This spring I'm planning a trip to France as a sort of personal pilgrimage to the Grotto of Lourdes.

Have any of you went? Did you receive healing? I recently had a pretty serious health crisis which I could really use Our Lady's help with. I even ordered Holy Water from the grotto there to help me until I can get over there.

I'd love to hear your inspirational stories. Please and thank you.

Hello everyone. Here’s my story about choosing Jesus. I converted a little while ago after struggling to figure out my life meaning and struggling to survive with horrible rules and hatefulness of Islam. I chose to convert after brief desire and interest in Jesus. But converting created complications in my life that I’m still suffering from. My family found out and tried to kill me and in my home country if they kill me it’d be considered legal and also converting from Islam is illegal and punishable by imprisonment. Thankfully I escaped in time before anything happened to me. Unfortunately being young and with no life experience is not a good thing for survival. It’s been very hard and overwhelming for me as I discover this world where everyone is for themselves and will kill you if you’re not careful enough. I have dreams that I’m keeping it alive and have still hope that I will achieve it. I don’t have any friends. Im all alone fighting and surviving. Please pray for me to have strength and find support.

Thought this was an interesting read on the small but growing TLM movement (at least according to this article) in Vietnam itself.

Vietnam itself has a pretty sizable Catholic minority, much larger in % and raw numbers than their South East Asian neighbors (except the Philippines, where Catholicism isn't a minority of the population)

Some interesting tidbits:

Even more surprising than the liturgy itself are the faces in the congregation. Most worshippers are in their twenties or thirties. They grew up attending the post-Vatican II Mass in Vietnamese. Many had never encountered the Traditional Latin Mass until they were adults.

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Rediscovering the older rite has also led them back to forgotten parts of Vietnam's own Catholic heritage.

"Along with the Latin Mass, we rediscovered a treasure of Vietnamese prayers and catechetical texts prepared by missionaries before the Second Vatican Council," Hoang said. "They had already been adapted to Vietnamese culture and language. Few Catholic communities in Southeast Asia still possess such a rich heritage."

----

Unlike countries such as France or the United States, Vietnam has no established network of parishes dedicated to the Traditional Latin Mass. Instead, traditionalist communities remain small and loosely connected.

Many know one another through friendships, online groups or connections formed while studying overseas. Because opportunities to celebrate the older liturgy remain limited, a Mass is often organized only when circumstances permit, sometimes with the help of visiting foreign priests.

Things I wish the article clarified more:

- Where are these foreign priests coming from?
- What orders do a these visitor priests belong to?
- What are the numbers of people who attend the Traditional Mass in Vietnam, and when they say it's growing, that does that mean?

But overall, I like to see this.

I'm not a regular Latin Mass goer, but I do maintain that the Latin Mass is the heritage of not just "the West" (as some LARPers and haters contend), but of the Universal Church itself. It is the mass that my grandparents (who are Vietnamese) celebrated. It is the mass that my parents celebrated. It is the mass that Saint Andrew Trần An Dũng-Lạc and the rest of the Vietnamese martyrs celebrated - and were persucuted for.

So it's good to see young Vietnamese people IN Vietnam re-discovering their heritage.

I thought against posting this on the adhd subreddit, as too many folk on Reddit are anti-catholic and I don’t want to open myself up to harassment.

Alright. I’ve got this problem where I am super stressed out during mass from start to finish. I try with everything in me to focus on the priest, or choir, or any other speaker, but it is SO hard. People talk, babies cry and cry, all the coughing, tone deaf loud singing, and more- its just too much. It’s overwhelming! It makes me not want to attend Sunday service, but obviously I have to.

I’ve tried going at different times for different crowds, sitting in different places all around the church, and attending different parishes. The best experience I’ve had was at my old parish… an hour away.

So I’m stuck feeling like I’m failing at worshipping the Lord because every single sound people make distracts me from it. I have to fight against being upset with them for being inconsiderate and disrespectful of the mass , and fight against being upset with myself for struggling to focus to begin with.

For a few weeks I quit going to Sunday service and just went to daily mass. I LOVE daily mass. The crowd is smaller, quiet and respectful and I can actually focus on what the priest is saying with only my own inattentive thoughts to distract me. It’s much easier to bring my focus back from distracting thoughts than it is to bring it back from constant noice every five seconds.

I wish that I could get the audio cast from the choir/speaker directly into noise cancelling earbuds so that I could only hear what they are saying.

I’m really at my wits end with this and can use some advice. I tried taking my add meds and attending but had the same problem. When I first noticed it happening I thought I was just being impatient with others, but eventually I realized that no I’m just freaking frustrated that I can’t focus. I’d rather all of the talkers and disgruntled babies (my church has a LOT of them) be at mass than not, so I’m not upset with them. Not really. But heck I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t having a very hard time.

It’s to the point where I don’t even see the point in attending. I can’t focus, I mean I try and try and try, and everything I hear online says if you aren’t paying attention in mass then it’s an insult to the Lord.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I adore mass, I’d go every day if I could and often do, but man Sunday service (aka the mandatory one) is just a brutal experience.

Edit:
This community is the best! Thank you all for being so supportive and helpful. I’ve gotten a few great suggestions so far, but feel free to add more. It’ll probably take a combination of things to find something that’ll work best for me.

I try to respond to everyone who is so kind as to leave a message, but if I don’t I promise that I’m still grateful for the time you took in reaching out, though probably got distracted and forgot to respond.

I hope that anyone else that’s struggling with adhd or sensory issues can benefit from this post and the comments. May the Lord keep us all.

Thank you St. Jude, for answering my prayer!

I made a new sub for Catholic women to discuss hot-button topics, news/popular culture, women’s health, and all things Catholicism. This is a safe place to discuss particularly divisive issues, and my goal is to keep the sub politically neutral. We of course expect users to speak to each other with respect and charity, and above all else, remember that they are followers of Jesus Christ. You can join at r/magnificat

I am a mom to three littles, so I don’t have a lot of time to be on here moderating. If you’re interested in helping me manage the new sub, shoot me a message!

Thanks and God Bless!

So my in-law is a Baptist/protestant and they end up at mass with my husband and I once every 1-2 years. So not often, but sometimes. The first time of course I explained that we have closed communion but I didnt give the best explanation because I felt really awkward. I'm a cradle Catholic and my entire side of the family is Catholic and I was 20 and had just never had to explain to a person in real time that they couldn't receive communion at mass. So it was just a really awkward interaction and I could've done a way better job. BUT he didn't receive communion and every time since then when he's attended mass with us he knew not to receive and we pretty much never talked about it again. Up until recently... He came to mass with us and I noticed he had received communion instead of getting a blessing.

Now my husband and I are at a loss and have no idea how to bring it up graciously again? I do know this time I will be much more prepared to give an explanation. But I just wonder what other people's experience is trying to "bring it up" in conversation without it sounding really forced or judgemental.

Also, I'm assuming they had just forgotten about not receiving communion, I don't think they did it on purpose.

St. Rita, I ask for your continued prayer in my life. I pray for the strength and health to find a job that suits me well. I pray that everything that was stolen from me - health, finances, my home - will return tenfold.

I have a hypertonic pelvic floor for over a month and a pudendal nerve impingement that can fire at any time- especially going up stairs (I live on a second floor of a split house), driving, and now sitting.

I know God won’t answer all our prayers, even though I was at a healing mass with a renowned priest, touched Padre Pio’s original cloak, and have Our Lady of Lourdes holy water.

This condition has reignited my once passive faith, however, it is difficult to generally continue life. This illness makes me effectively a shut in as I have to navigate stairs to go outside. My quality of life has drastically declined and my nervous system fights against me. It is very difficult to stay any type of positive especially as I live alone and am alone with this illness.

Please pray for me

I’m currently going through a very difficult and exhausting time. Yesterday, my husband brought home a Rosary gifted to me by his coworker. ​I used to pray the Rosary years ago, but stopped because back then, it didn't really bring me the peace of mind I was searching for.

​Receiving this gift makes me want to try again, but I’m not sure if it will give peace and comfort this time. I’m also worried that if it doesn't help this time either, it might push me even further away from Catholicism.

​Has anyone been in a similar place? Any advice would mean a lot. Many thanks in advance. God bless.

I am a girl in my very early 20s, born and raised Catholic. As the title says I have been feeling this way for about 3 years now. Im not sure how to fix it. I feel so lonely and I wish I had someone to talk to about it but I have no friends at all and never leave the house unless it's for grocery shopping and mass. I know this will pass, well I hope it does but I feel so stuck and I just want to get closer to God and give him all my worries but I feel like im drowning in my own thoughts. I don't struggle with my faith at all in the sense that I accept all the teachings of the church and fully believe in our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, but I feel distant from God. I just want some advice or tough love, I need a push in life. I have never had a job but sometimes I think maybe if I get one I'll have a purpose or maybe when I get a boyfriend and get married I will have a purpose. But still I will feel empty I know because what im truly looking for is God and that is the only thing that will fulfill and suffice my soul.

*How can I get closer to God and stop trying to fill my life with useless distractions?❓️

This is what my life needs please any advice is welcomed. Im tired of ignoring this or saying I will figure it out later I want to fully dedicate myself to our Lord now.

I have so much respect for my pastor. He’s helped me a lot during the last few years as I transitioned from a life of homosexuality to a life of chastity. WELS is a smaller and very conservative denomination of Lutheranism, and so they place a lot of efforts on gaining and retaining their members.

This is going to sound ridiculous but I have a very soft heart and I don’t want to disappoint or upset my Pastor. He views Catholicism as false (however, he does believe some are saved) and would probably think that he failed as a Pastor.

I just want to make sure that I leave on good terms and as friends who both love Christ.

I know that God loves everyone of his children unconditionally, but is that love equal among everyone? God still love those who are outside of the church, but doesn't it makes sense that he would love more people that are more devoted to his faith? Would God love his saints more than normal Catholics that still sin? Can God love a lost sheep more than an obedient one?

I’m looking to get a chi ro tattoo probably within the next year but I’m curious to see other people‘s pieces. When you look up Catholic tattoos on Google or Pinterest you mostly just get very realistic style pictures of Jesus crucified or the Virgin Mary crying so I would like to see what else is out there.

Let’s say Someone dies unexpectedly and has unconfessed mortal and veinal sins do they go to hell?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some spiritual and moral perspectives on a dilemma I’ve been wrestling with. I am a faithful Catholic and also a hunter in France.

Occasionally, I go out to hunt nutria (coypu). In France, they are officially classified as an invasive alien species (ESOD) because they cause massive damage to riverbanks, destroy local ecosystems, outcompete native wildlife, and carry dangerous diseases like leptospirosis.

Here is where my moral questioning lies, and I want to be completely honest with myself and with God:

1. The joy of hunting: I genuinely enjoy the act of hunting. It motivates me to go out, it’s engaging, and it feels like a challenging outdoor activity. I don't hunt out of hatred or a desire to cause pain, but I do find fulfillment and pleasure in the sport/activity itself.
2. Proactive pest control: Right now, the specific area where I hunt doesn't have a massive, out-of-control infestation yet. However, nobody else is hunting them here, and their population could easily explode in the near future if left unchecked.
3. The reality of clean kills: I always try my absolute best to make a clean, ethical shot to avoid any unnecessary suffering. However, as any hunter knows, perfection doesn't exist, and I have missed or made imperfect shots in the past. It weighs on my conscience when an animal suffers, even if it wasn't my intention.
4. No consumption and safety: I don't eat the meat or skin them. Honestly, because they carry leptospirosis, it's too much of a hassle and a health risk to clean and butcher them. Instead, I leave the carcasses in a quiet spot in nature where they are quickly scavenged and eaten by local wildlife like foxes..

My internal conflict:
Every time after a hunt, I experience this mental balancing act between the love for the outdoor activity—the sense of communion with my environment—and the reality of the animals' suffering and death. Deep down, I want to be completely honest with my conscience and not lie to myself: I truly don't think I take any pleasure in the act of killing itself. In fact, paradoxically, in my everyday life, I try my best not to kill animals needlessly—for example, I avoid killing bugs or small creatures in my house and prefer to catch them and put them outside.

Because of this constant tension, I am even considering stopping hunting altogether in the long run if my conscience keeps troubling me like this.

I truly want to live my life in a way that pleases God and respects His Creation. I don't want to disappoint Him by turning a necessary ecological chore into a selfish pleasure.

I would love to hear your thoughts, whether they are positive, negative, or challenging. How do you balance the traditional role of human stewardship over nature with the personal enjoyment of the hunt?

God bless.

new bishop of Datong,China

So I apologise in advance but this post will probably be all over the place. Firstly, I’m a cradle catholic but my family isnt the most religious. I had my own very long journey with religion, but when I finally turned back to Christ I was kind of set on orthodoxy. Only under a year ago did I start seeing some problems with orthodoxy and I realised Catholicism is the truth.

However there are some teachings in Catholicism that really pain and confuse me, which make me kind of look at orthodoxy and think “they have it so easy”.

First of all, it’s the teaching that if one dies in mortal sin before being able to go to confession, they can only be saved if they have perfect contrition. Mortal sin can either by forgiven by perfect contrition (you are sorry for your sins for the sake of God and you had the intention to go to confession asap) or by imperfect contrition if accompanied by confession. This means that if I was on my way to confession to repent of a mortal sin, but I died in a car accident and my repentance was led by fear of hell rather than love of God, I wouldn’t be forgiven.
This is a very difficult teaching for me because well firstly I don’t understand where it comes from, what scriptural basis there is of it etc. Secondly it just feels unfair. Like I can’t imagine God saying “look I know you repented, you truly did feel bad for your sin and you really were set on not doing it again, it really sucks you got into that accident because if you didnt you wouldve been in confession in 5 minutes and been in a state of grace but now you gotta burn for eternity. Unlucky”
It just feels like a random teaching thats just a very heavy burden.

Second teaching, or more lack of a teaching, the idea that we don’t know if unbaptised babies go to heaven or not. This one is a bit strange because if we are to take St Thomas Aquinas’ view, unbaptised babies go to a state of limbo where they are naturally happy but they miss out on the beatific vision of God. They don’t necessarily experience this as a pain because they don’t know what they lost. Aside from the really unfair/sad fact that these babies were literally condemned to be outside of a relationship with God for nothing that they did, like literally it was completely out of their power, this is a really sad deal for God as well. God, who loves us all and wants us all to be saved, is torn away from this group of souls because they happened to die before they had a chance to be baptised. If this was a miscarriage or a stillbirth this is literally out of any human’s will- the babies, the parents etc. Theologically this would mean that this random, nature-driven incident is more powerful than God. If God wants to be with these babies, and the babies haven’t done anything to reject that, but they are still not allowed to be with God, then this law of God (no one is saved unless they are born again) is more powerful than God. This reminds me of how the Pharisees condemned Jesus from healing someone on a Sabbath. Here Jesus clearly stated that the law of God is to be understood through the love of God.
Basically my confusion is, why does the Church claim that there isn’t enough theological evidence to just dogmatically teach that unbaptised babies go to heaven?? I truly don’t see how a theory of limbo (or worse that babies go to hell) makes any sense when we consider that God wants everyone to be saved and that He is all powerful.
Also the Church literally says that Hell is a deliberate choice of the person going there. Remember, the concept of Limbo is technically one of Hell.

In both of these difficult teachings the Orthodox Church poses a simple answer. For the first, it has no such teaching and believes all that is needed for forgiveness is repentance (with a will to go to confession) without specifying what inspired the repentance.
Secondly, it has a completely different outlook on original sin which by itself doesnt damn one to hell, only predisposes them to sin. In this view, babies would simply go to heaven baptised or not.

These two problems weigh heavy on my heart. I am not considering orthodoxy by any means, it has its own (bigger) problems. But I won’t lie that they are a hindrance to my faith in Catholicism

I’m an Orthodox Catechuman and I was looking up who the patron saint of the United States was in the Catholic Church, and it said the Theotokos. I was very confused because as I’ve come to learn, the Theotokos is technically the patron saint of the whole world and can’t be given a specific national title. So why do Catholics still make her the patron saint of the United States? Please help me understand, I mean no ill will 😊 also if anyone is curious, the patron saint of the United States from an Orthodox perspective, is Saint Herman of Alaska, who was a local saint that did great missionary work in the 1700s/1800s

Recently I had to make a decision whether or not to leave a job I've been at for a long time. I had an offer from another company, which would be lower pay but better flexibility and the hope that there will be better morale than the place I was leaving. Where I am leaving had been "home" for a long time but has been taken over by toxic management and horrible morale.

I had a strict time limit in which to accept or decline the offer, so I felt rushed. But I spent those 48 hours talking to all my family and friends and praying, praying, praying. I didnt feel any direction from God while praying at all and I started to panic.

On the morning I had to choose one way or the other, I prayed a rosary with that intention, and towards the end of it, I found myself having a series of memories flash through quickly- the employee I shadowed telling me it was a great place to work, my parents and husband urging me to do it, etc. The memories that popped up were all in favor of me taking the job and it happened during the rosary so I though ok, theres my answer!

I accepted the job, put in my notice at my current place of work, and I start in a couple weeks.

But 2 weeks later, I still dont feel at peace or settled. I feel extremely doubtful and anxious. Several people who used to work at my new workplace have contacted me to tell me its really bad there and to "warn me". (Although one person told me they liked it) It's too late now, I am committed there. But now I'm wondering if God really led me to this choice or if it was just my own subconscious panicking about the time limit. It's shaken my faith a bit, and I havent even started the new job.

This may seem like an overreaction, and perhaps it is. But Ive been at the same company for 15 years- ever since I graduated college, and have many friends there. This is a very big leap for me who had been in my comfort zone for so long. And I took a pay cut in hopes of greener pastures- with a family to help support.

I dont really know what I'm asking. The word discernment gets thrown around a lot and I guess I'm realizing I dont think I actually know how to do that. I guess I want to know from those who have gone through any kind of discernment process before- is this normal to have doubts even when the right choice was made, or should I feel confident and at peace if I made the right choice? Is my anxiety coming from God trying to tell me something, or spiritual warfare, or just my own regular own brain?

If you read this far, genuinely, thank you for indulging this anxious tirade, and I appreciate hearing your experiences.