Protestant Converts: When did you start "Acting Catholic"

[Wandering_Home]

I started living my life as a Catholic from the moment I decided to make the conversion. For me, that first day, was this past Ash Wednesday. This Lenten season has been a wonderful experience since the Holy Spirit truly led me home to the Church that I had wandered away from years ago. I am protestant by baptism (Episcopalian), educated by the Catholics, and married a Baptist!

I meet with my parish priest tomorrow about starting my journey to becoming Catholic. I am nervous and very excited at the same time!

I look forward to seeing everyone else’s responses!

 

[thequeen]

Oh my! Were you sharing the Catholic faith with them or something?

Oh yes i was showing them where they were wrong and how the Hail Mary prayer was right there in scripture annd showing biblical references to purgatory in both the old testament deutrecanical hope i spelled that correctly books and the new testament the preacher didn’t like that very well but i guess the straw that broke the camels back was when my rosary accidently fell from my from my purse when i was getting out some money to buy a cookbook that the ladies group had put together andwhenthey saw it they reported it to the pastor after that i got a letter telling me that i was no longer a member of that church or congregation but it was a good thing because it gave me the nudge i needed to start the process of becoming Catholic that was twenty some years ago and I have never turned back lost all the friends i had in that church but thats okay because God has given me new Catholic ones so every thing worked out. In fact i don’t even have that cookbook anymore i have a better one that has been out together by the ladies in my Catholic Parish.

 

[BlytheSky]

I started to act Catholic before I knew I was going to become Catholic!

I’d decided to make time for quiet and contemplation every day - I’d started going back to Quaker meetings, actually, and remembered how much I enjoyed the silence - and made room in my bedroom for a little prayer table, on which I decided to put flowers and candles. I remember sitting and thinking, right, what else can I put on there? How can I use it?

Somehow, from sitting and thinking about those questions, I went on to order a Rosary. Never used one before, mind. Never even thought about it.

A day later, I ordered a little standing Crucifix to put on it.

A day or so later I decided to go to Catholic church, see what it was all about.

I bought my first Catholic Bible around that time, too. The LOTH I started praying around Christmas, though I’m still not consistent with it. The sign of the cross I do before prayer and am learning to do it before meals.

I get confirmed at Easter

 

[Sheadad]

Oh yes i was showing them where they were wrong and how the Hail Mary prayer was right there in scripture annd showing biblical references to purgatory in both the old testament deutrecanical hope i spelled that correctly books and the new testament the preacher didn’t like that very well but i guess the straw that broke the camels back was when my rosary accidently fell from my from my purse when i was getting out some money to buy a cookbook that the ladies group had put together andwhenthey saw it they reported it to the pastor after that i got a letter telling me that i was no longer a member of that church or congregation but it was a good thing because it gave me the nudge i needed to start the process of becoming Catholic that was twenty some years ago and I have never turned back lost all the friends i had in that church but thats okay because God has given me new Catholic ones so every thing worked out. In fact i don’t even have that cookbook anymore i have a better one that has been out together by the ladies in my Catholic Parish.

I love this story and can’t wait to share it with your permission.
Blessings,
Shaun

 

[thequeen]

I love this story and can’t wait to share it with your permission.
Blessings,
Shaun

Of course you may share it I am for anything that will help people come to the one true faith.

 

[Chopstick]

I started RCIA a week or two after last Easter, and stopped attending protestant church in December. I’d have liked to have stopped sooner, but I taught the preschool children’s church class, and was going to wait until a replacement was found. Finally I just had to resign my post and go- the pastor wasn’t trying to find anyone to fill the position. I stopped taking protestant communion after I was sure about converting, by the end of the inquiry phase. It was a little awkward refusing, as the church had open communion and it was brought back and offered directly to the children’s church and nursery teachers.

I still haven’t bought a Catholic Bible. The priest at the first parish I went to gave me one, and I got another in RCIA.

I started saying the rosary after a lot of research on the Catholic teachings on Mary and the communion of saints. That was one of the more difficult things to work through as a protestant trying to convert- I figured that if I couldn’t pray a Hail Mary, this whole Catholic thing just wasn’t going to work out for me.

After about a year in RCIA, I’m feeling pretty Catholic now, though if asked about my faith I’ll still say I’m converting to Catholicism or something to that effect. I feel like I’m not officially in until Easter Vigil… not much longer to go!

 

[TrueLight]

I started RCIA a week or two after last Easter, and stopped attending protestant church in December. I’d have liked to have stopped sooner, but I taught the preschool children’s church class, and was going to wait until a replacement was found. Finally I just had to resign my post and go- the pastor wasn’t trying to find anyone to fill the position. I stopped taking protestant communion after I was sure about converting, by the end of the inquiry phase. It was a little awkward refusing, as the church had open communion and it was brought back and offered directly to the children’s church and nursery teachers.

I still haven’t bought a Catholic Bible. The priest at the first parish I went to gave me one, and I got another in RCIA.

I started saying the rosary after a lot of research on the Catholic teachings on Mary and the communion of saints. That was one of the more difficult things to work through as a protestant trying to convert- I figured that if I couldn’t pray a Hail Mary, this whole Catholic thing just wasn’t going to work out for me.

After about a year in RCIA, I’m feeling pretty Catholic now, though if asked about my faith I’ll still say I’m converting to Catholicism or something to that effect. I feel like I’m not officially in until Easter Vigil… not much longer to go!

I think I’m going to start calling myself a pre-catholic

Did you struggle with having to stop teaching Sunday school?

 

[Bbigam]

Hey new Catholics, Catechumens, Candidates and Pre-RCIA folks who converted from Protestantism:

Once you decided to convert, at what point did you “put away the old and put on the new” and begin to act in a Catholic manner? I tried to do it as quickly as possible the weekend I decided to convert!

– For example, is there a point where you stopped attending your protestant church? **I think I lasted one or two more weeks at my Protestant community on Saturday nights, while immediately starting to go to Mass every Sunday. **

– When did you stop taking protestant communion? I shared in another thread how I sing once a month in a protestant choir where sometimes the day when we sing fall on a communion Sunday. What would you do in that situation? Would you not take it? Have you been in similar situations? I stopped immediately receiving Protestant communion. The only time it felt a little awkward was at the graduation practice for my Protestant graduate school - but thankfully I wasn’t the only one.

– When did you buy your Catholic bible? I already had an old beat up one from a yard sale. I bought a nicer one within a few weeks.

– When did you start saying the Rosary/Liturgy of the Hours etc Hmm, started praying the Rosary within a couple of months, but not regularly until the Lent before I entered the Church (a year later). I prayed unofficial versions of the Liturgy of the Hours starting maybe 6 months after deciding, and purchased the full Liturgy of the Hours a few months after entering the Church.

– When did you start crossing yourselves for maybe prayers over meals, or when passing a church etc. How did you feel when you just started? I tried to start pretty quickly but it took a couple of months to catch on, and several months more than that to become habit. I felt really self-conscious about it for the first several months.

– When did you start seeing yourself as Catholic? My conversion of heart was almost instantaneous. But it probably took a few months before I got used to the idea of being (sort of) Catholic.

I know everyone is different and I’m sure there is no standard “Catholic manner” but I’d love to hear about your experiences.

Thanks!

Great thread! I love this.
Overall, my conversion of heart was instantaneous but the change in my daily life was gradual. I deliberately taught myself lots of things along the way. The Rosary was difficult at first - I remember thinking it was awfully complicated, and feeling idolatrous for the first little while.

I can’t imagine now, looking back, what my life would be like now if I hadn’t converted. I don’t know how I survived all those years missing out on Confession, the Eucharist, and so much else.

 

[TrueLight]

Great thread! I deliberately taught myself lots of things along the way. The Rosary was difficult at first - I remember thinking it was awfully complicated, and feeling idolatrous for the first little while.

I know what you mean about feeling idolatrous while praying the Rosary! I’m taking the time to focus on learning more about the faith, attending daily mass, listening to Catholic Answers and of course, reading this forum!

I think I will have to revisit the Rosary a little later.

 

[Bbigam]

I know what you mean about feeling idolatrous while praying the Rosary! I’m taking the time to focus on learning more about the faith, attending daily mass, listening to Catholic Answers and of course, reading this forum!

I think I will have to revisit the Rosary a little later.

If the Rosary is too much to start with… just teach yourself to pray an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for starters. Don’t wait too long on the Rosary though! It can be daunting at first but push through and you’ll see how beautiful and valuable it is.

I actually decided to convert in February 2009, a few weeks before Ash Wednesday. I started going to Mass on Sundays and other important days right away, and some weekdays, and went to the Chrism Mass and whole Triduum that year. I couldn’t start RCIA until September 2009, and was Confirmed and received Holy Communion at the Easter Vigil 2010. That summer I purchased the Liturgy of the Hours; that fall I started serving at the altar, and going to Mass every single day; a few months later I was invited to take charge of training altar servers; a few weeks ago I was accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Lexington!

 

[TrueLight]

If the Rosary is too much to start with… just teach yourself to pray an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for starters. Don’t wait too long on the Rosary though! It can be daunting at first but push through and you’ll see how beautiful and valuable it is.

I actually decided to convert in February 2009, a few weeks before Ash Wednesday. I started going to Mass on Sundays and other important days right away, and some weekdays, and went to the Chrism Mass and whole Triduum that year. I couldn’t start RCIA until September 2009, and was Confirmed and received Holy Communion at the Easter Vigil 2010. That summer I purchased the Liturgy of the Hours; that fall I started serving at the altar, and going to Mass every single day; a few months later I was invited to take charge of training altar servers; a few weeks ago I was accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Lexington!

Wow, wow. Congratulations!

I decided to convert about a week before ash Wednesday and like you, my RCIA program starts in September of this year.

I’ll try not to wait too long on the Rosary, but I think I am in a good place now. Small steps.

 

[jesuspsr]

Bbigam
Way to cool:thumbsup:. God bless you in your journey.

 

[PilgrimToChrist]

Hey new Catholics, Catechumens, Candidates and Pre-RCIA folks who converted from Protestantism:

Once you decided to convert, at what point did you “put away the old and put on the new” and begin to act in a Catholic manner?

– For example, is there a point where you stopped attending your protestant church?

Within fairly short order, probably a month where I was going back and forth.

– When did you stop taking protestant communion? I shared in another thread how I sing once a month in a protestant choir where sometimes the day when we sing fall on a communion Sunday. What would you do in that situation? Would you not take it? Have you been in similar situations?

Same as above. Indeed, even though the debate over the validity of Anglican Holy Orders had disturbed me for some time, I still had the subjective experience that going to Anglican Mass and receiving Communion (or, at least what I believed at the time to be Holy Communion – even if it was invalid and therefore no more than bread) twice a week really helped me.

– When did you buy your Catholic bible?

Depends on what counts as a Catholic Bible. I had a Jerusalem Bible (the original), which may count. I bought a Douay-Rheims within a few months.

– When did you start saying the Rosary/Liturgy of the Hours etc

I started saying the Rosary probably about a year before I left Anglicanism. As an Anglican, Rosaries are even more peripheral than among many Catholics – the beads seem always to be found in an Anglican home but not many people actually pray it regularly. On the other hand, the more devout Anglo-Catholics, just like the more devout Roman Catholics, do indeed pray it regularly. We didn’t have a public Rosary before (Anglican) Mass, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some places did.

I used to pray the 1979 BCP (Book of Common Prayer) Morning and Evening Prayer in community but when our community rather disintegrated, I switched to the 1928 BCP for a while. When I started attending the Catholic Church, I felt a disconnect using the 1928 BCP and so I bought a Benedictine breviary (the one put out by the abbey at Farnborough). I still like the BCP setup though – it is Missal (ordinary + lectionary [that is, the verse listings, but not the actual text, so you have to use it in conjunction with a Bible] + Psalter + Morning and Evening Prayers [again, used in conjunction with the Psalter] + many useful prayers and collects) perhaps some day I will buy a “Book of Divine Worship”, which is the adaptation of the 1979 BCP used by “Anglican Use” parishes (that is, former Anglican parishes that became Roman Catholic) to add to my collection.

I pray the Breviary in Latin. In part, this was so I wouldn’t always be comparing it to the beauty of the Coverdale Psalter…

– When did you start crossing yourselves for maybe prayers over meals, or when passing a church etc. How did you feel when you just started?

I was Anglican, so this is common practice anyway.

– When did you start seeing yourself as Catholic?

Depends on what you mean by “Catholic”. I called myself “Catholic” as an Anglican and eschewed the “Protestant” appellation. So thus my transition was more gradual as I came to accept the role of the papacy as necessary and God-given.

 

[Padraig1972]

My answer will be a bit different, but i will try to give a good explanation. This coming sunday, i have been a catholic for five months.

Before that i didn`t practice any faith, but was in the Norwegian State Church as all norwegians are, as they automatically gets membership when being borned. Last august i cancelled my membership and had then made my mind up.

– When did you buy your Catholic bible?

My first bible and the apocryfs i bought actually when i was attending classes (similiar to RCIA) and spent the entire 2010 on preparing, learning prayers, attending mass and went to my first confession four days before being taken into the full fellowship of our church,

– When did you start saying the Rosary/Liturgy of the Hours etc

The rosary i began saying in december last year, but got into it really in february this year and has been praying it daily ever since.

The Liturgy of the hours is though still an unexplored thing, i hope to get into it soon.

– When did you start crossing yourselves for maybe prayers over meals, or when passing a church etc. How did you feel when you just started?

In January last year. To begin with, it felt strange. Now it`s just as normal as going to the Mens room or sleeping.

– When did you start seeing yourself as Catholic?

When i slowly realized that i finally had come home after 470 years away from my true family. (this is a saying as i live in protestant country).

Now, funnily enough…im slowly becoming a bit traditional too and wish to learn Latin so i can understand the Traditional Latin Mass fully.

 

[mark_avery]

Yesterday, I fell over and whacked my head…