Learning Catholic Culture

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Brian_C

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I am currently going thru RCIA and can’t wait until the day! But my concern is this. Though I and my little family may become Catholic, i worry we won’t ever appreciate the rich culture and traditions. I come from a family w/ Sicilian Catholics and remember all sorts of little traditions and mannerisms. LOL, I remember once, when on a trip w/ my great aunt, a thunderstorm came up. I was in the backseat w/ her and she started praying. She opened up her purse and pulled out an entire holy family and several saints (in statue form), and a rosary or two. Sadly, I’m not as close to some of the younger generations as we grew up in different towns. I realize that my example may be a little off, but I just use it for illustrative purposes. I just worry that I’ll always be a de facto Baptist in the Catholic Church.
 
You will learn about your new Church family and their traditions the same way you learn about a new family when you get married. Gradually, through experience. You will also learn to distinguish family and ethnic traditions and practices from Catholic ones.
 
Dear Brian,
I remember once, when on a trip w/ my great aunt, a thunderstorm came up. I was in the backseat w/ her and she started praying. She opened up her purse and pulled out an entire holy family and several saints (in statue form), and a rosary or two.
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The Church gives us sacramentals to increase our faith and devotion. I know people who have burned palms from Easter whenever a terrible storm threatened. Their faith resides in the efficacy of the sacramental, but I do not believe this is the most mature faith one can exercise. St. Paul mentioned that he had to instruct his hearers as children, and minister to them with milk.

Please do not misunderstand me, thinking these are useless traditions, for the Church does attach a blessing to many of them. I’m remembering at the moment about the blessing of throats on the feast of St. Blaise, through his intercession and prayer. I trust that God meets us at many levels of spiritual development, and for many, these are wonderful aids to devotion and prayer.

If you are not able to partake of them, do not be sad. Think about Jesus’s words in these two scriptures:

John 8
29 And he that sent me, is with me, and he hath not left me alone: for I do always the things that please him.

1 John 3
22 And whatsoever we shall ask, we shall receive of him: because we keep his commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight.

The efficacy of our prayer is increased because we keep His commandments and do always the things that please God. This is not lessened in any fashion if we do not have a blessed sacramental on hand. No, I would think our prayer is heard before God perhaps even more than if we did have these aids … simply because we are wholly devoted to God’s will.

Carole
 
Welcome home to you and your family! 😃

Puzzleannie is right. It will come to you in time. I’m a living example of this. After nearly 20 years as a Catholic I am decidedly more Catholic than Protestant in many, many little ways.

If you want to understand the rich culture the Catholic world fostered in the West a few good Catholic history books might be worthwhile. Just think of all the art, literature, music and learning sponsored by or inspired by Catholic practice and spirituality and know that all of that is now yours to fully embrace instead of admire from afar. Believe me, as you assist at Mass and pray Morning and Evening Prayer and participate in the prayer life of the Church you’ll be immersed more and more into the culture of Catholicism and take on the Catholic world view.

Two authors are really good for seeing our world through Catholic eyes: G. K. Chesterton and J. R. R. Tolkien. Chesterton’s “The Catholic Church and Conversion” is excellent as well as his Father Brown mystery stories, which are solid examples of the Catholic attitude and understanding. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” isn’t a direct demonstration of Catholic culture but assumes it in every page, situation and character, if mythological writing is your sort of thing.
 
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Brian_C:
…i worry we won’t ever appreciate the rich culture and traditions… I just worry that I’ll always be a de facto Baptist in the Catholic Church.
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IHS

Whenever a student in one of my classes raised such a concern - about a question he had, I always told him: The fact that you’tre asking the right questions and expecting the right answer tells me that you’re doing just fine.

How many “cradle” Catholics never think to ask such questions!

Some of us muddle on and think: Sunday and Holy Day Mass are sufficient, along with the Easter Duty perhaps. My attendance is sufficient, since I thereby fulfill my obligation!

These are what VCII called, “practical atheists”.

Saint Edmund Campion, whom I quote in my signature, worked for the restoration of the Faith in his native England. I include it because the Faith was planted in me at my Baptism, and I will work a lifetime with God’s grace to restore it!

As you seem to realize, the Faith is something that needs to permiate your whole life. Don’t worry, it takes a lifetime for that to happen completely and, oh! what joys are in store along the way!
 
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puzzleannie:
You will learn about your new Church family and their traditions the same way you learn about a new family when you get married. Gradually, through experience. You will also learn to distinguish family and ethnic traditions and practices from Catholic ones.
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Yes, I thought I might mention that in my first post. I am not sure what were Sicilian traditions and what were Catholic ones!

I mean, I know the basic customs and everything, I just am always picking up little tidbits here and there that I overhear say at mass announcements or people joking about and so on and I just wonder what all I am not getting. I realize that the example of my aunt may have been over the top, but I figured I’d mention. For what it’s worth, my grandfather never has seemed to have much for sacramentals. Yet, I don’t know of anyone who walks through the doors of their church more.

I guess I just feel in a state of limbo (not in the theological sense, of course), being in the RCIA process. I’ll get there, I know, but I can’t wait.
 
Foster your devotion to the Holy Spirit and ask him to fulfill your desire to feel Catholic. He’ll help you.
 
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Brian_C:
I just worry that I’ll always be a de facto Baptist in the Catholic Church.
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I hear you. I am another ex-Baptist trying to catch up. Music is my downfall, for I lead music in my parish. My wife is always pointing out some old Catholic classic that I “surely must know”, when in fact, I never heard of it.

Stick with the basics. Read your Bible and your Catechism and don’t worry as much about all the sacramentals. They will come in time and you will find some you love and some don’t suit you as much. There are so many devotional practices available I am sure some will appeal to you.

Over the years I have learned to like the roasay, the chaplet of Divine Mercy and the prayer to St. Michael.
 
Read, read, read, read, read.

One of the reasons why I am so happy with both Catholic Answers and EWTN is that the material they offer doesn’t appear anywhere else. I also like The Wanderer. The Latin Mass.

Karl Keating started it with “Catholicism & Fundamentalism”.
 
Al Masetti:
Read, read, read, read, read.
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Amen! One of the best gifts I got early on was a year of This Rock. I have maintained my subscription ever since.
 
Yeah, I read a LOT! I must have bought about 20 books in the past year on Catholicism alone!

I really need This Rock! And yes, I will continue to pray about it!
 
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Cocol:
How many “cradle” Catholics never think to ask such questions!
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As a cradle Catholic who was not raised and catechized in the Faith, having embraced the Faith already as an adult, I too am trying to learn traditional family piety.

I remember some of them from my dear grandmother, but she’s passed away a few years ago. So now I keep an eye on EWTN for clues. 😉

As “puzzleannie” said, you and your family ll grow in Catholic piety with time.

:blessyou:
 
I often look to this site for inspiration on daily life and for knowledge of the faith. I find it to be a very good resource!!

fisheaters.com//domesticchurch.html

If you go to the home link at the bottom of the page, there’s information on everything you need to know!!!
 
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Brian_C:
Aww shucks…and that’s the type of thing I was looking for…:confused:
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Brian,
I don’t think you are sunk just yet. 🙂

Be sure to check out:
catholicexchange.com/

And also what I linked too above: www.catholicculture.org

On the Catholic Culture site you can find a list of websites by topic, which they have reviewed. There are alot to choose from there (and if you stick to the “green” sites you should be safe).

For instance here is just one I pulled off the list:
catholic-forum.com/members/ccfjeff/

Wow! Talk about a huge number of links. I obviously haven’t gone through each and every one, so I can’t vouch for it as a whole but I do notice quite a few links to our own Catholic Answers site, and also Catholic Culture.org gave them a 👍 .

So, what do you think?

Admittedly you are dealing with 2000+ years of culture to absorb, and it can seem a little daunting. I know, I’m a convert too. But that’s the beauty of it – it takes a lifetime, and the treasurehouse is inexhaustible.

God bless,
VC
 
Wow, these will keep me busy for a while! Not to mention *On the Way to Jesus Christ *by Benedict XVI arrived yesterday! So, is that Catholic Exchange a good site? It looks like a great site to set up as a homepage. Nothing aginst CA but it seems to have a little of everything on that one page. Although, I did see something about a Catholic metal group???:eek:
 
Brian, I do think you are onto something here. Most cradle Catholics have various practices and cultures that were taught to us by our family. Unless you take it upon yourself to introduce these devotions and practices into your house, you not only deny yourself this culture but your children will be lacking.

My suggestion is for you to immerse yourself into the liturgical year. Thoughout the year, there are different devotions (ala Stations of the Cross during Lent or those associated w/ the Advent wreath/candles) that will inculturate you into the culture. Some like the Stations are with your parish while Sunday prayer during Advent is usually with your family. Or whenever your family has a particular trying time (death of a loved one, major endeavor as in child leaving for camp for the first time), pull everyone together to pray the Rosary. Or when your family has a discussion about something tragic in the world (tsunamai, hurricane, genocide in the Sudan), pull everyone together to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Or on the anniversary of the death of a loved one or their birthday, pull everyone together to pray for them or attend daily Mass as a family to pray for them (when you go to Mass for such a person, call your Priest and ask him to include your departed loved one in the intercessions). Or on the date of your and your children’s Baptism, recognize this most special day with some prayer time and possibly a small religious gift.

My point is that Catholic culture is about praying as as community (whether as family, group of friends, parish, or even the greater Church). Additionally, these prayers and devotions have a form to them. The reason that our separated breathren criticize us for this type of worship, praise and prayer is that they don’t understand them. One thing that is so “Catholic” is that one comes to grasp the “rhythm of the Church” during the year and during the day. (you probably won’t understand what I’m talking about here but you will years down the road. I’ll just leave it at that for now 🙂 ).
 
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puzzleannie:
You will learn about your new Church family and their traditions the same way you learn about a new family when you get married. Gradually, through experience. You will also learn to distinguish family and ethnic traditions and practices from Catholic ones.
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I agree. I’ll add this: along the way, remember that your new Church family and it’s traditions are yours. You are entitled to them. Own them and enjoy them! Don’t ever think of yourself as on the outside looking in. You’ve simply come home. 🙂
 
Don’t worry about it. Most people on this forum love church traditions… sometimes it seems like there’s an anti-Vatican II edge (though not quite SSPX) the way some people here type. But it’s not as big a deal as it might seem. You can love God and be a good, faithful Catholic submitting to the authority of Rome and love the novus ordo mass, want priests to be permitted to marry, and never care to learn Latin. A lot of people on this forum love “the Church then” but it’s perfectly acceptable to prefer “the Church now.”

I fell in love with “the Church then” mostly because of that edge on these forums. My whole life I’ve envied my non-white friends because their cultures were celebrated. I always felt torn - I’m extremely mixed ethnically, yet 100% white. Name a country in Europe and I probably have ancestors that came from there. And, though this sounds a bit odd, you could say I’m “ethnically Protestant” (except for the Croatians, and, ironically, the Germans). Should I learn Greek or Swiss? Eat potatoes or rice with vegeta? Then I woke up from that… I’m 100% Catholic. And look - we have our language, our food, our art, our history… it’s beautiful. I finally felt like I’d come…home.

Which is odd, because I’m a 17-year-old cradle Catholic.

But, yeah, it’s more important to love God than to love Catholic culture.

Although, Gregorian chant is beautiful…
 
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