As a cradle Catholic, I grew up learning only the basics of the faith. This section is dedicated to sharing teachings of the faith the Lord has graciously led me to in more recent years. These traditions are not a set of rules, but ways to grow closer to God. May we detach from the ways of the world and grow in virtue.
A fantastic way to learn the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church would be to listen to the Catechism in a Year. It is an amazing podcast! Find it here.
Catholics should abstain from meat every Friday.
The common misconception is that this practice only applies to lent, but according to Canon Law 1250, “The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.”
The USCCB still recommends meat but will allow for a substitute penance in accordance with Canon 1251, “Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday.”Holy Days of Obligation are to be treated like Sundays.
The common misconception is simply that Holy Days of Obligation simply mean Catholics must go to Mass. The Catechism of the Catholic Church 2193 states: “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound . . . to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord’s Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body” (Canon law. 1247).
2187: “Sanctifying Sundays and holy days requires a common effort. Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord’s Day. Traditional activities (sport, restaurants, etc.), and social necessities (public services, etc.), require some people to work on Sundays, but everyone should still take care to set aside sufficient time for leisure. With temperance and charity the faithful will see to it that they avoid the excesses and violence sometimes associated with popular leisure activities. In spite of economic constraints, public authorities should ensure citizens a time intended for rest and divine worship. Employers have a similar obligation toward their employees.”
2186: “Those Christians who have leisure should be mindful of their brethren who have the same needs and the same rights, yet cannot rest from work because of poverty and misery. Sunday is traditionally consecrated by Christian piety to good works and humble service of the sick, the infirm, and the elderly. Christians will also sanctify Sunday by devoting time and care to their families and relatives, often difficult to do on other days of the week. Sunday is a time for reflection, silence, cultivation of the mind, and meditation which furthers the growth of the Christian interior life.”Women veiling is rooted in scripture
The practice of ladies wearing chapel veils or mantillas is making a comeback in recent years. I grew up in a pretty modern church, and aside from a few hats on Easter Sunday when I was quite young, I never saw a lady cover her head. Prior to Vatican II, it was required and that is no longer in place.
The old canon 1262 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law states:
“Men, in a church or outside a church, while they are assisting at sacred rites, shall be bare-headed, unless the approved mores of the people or peculiar circumstances of things determine otherwise; women, however, shall have a covered head and be modestly dressed, especially when they approach the table of the Lord.”
The 1983 new code states, “Canon 6: When this Code takes force, the following are abrogated:
1. The Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1917 ”
Therefore since the practice of veiling was not included in the 1983 code, it is no longer required.
However, the practice of veiling is actually rooted in scripture.
1 Corinthians 11: 4-16:
4“Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head disgraces his head, 5but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head—it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved. 6For if, a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil. 7For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection of God; but woman is the reflection of man. 8 Indeed, man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man. 10 For this reason a woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man or man independent of woman. 12 For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman; but all things come from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled? 14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is degrading to him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. 16 But if anyone is disposed to be contentious—we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.”
Today, ladies are choosing to veil out of reverence for the Lord. It is a desire to humble yourself. Personally, I feel it creates a deeper realization and constant reminder that Jesus is truly present in the tabernacle. The practice of veiling takes some time to get used to, but eventually I have come to a place where I never want to stand before the Lord unveiled. It reminds me of John the Baptist saying, “He must increase; I must decrease..” John 3:30 The tradition is truly beautiful.
The website and online store Veils by Lily has many detailed answers and explanations.Contraception is prohibited
The Catholic Church has always taught that it is always intrinsically evil to use contraception of any form to prevent pregnancy including: sterilization, condoms, barrier methods, spermicides, coitus interruptus, pills, patches, etc.
Interestingly, until 1930, ALL Protestant denominations ALSO viewed contraception as sinful.
Humanae Vitae , the Encyclical written by Pope Paul VI issued in 1968 explains this very well.
Man and Women He Created Them by St. John Paul II is an excellent book on Theology of the Body.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
2399 The regulation of births represents one of the aspects of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. Legitimate intentions on the part of the spouses do not justify recourse to morally unacceptable means (for example, direct sterilization or contraception).
2366 Fecundity is a gift, an end of marriage, for conjugal love naturally tends to be fruitful. A child does not come from outside as something added on to the mutual love of the spouses, but springs from the very heart of that mutual giving, as its fruit and fulfillment. So the Church, which is “on the side of life,”151 teaches that “it is necessary that each and every marriage act remain ordered per se to the procreation of human life.”152 “This particular doctrine, expounded on numerous occasions by the Magisterium, is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act.”153
2368 A particular aspect of this responsibility concerns the regulation of procreation. For just reasons, spouses may wish to space the births of their children. It is their duty to make certain that their desire is not motivated by selfishness but is in conformity with the generosity appropriate to responsible parenthood. Moreover, they should conform their behavior to the objective criteria of morality:
When it is a question of harmonizing married love with the responsible transmission of life, the morality of the behavior does not depend on sincere intention and evaluation of motives alone; but it must be determined by objective criteria, criteria drawn from the nature of the person and his acts, criteria that respect the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love; this is possible only if the virtue of married chastity is practiced with sincerity of heart.156
2369 “By safeguarding both these essential aspects, the unitive and the procreative, the conjugal act preserves in its fullness the sense of true mutual love and its orientation toward man’s exalted vocation to parenthood.”157
2370 Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality.158 These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom. In contrast, “every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible” is intrinsically evil:159
Thus the innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife is overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively contradictory language, namely, that of not giving oneself totally to the other. This leads not only to a positive refusal to be open to life but also to a falsification of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in personal totality. . . . The difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cycle . . . involves in the final analysis two irreconcilable concepts of the human person and of human sexuality.160
This topic has been discussed by the church fathers since AD 195. Catholic Answers has a great explanation with scriptural references.Communion on the tongue is the norm
The norm and traditional method for receiving Holy Communion is on the tongue. The Holy See granted an indult allowing the faithful to receive in the hand (except in cases of intinction) in 1969. The practice took several years to begin in the United States.
Per the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Those who receive Communion may receive either in the hand or on the tongue, and the decision should be that of the individual receiving, not of the person distributing Communion.”