Roman Catholic Church "starters' kit"

[Galvatron]

Hi

I would like to learn the basics about the Roman Catholic religion and the custom in its churches. I’ll explain my situation:

I come from a Buddhist family but I’ve never practised any religion. I did go to Christian school, but the only attention given to religion was reading from The Bible in the morning and some classes. So I was never exposed to how things and ceremonies work in the church.

I have now relocated to Slovakia and accidentally ended up in a church. I liked it so much that I started going more often, even though I don’t understand a word that was being said. During church service I just sit and enjoy the moment and mimic everyone around me. Because I don’t understand a word of the language (yet) I would like to know whether there is a place where I can read up about Roman Catholic traditions, customs and how church service works, e.g. the water bowl, what the shaking of each others’ hands mean, and why people queue up somewhere at a wall during service.

I am going to get a bible soon btw, though I still have to find a place where I can get an English language one.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

Welcome. Your English is very good. What country are you from originally?

There are various Catholic bibles available online. The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the shorter Compendium of the Catechism are also available free online. They describe the teachings of the Church.

One of the best introductions to Catholicism is the book “Catholicism for Dummies” by Father Trigilio.

Here is a 41 minute video “Introduction to Catholicism” by Professor Michael Barber:

youtube.com/watch?v=L_rz0S0CX1I

 

[david_patrick]

h from USA,
oh slavakia you said? you know-i don’t even know where that would exactly be-i am sure they have good outstanding people there…first up,in reply to your post, i should probably be the first catholic to say …there might seem to be accidents, yet in the lonliness of the soul-the Holy Spirit has given you a spiritual thirst and next will continue His guidance to quinch it…In your new church-observe the cup that serves that wonderful drink…Jesus is in it/God is so intelligent…i suppose one day (before creation) as he knew his son would be born…a plan began in the eons of time; then, following that thought-God is so intelligent that today after eons of time-the risen Lord might be servant and mercifully give the supply of salvation (His very spirit shared), as though scattered haphazardly; yet God is so intelligent-the cup of salvation is waiting for you one day-this is certainly not a coincidence; so my fellow catholics will advise on the process of study and being accepted in to the church…
Consider prayer-it importance and challenges: i think you could look into adding to what you already know about prayer…beginning with buddist meditation, if you are comfortable with it…would be similar to catholic monastic contemplation, including technique such as breathing…One author to research for your ‘starters kit’ could be Thomas Merton-if you don’t know of the monk Thomas Merton-he was friends with the dali-lama…and merton had written books on contemplation…this is an american phenomenon using an ecumenical model-i am not for sure how the church in your new country would advise/ ( i certainly appreciate your enthusiasm-sorry to limit my in-put as other posters might add information) God Bless

 

[Celtic_Maiden]

Welcome. Your English is very good. What country are you from originally?

There are various Catholic bibles available online. The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the shorter Compendium of the Catechism are also available free online. They describe the teachings of the Church.

One of the best introductions to Catholicism is the book “Catholicism for Dummies” by Father Trigilio.

Here is a 41 minute video “Introduction to Catholicism” by Professor Michael Barber:

youtube.com/watch?v=L_rz0S0CX1I

The you tube is excellent, please also ignore the ignorant comments of some guys who made rude, ignorant remarks which says more about them and there mental state to have passed such rude comments, they need medical help.

 

[1ke]

I have now relocated to Slovakia and accidentally ended up in a church.

I would encourage you to reach out to the English speaking congregation in Bratislava:

catholic.sk/main.php

Mass in English is available at 11 a.m. at St. Ladislav parish.

They can help you with Catholic resources in English, and if you are interested in taking instruction to become a Catholic they can help you with that too.

 

[PJM]

=Galvatron;11682620]Hi

I would like to learn the basics about the Roman Catholic religion and the custom in its churches. I’ll explain my situation:

I come from a Buddhist family but I’ve never practised any religion. I did go to Christian school, but the only attention given to religion was reading from The Bible in the morning and some classes. So I was never exposed to how things and ceremonies work in the church.

I have now relocated to Slovakia and accidentally ended up in a church. I liked it so much that I started going more often, even though I don’t understand a word that was being said. During church service I just sit and enjoy the moment and mimic everyone around me. Because I don’t understand a word of the language (yet) I would like to know whether there is a place where I can read up about Roman Catholic traditions, customs and how church service works, e.g. the water bowl, what the shaking of each others’ hands mean, and why people queue up somewhere at a wall during service.

I am going to get a bible soon btw, though I still have to find a place where I can get an English language one.

First: WELCOME to CAF!

2nd. here are some FREE bible sites

file:///C:/Users/Robert/Desktop/Douay-Rheims%20Bible%20Online,%20Roman%20Catholic%20Bible%20Verses%20Search…htm

file:///C:/Users/Robert/Desktop/Bible%20%20Revised%20Standard%20Version.htm

The water bowl when one enters into church is Blessed and therefore called “holy water”

We tip our fingers into in upon entry and exist of the church. We make the sign of the cross :touching our forehead [in the name of the Father; our chest [and the Son; and then both shoulders saying [and the holy Spirit]. The water itself is to remind us of our Sacramental Baptism wherein we are identified and children of God.

The hand shaking is called the “Sign of Peace” and is nothing more than fraternal friendship.

Look for my private Message.

God Bless you,
Patrick [PJM] here on CAF

 

[Galvatron]

Thank you for all your replies.

I watched a bit of the YouTube video yesterday and am going to continue watching later today. So far it has been very informative.

Regarding the holy water, would I have to baptised to be eligible to do the ritual with the holy water? And is there a general etiquette of how you properly enter and leave the church? I see that some people kneel down and do a sign of the cross once they enter and leave, but others don’t seem to bother at all or only do it when they enter or only when they leave.

PaulfromIowa - I’m from The Netherlands. Thank you also for the Dummies book suggestion. I’m gonna head out to the bookshop today and order it.

 

[leslie85]

Regarding th etiquette on entering the church, for now do what you are comfortable with. The kneeling is showing reverence/adoration to Christ who is present in the tabenacle (look for a red candle). I want to type more but have to go.

 

[PJM]

=Galvatron;11686082]Thank you for all your replies.

I watched a bit of the YouTube video yesterday and am going to continue watching later today. So far it has been very informative.

Regarding the holy water, would I have to baptised to be eligible to do the ritual with the holy water? And is there a general etiquette of how you properly enter and leave the church? I see that some people kneel down and do a sign of the cross once they enter and leave, but others don’t seem to bother at all or only do it when they enter or only when they leave.

PaulfromIowa - I’m from The Netherlands. Thank you also for the Dummies book suggestion. I’m gonna head out to the bookshop today and order it.

No, but understand that it’s not magic, it’s God’s grace and understanding what your doing needs to be ought of respect for God.

God Bless you,
Patrick

 

[savone]

If you are so inclined, the search engine “Bing” has a translator component. It’s at bing.com/translator. Slovak is one of the languages it handles.