I’m sure there are still some cradle catholics that get confuddled too b/c the other day during the Rosary when we were saying the Apostles Creed aloud, everyone kept wanting to say the Nicene creed. I shouldn’t have thought so but I couldn’t help but giggle to myself a little! :o I wasn’t the only one getting tickled either, though!😉
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I was in Mass once when a lector got up to get ready to say the prayers; as usual, she approached the lectern while everyone was saying the Profession of Faith. She didn’t realize it, but she came within range of the microphone, and her voice was ringing out in the cathedral. Then SHE made a mistake and said the wrong thing (I think she went to “We believe in one holy, Catholic, and apostolic church…” when she should have said “We believe in the Holy Spirit…”). The entire congregation, including the priest, stopped in mid-sentence, and you could see every single person thinking “I screwed up!” After a few seconds (that felt like an eternity), the priest started up again. But what a feeling, as the whole recital just ground to a halt!
🤷
 
carol_marie said:
Time will fix your problem.

After 1 year & a minimum of 52 masses later, I think you’ll have it down pat! 👍
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I wouldn’t worry too much. Let the Holy Spirit lead you. If a particular prayer attracts you, spend time praying and meditating on it.

Never be too shy to ask.

If you want, you can get prayer cards and pamplets at your local Catholic store. They fit in pockets or wallets.
 
I’ve been Catholic for all of my life, and I am still learning how to be a Catholic. 😉
 
Regarding a Sunday Missal, St Josephs Sunday Missal 2007 costs about 2 bucks. It’s a paperback version, very affordable.

However…
The advice to hold off on the 20-30 dollar versions is good advice 😉
 
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