Sign of the Cross, kneeling, etc

  • Thread starter Thread starter Paris_Blues
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
P

Paris_Blues

Guest
My ex-boyfriend and I went to this Catholic church about a month ago or so. We both knew we couldn’t take communion or anything 'cause we weren’t Catholic.

Though he taught me how to do the sign of cross and stuff, are non-Catholics allowed to do that and kneeling down, just not take communion? :confused: Is that a sin to do that if you’re not Catholic? 'Cause we did that and people around us thought, oh they’re Catholic too but when we didn’t take communion, second guesses would come to mind…

blessings,
Nicole
 
Non-Catholics can participate in every part of the Mass except Communion. You did nothing wrong.
 
it is not a sin to knee before God. Scripture says every knee shall bend at the name of Jesus…

Making the sign of the cross is just your recognition that through the cross Christ opened the gates of heaven for you…

you did just fine… i hope you will continue to sneak into the church… i’m sure you would be greeted with open arms if you fess up…

who knows, you might not have been there on accident… someone above might have had a hand in it… 👍
 
Doing the sign of the cross is a remebrance of your baptism (or if your not baptized then it’s an anticipation of your baptism) it also connects us with the early persecuted Christians that did the sign in order to know each other was Christian.

To guneflect (kneeling on one knee and doing the sign of the cross) before you enter a pew is showing your respect, adoration, awe, joy of the Eucharist that is in the tabernacle.

When the Gospel is read, we do little mini signs of the cross over our foreheads, lips and hearts so that we may “Have the Gospel always in our minds, on our lips and in our hearts.”

You can do all these things as a non-Catholic if you like.

When everyone is going up to recieve Holy Communion, keep in mind that even Catholics are NOT supposed to recieve if they are not in a state of grace (confessed and repentant of a mortal sin). Don’t be embarrassed about not going, and if anyone gives you any odd looks, that is probably because they aren’t very well Catechized (or taught) Catholics.

There is a prayer that you can do while everyone is recieving the Eucharist…I’ll see if I can find it.
 
**
Act of Spiritual Communion
Click to expand...
**My Jesus, I believe that You are in the Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I long for You in my soul. Since I cannot now receive You **
**sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. As though You have already come, I embrace You and unite myself entirely to You; never permit me to be separated from You.

Our Lord to Sr. Benigna Consolata: “Make as many Spiritual Communions as possible, to supply for the many Sacramental Communions which are not made. One every quarter of an hour is not enough. Make them shorter, but more numerous.”
**
I’ve knelt and done Spiritual Communion various times myself as a Catholic.

What might also help you is to read the Scripture passages for that day ahead of time so you can be able to concentrate more, I know that helps me.

Here’s a link: nccbuscc.org/nab/**
 
How nice that you came to Mass. God may be calling you to full union with his church. Many “Catholics” do not attend Mass on a regular basis. There are some great posts about the Catholic faith on this site. Also, the apologists are there to help you with any questions.

May God bless you,
Deacon Tony SFO
 
There are many reasons why even a Catholic must not go up to receive Holy Communion.

If we are in a state of sin and need the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we are not to partake unworthily.

If we’ve not fasted for at least one hour prior to Holy Communion, we must abstain.

As a lifelong Catholic, I’ve never, ever looked around to see who isn’t receiving Holy Communion, nor second guessed why. We are captains of our own souls, not our neighbor’s. It is up to him to decide whether or not he should be receiving Holy Communion, and is not for us to judge his reasoning…

So, don’t feel self-conscious. Come along and participate in the Mass any ol’ time. And no one should even be noticing if you remain kneeling during Communion ~ their eyes should be fixed upon Jesus!
 
Thanks for all your answers! As some of you may know, I have found a church to go to (even contacted the RCIA teacher!) and am trying to attend as much as possible there. I forgot to cross myself and kneel down when I came Saturday night and I condemned myself for that when the priest was preaching but remembered to when I left. :o

It takes a lot of courage to go to a CC when you’re not Catholic and do all that sign of cross, kneeling, etc. It’s not so bad when you have someone to go with (though since my boyfriend and I broke up month ago, we were going together but not anymore) but boy, I must have the Holy Spirit strongly enough to go to Mass all by myself! 😉

blessings,
Nicole
 
Here is my one bit of advice.

Your knees get used to kneeling. But sometimes it is really hard to kneel while everyone else is moving around so you may have to move to the end of the pew, especially if everyone is older so that they can safely move around.

Good Luck! I would sneak back often. It has become one of my favorite Sunday traditions.
Kat
 
Yeah, I will admit that since I’m not Catholic yet or whatever, it’s kinda embarassing to go and then you’re not Catholic so can’t participate in communion but I can understand because you have to be 100% pure!

So I just sit way in the back of the church! Last pew too!!! :o

blessings,
Nicole
 
Paris Blues:
I forgot to cross myself and kneel down when I came Saturday night and I condemned myself for that when the priest was preaching but remembered to when I left. :o
Click to expand...
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Remember you are new to all of this and it’s best to take baby steps.
As a lapsed Catholic I started returning to the Church about a year ago, and there are still so many things for me to learn and grow in.

I’m so glad that you are experiancing the Church during Advent.
Advent is a time to prepare to celebrate Christmas (of course 🙂 ) but at the same time we are celebrating and preparing for the anticipation of the Second Coming. I find that absolutely wonderful, the Christmas Season atmosphere is the same as the Preparation for the Second Coming.

Anyway, I hope I helped.
 
Paris Blues:
Yeah, I will admit that since I’m not Catholic yet or whatever, it’s kinda embarassing to go and then you’re not Catholic so can’t participate in communion but I can understand because you have to be 100% pure!

So I just sit way in the back of the church! Last pew too!!! :o

blessings,
Nicole
Click to expand...
Actually, Catholics only have to be 100% pure of mortal sins (In the Bible they are the sins that lead to death)
Communion cleanses us of all our venial sins.

Forgive me for not knowing the exact verse number but there is a passage that says that if you do not discern the Body properly, then it’s really really bad.
That’s why the Church makes the distinction. 🙂
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top