The Catholic Church is a 2000 year old religion
steeped in tradition, protocols, and rules, with a way to do just about everything. We don’t like to show up and do things all
willy nilly. And yet, there are many people, including
faithful Catholics, who can’t keep track of it all. Especially with many of the ordinary things,
people don’t know what the rule is and are afraid to ask. What are the most essential practices everyone
should know, why we do what we do, and what are some popular myths that aren’t actually
rules at all? This is Catholicism in Focus. — As a small disclaimer, each bishop has the
right to adjust local practices, and certain rules vary from culture to culture. What I present in this video is the general
rule from the Vatican as applied in the United States, and may not apply exactly in your
area. As they say, this video is meant to educational
purposes only. Please consult your local authorities for
specific rules and regulations in your area. One of the most common mistakes that people
make in a Catholic Church is how to show reverence to the sacred spaces. When do you genuflect and when do you bow? The answer is actually quite simple—when
in the presence of or facing the tabernacle, you genuflect; when you approach the altar
or ambo, you bow. The reason for this is because the tabernacle
contains the blessed sacrament, the real presence of Christ, and so deserves our utmost reverence. The altar and ambo—or even the presiding
minister and the congregation, for that matter—are a dwelling of Christ but in a different way. They deserve our respect but not our worship. During mass, the congregation kneels “beginning
after the singing or recitation of the Sanctus until after the Amen of the Eucharistic Prayer,”
as this is the pinnacle of our worship, but this is not without exception. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal
states that standing is appropriate “when prevented on occasion by reasons of health,
lack of space, the large number of people present, or some other good reason.” When mass is celebrated in a large crowded
arena or there is only concrete floor, Jesus doesn’t need you to break your knees to
show your love. It’s worship, not penance. That said, if you do choose to stand for good
reason, you are required to make a profound bow after the consecration when the priest
genuflects. Speaking of standing or kneeling, it is perfectly
fine to receive communion in either position. Additionally, the communicant may always receive
on the tongue, but in most places, they may also receive in the hand. Now, to chew or not to chew, that is a question
for many people. But no matter what anyone tells you, it is
not nor has it ever been the official rule of the Church that you cannot chew the host. Up until the manufacturing age produced tiny
thin wafers, thick bread was used that needed to be chewed. Besides that, it’s food. Food is meant to be chewed and eaten. One of the precepts of the Church states that
every Catholic must attend mass every Sunday, but this does not mean that you must receive
the Eucharist every Sunday. It is perfectly fine to abstain from communicating
if you do not feel that you are properly prepared, and even required if you are not in a state
of grace. A statement that, for beginners, is going
to require a lot of caveats and explanations. First, there are valid reasons for not attending
mass. The Catechism mentions that things such as
illness or the care of infants, can remove one’s obligation from attending mass. If attending mass is impossible, dangerous,
or would potentially cause harm, it is no longer obligatory. Second, while you are allowed to abstain from
receiving the Eucharist, every Catholic is required to receive the Eucharist at least
once a year. If they have committed any mortal sins and
are thus not in a state of grace, they must go to confession prior to receiving. Third, in order to commit a mortal sin, an
act must be grave, done with full knowledge of what was happening, and with complete consent
of will. There are no accidental mortal sins. And fourth, while you are not required to
communicate at every mass, you are only allowed to communicate twice a day if you participate
fully in the mass. Priests can receive a third time, and if you’re
on your deathbed, you can always receive, no matter how many times you’ve already
received. The reason for this is because the Church
wants to prevent a quantity over quality mindset in which people run around to every Church
receiving communion 100 times in a day to be more holy. That doesn’t make you more holy. It makes you crazy. What also makes you crazy is if you go around
telling people that you have to be at mass by the reading of the Gospel to receive communion
or for mass to “count.” While this might be a fair practice, practically
speaking, it is not, nor has it ever been a law of the Church. The whole mass is essential, from the opening
song to the final dismissal. We would never want to claim that part of
it is optional. To prevent this from ever coming into question,
it’s important to prepare before mass, which means keeping the required fast before receiving
communion. This used to be an all day fast, and then
a three hour fast, but now is simply one hour. Basically, if you’re not eating a donut
on the way to Church, you’re likely going to be fine. Other fasts are far more stringent. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, all Catholics
from the ages of 18 to 59 are required to fast, which means they can only eat one full
meal and two smaller meals which, combined, would not equal a single normal meal. All Catholics, however, once they’ve reached
the age of 14, are required to abstain from meat on all Fridays during Lent. On the other Fridays of the year, this practice
is optional, but penance in some form is not. In order to remember the sacrifice of Christ
on the cross, it is required that Catholics sacrifice something each Friday of the year. That is… unless a solemnity falls on a Friday. If Christmas, Easter, the Immaculate Conception,
or some other holy day of obligation lands on a Friday, it is actually forbidden to fast
and abstain. Why? Because you cannot fast while the bridegroom
is with you. These are days to rejoice. Speaking of Holy Days of Obligation, it may
surprise some to know that they vary from country to country. Officially, there are ten listed in the code
of canon law, but in the United States there are only 8, and in Canada there are only two. Slackers. Special seasons have special rules, and so
in Advent and Lent the gloria is suppressed at regular masses, and throughout the whole
of Lent, the Alleluia is not to be said. Flowers are also not permitted on the altar
during Lent, and the organ may only be used to accompany singing. Most strict of all comes in the period between
the Holy Thursday liturgy and the Easter vigil, in which no bells may be rung and the only
sacraments allowed are reconciliation and anointing. The reason for this is because these times
are penitential in nature, preparing in anticipation for the great celebrations that follow. Our liturgies in Advent and Lent take on a
simpler form, and in the time when we remember Christ’s death, the entire work of the Church
ceases. This is time of mourning, not celebrating. Despite popular opinion on both sides, the
Church has never explicitly forbidden the praying of the rosary during the mass but
it most certainly does not encourage it either. Congregates are obliged to participate fully
in the liturgy, listening to the prayers, singing with the congregation, offering their
own sacrifices, and responding as called for. For some, the rosary is a wonderful devotion
that brings people closer to God, but it is not a required prayer of the Church. As a private devotion, Catholics are free
to pray it whenever and however they want outside of mass, or not at all. This is different from the Liturgy of the
Hours, which all priests and religious are bound to pray every day and lay people are
encouraged to take up. Another point of contention for many is the
holding of hands during the Our Father. Again, despite popular opinion on both sides,
the Church has never forbidden nor encouraged this practice. It is not in the rubrics and so no one is
every required to do it, but as a spontaneous act of the congregation, it’s not forbidden
either. Catholics are most certainly allowed to marry
non-Catholics. If they are baptized in another tradition,
the marriage is a valid sacrament, and if they’re not, but later get baptized, it
becomes one. Because being a regular altar serving is not
an order of the Church and has no direct connection to priestly ordination, the Church specifically
stated that both men and women can be altar servers, but that the decision was left to
the local bishop. In the United States, all but two dioceses
allow female altar servers. While the Roman Catholic Church is the most
common form of Catholicism, there are actually 23 different churches in communion with Rome. A Roman Catholic is welcome to receive the
Eucharist in any one of them. And finally, what do you do with old rosaries,
vestments, linens, or other holy objects once they break? Canon law doesn’t stipulate, but the Sacred
Congregation for the Rites and the Holy Office issued formal determinations in 1874. In almost every case, holy objects, including
holy water, can be burned or buried in the ground. Why does it matter? Why does any of this matter? Because we are intentional in our relationship
with God. Because it’s important to have order. Because without rules and regulations we’d
all be doing our own thing and there would be no sense of communion with each other and
God. Of all the rules mentioned in the video, hardly
a one of them is scriptural and none of them absolutely has to be that way. These are the work of man and as such should
not be treated as the unchangeable word of God… but it also doesn’t mean that we
can just ignore them either. For better or for worse, this is what we,
collectively, have decided over the centuries, what guides us, binds us together, and ensures
that we are giving our best to God. We don’t worship the rules, but the rules
certainly help us worship God.
