Any catholics or ex-catholics here

[zenotter]

If memory serves, there's a prayer with "Blessed Mary, ever virgin".

The reconciliation bit in the Mass has that in it, the part that starts with "I confess..." and continues with the Borg-like drone of "to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God."

ETA: Can you tell that I was a liturgist?

 

[lionking]

The thing is that, even though I am an atheist, I cannot simply undo my religous upbringing and I still find the thought of (goddess) Mary having sex a bit gross.

 

[shadron]

The reconciliation bit in the Mass has that in it, the part that starts with "I confess..." and continues with the Borg-like drone of "to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God."

ETA: Can you tell that I was a liturgist?

Ah, but a late one, unless you can also say it in Latin: "Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, beatae Mariae semper virgini, ...", which all good aging altar boys did.

 

[gambling_cruiser]

Raised as catholic in Austria, Marys virginity was only until Jesus birth.
After that Joseph and Mary lead a normal fruitful sexlife - hey they were married, they had to make children if they can. Half-siblings (Mary as mother, but Joseph as father) were no problem.
Left church 1982, just in time to avoid paying a cent on church taxes.

 

[uruk]

I was rasied roman catholic also. Been an alter boy too. (Still a virgin back there thank you very much)

It is dogmatic that Mary died a virgin. I always wondered about that because, If Im not mistaken, the KJ version says the angel told Joseph "not to 'know' Mary untill after the the birth" or something to that effect. Does somebody know the exact wording?

That seemed to imply to me that it was ok with god if Mary and Joseph knocked sandals after JC was born.

 

[I Ratant]

Ah, but a late one, unless you can also say it in Latin: "Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, beatae Mariae semper virgini, ...", which all good aging altar boys did.

.
And as rapidly as possible, with the three swayings toward the center of the altar at the "..mea culpa, mea culpa, mea magnimus(sic?) culpa".. to get to the end the same as my brother serving opposite!
I recall one serving a mass in Wurzburg Germany 'long 'bout 1953 when the German organist sang a really nifty song I'd never heard before.. lots of piety and good thoughts... the priest shot her a lot that would have burned her alive! I looked up that song in the US military hymnal.. Oops, M. Luther the author!
Another little chink in the armor of invincible ignorance I had.. There wasn't anything in that hymn, other than the author, not properly Christian.

 

[aggle-rithm]

I got top marks in Religous Studies, knew the Catechism well and fancied that I knew the New Testamant well. But it was only through this forum that I discovered NT references to Jesus's brothers and sisters (Matthew 13:55, 27:56, Mark 6:3, 15:40 and 16:1).

I learned about this in Catholic school. The brothers and sisters are supposed to be allegorical.

 

[aggle-rithm]

.

I recall one serving a mass in Wurzburg Germany 'long 'bout 1953 when the German organist sang a really nifty song I'd never heard before.. lots of piety and good thoughts... the priest shot her a lot that would have burned her alive! I looked up that song in the US military hymnal.. Oops, M. Luther the author!
Another little chink in the armor of invincible ignorance I had.. There wasn't anything in that hymn, other than the author, not properly Christian.

Since Vatican II, Protestant songs have been embraced wholeheartedly by the Catholic Church.

However, I have a similar story from a few years ago: There was a part of the Catholic liturgy that was normally sung, with the choir director leading the congregation. The choir director was Episcopalian, and belonged to a choir at an Episcopal church whose service was a couple of hours before ours. Every Sunday he would finish up there, then rush frantically over to the Catholic church to lead the singing.

One morning, he got confused. He went up to the podium, the organist gave him to first pitch, and he began to sing the Anglican liturgy used by the Episcopal church!

The organist panicked, shuffling wildly through her music books trying to find whatever it was he was singing. By this time, the director realized his mistake, stopped singing, and began to hiss the correct page number in the organist's direction. By this time, though, the organist was so confused that the situation was hopeless. The director just turned and looked helplessly at the priest, who then led the congregation in speaking the liturgy.

Good times.

 

[bignickel]

Wow. So, I was a Catholic, only because no one told me the dogma that that there was no way in hell I was going to agree with.

For all we know, there's lots of other people out there who think they're Catholics, but aren't really, because they disagree with some dogma that they haven't heard yet.

 

[I Ratant]

Since Vatican II, Protestant songs have been embraced wholeheartedly by the Catholic Church.
...

.
This is another problem...
The Lord's Prayer had two ending sentences, speaking one in one area would have you murdered with extreme pleasure for the murderers. Not speaking it in another area would have you murdered with the same amount of pleasure murderers.
So many people died excruciating deaths over this linguistic silliness, that now it's obvious their deaths were in vain because the prayer now ends the same in all liturgies..
Why wasn't this obvious -before- the murders began, were there any divine guidance at all?

 

[AgeGap]

As an ex Catholic, it took me till about the age of eight to become disillusioned, I thought that the ascention of Mary was in the Bible. It is a weird idea but would not be out of place in that particular book. I felt quite foolish when I found out that the ascention idea was just pulled out of someones ***. When the propaganda was strong in me I thought ever virgin meant ever pure in all areas, not just keeping her legs crossed, and was too young to know about her getting jiggy with Joseph.

 

[zenotter]

Ah, but a late one, unless you can also say it in Latin: "Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, beatae Mariae semper virgini, ...", which all good aging altar boys did.

Heh, they won't let us girls say any part of the mass from the altar area, never mind in what language!

Speaking of hymns and music, I always thought it was crazy to not have a unified hymnal. I had to work with three different music publishers, and not all parishes sung the same version of "Pescador des Hombres" because of that. Oh sure, same tune, but the words were different, depending on if you sang the GIA or OCP version.

Don't even get me going on the YooHoo song. ("You Who" start to On Eagles Wings. Gah, the range of notes for the congregation that barely sings anyway!) And trying to explain why God Bless America wasn't in the hymnals (it was written by Irving Berlin...).

 

[a_unique_person]

Uh oh, I'm getting flashbacks.

*grips side of chair tightly with both hands*

Time for a cup of tea and a lie down.

 

[six7s]

Collapsed catholic here... and I could have sworn she kept her legs crossed...

"Blessed Mary, ever virgin" rings bells louder than a very loud thing....

But it was only through this forum that I discovered NT references to Jesus's brothers and sisters (Matthew 13:55, 27:56, Mark 6:3, 15:40 and 16:1).

Aaahhh... I see the confusion...

You need to consult the One True McHoly McBible: The Douay-Rheims Version - the "bile of choice of traditionalist Roman Catholics today."

Douay-Rheims Version » Matthew 13:51 ~ 58

51 Have ye understood all these things? They say to him: Yes. 52 He said unto them: Therefore every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven, is like to a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old. 53 And it came to pass: when Jesus had finished these parables, he passed from thence. 54 And coming into his own country, he taught them in their synagogues, so that they wondered and said: How came this man by this wisdom and miracles? 55 Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Jude:

55 "His brethren"... These were the children of Mary the wife of Cleophas, sister to our Blessed Lady, (St. Matt. 27. 56; St. John 19. 25,) and therefore, according to the usual style of the Scripture, they were called brethren, that is, near relations to our Saviour.​

56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence therefore hath he all these things? 57 And they were scandalized in his regard. But Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. 58 And he wrought not many miracles there, because of their unbelief.

Which explains at least one issue for me... no wonder I never get to see any McMiracles... I've got enough unbelief to sink a ship!

 

[The Atheist]

I don't remember anyone saying that Mary went up a virgin. I would have remembered the passage, and mostly, because I was naive enough to have thought "what does it matter if she was a virgin or not"?

Wrong again, eh? Maybe you should try politics?

The other is that it doesn't say that Mary was Joseph's first wife. Some people say that Joseph was obviously a widower, with children from his first marriage. No one ever prays to the Virgin Joseph.

Yeah, he was a right wanker.

(My bolding). Very neat sidestep, but I suppose that if catholics are expected to buy the virgin birth thing, it is not a big stretch to believe this without a shred of evidence.

Compared to the belief that Jesus rose bodily and spiritually to some sky-palace with his ghostly daddy?

We know virgins exist, and at least the RCC sets out a good standard for any other virgin birth claimants.

The thing is that, even though I am an atheist, I cannot simply undo my religous upbringing and I still find the thought of (goddess) Mary having sex a bit gross.

Mate. You need to see some of the sickening anti-Mary artwork I've collected. $2 BJs behind the Golgotha Hill would be mild.

 

[I Ratant]

"We know virgins exist, and at least the RCC sets out a good standard for any other virgin birth claimants."
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It'll be quite difficult to top "Immaculate Conception"... Mary born without the "stain" of Original Sin.
I can't understand why that makes sense to anyone.

 

[The Atheist]

"We know virgins exist, and at least the RCC sets out a good standard for any other virgin birth claimants."
.
It'll be quite difficult to top "Immaculate Conception"... Mary born without the "stain" of Original Sin.
I can't understand why that makes sense to anyone.

Nah, the immaculate conception part is easy. Could do that with a hollow reed.

The part I enjoy is that even after the birth, she remained virga intacta.

It's no real surprise that Catholics have trouble with sexuality. For Mary, just having the hymen broken would be indicative of sin. Lucky there were no hairbrushes around then...

 

[six7s]

Why wasn't Jesus born in Pakuranga?

They had difficulty finding three wise men prepared to go near the place... and finding a virgin proved an even bigger problem

 

[The Atheist]

Why wasn't Jesus born in Pakuranga?

They had difficulty finding three wise men prepared to go near the place... and finding a virgin proved an even bigger problem

Nope. Bad choice.

Pakuranga, being the heart of the Auckland eastern bible belt, is chock-full of good girls who listen to their daddies' pleas to save their cherry for the wedding breakfast.

The place you're looking for is probably Papatoetoe.

 

[zenotter]

It's no real surprise that Catholics have trouble with sexuality. For Mary, just having the hymen broken would be indicative of sin. Lucky there were no hairbrushes around then...

You would think it would've broken on that long donkey ride to Egypt.