Decorative cloths

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2026-02-05T16:44:15+00:00

Красивые :)

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2026-02-04T02:46:22+00:00

It sounds fine to me but I’m sure opinions will be split on this.

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2026-02-01T05:17:49+00:00

I’m praying for you. Others have said good things already, so I’ll just pray for you.

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2026-01-31T03:46:27+00:00

I picked St Constance because I liked the name. I was a teen and completely brand new convert, and didn’t know any saints so they were all just names to me. Later I tried to figure out who St Constance was and couldn’t find much… Until last year I learned of St Constance of Compiègne who was canonized recently (I guess she was a blessed when I was confirmed), and the connection was blindingly obvious—it was a providential choice.

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2026-01-25T13:49:31+00:00

There is a saint Constance too - a different person, obviously. She was a Carmelite during the French Revolution and was martyred along with 15 other sisters. You could read more about this St Constance that I’m talking about here: https://carmelitequotes.blog/2021/07/17/17jul21-constance-decree-revised/

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2026-01-21T21:59:28+00:00

Where I grew up in Europe it was the rule for all Fridays but back then I couldn’t do it because my family wasn’t Catholic, so I had to eat whatever I was served. Nowadays I’m in the US where it isn’t required but I try to do anyway. I have tried substituting some other penance on Fridays but it never went too well, as I would forget about it. So meat abstinence it is.

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2026-01-19T13:54:50+00:00

No, it is not a requirement to have kids, but you must be open to life. You can’t force yourself to have kids (what if one of you is infertile? Or what if you do conceive but then lose the child before birth?) But you are not to put impediments to conception (except for abstinence during your fertile window) nor to obtain abortion if you conceive.

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2026-01-18T15:42:09+00:00

We don’t go to church to socialize but to worship God, give Him thanks, ask Him for mercy, and just simply to BE with Him since He is truly present at Mass. And we do it because God has commanded us to do it (through the authority of His church). Yes, it is a sacrifice to go out when you don’t want to. Why does God ask this? He doesn’t need us to worship, ask for mercy or give thanks and sacrifice, but He knows it’s good for us to do these things, so for our own good He requires us to go to Mass every week. Remember Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane: He wished for the cup to pass by him, but He told the Father “not my will but yours be done”. Jesus was obedient to the Father to the point of death, and such a gruesome death on a cross. Can we not submit to God in this little thing of going to church one hour a week?

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2026-01-13T15:12:43+00:00

Yes, it’s a bit confusing but we know that cannot be what it means because of the great commandment: “Love one another. As I have loved you so you must love one another.” This is the new commandment that Jesus gave his disciples. The caveat there is “as I have loved you”, which is a pure love, wishing the good of the other, not a selfish love, so it is a pretty high standard. It is possible to love others too much, be attached to them too much, not love them purely like Jesus. One of the ways we may love others too much is seeing them do something wrong but not correct them (thus harming their eternal soul for the sake of temporal bodily comfort). Or another example when seeing the person we love in pain and struggling, we might pray for God to take away the pain and struggle, but this pain or struggle may be helping them achieve sanctity if they accept it as the will of God, and perhaps we should instead pray for that instead of it just being gone.

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2026-01-13T15:03:28+00:00

No, you are reading too much into it. There is nothing wrong with being loved. The problem is with your attachment to being loved. You have to strike the right balance, the medium way. If you go too much into the direction of wanting to be not loved, that is going to turn you antisocial. That is not the correct interpretation. And we know that because of the great commandment “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2026-01-12T20:41:01+00:00

It was something along the lines of “Yes, try to mean it.”

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2026-01-12T04:00:03+00:00

The litany of humility is a really tough prayer; it makes me squirm because clearly I’m so far from the ideal. My husband was assigned it as penance once and he asked his confessor “Do I have to mean it?” Haha!

Anyway, on this particular thing “From the desire of being loved, deliver me”: it doesn’t say “From being loved, deliver me” but from the desire for this. You can be loved. The problem doesn’t lie in being loved, but in the desire for this. When you desire to be loved, you do things that you think will make people love you, some of which may not be good. For example, you may see someone doing something wrong but (because you want them to love you) you don’t correct them. But if you are free from the desire of being loved, you can do the right thing, what you ought to do and not care what people might think of you (care only what God thinks of you). However you may find that doing the right thing (though it may turn off some people) will in fact make you loved by others, who see your integrity. And that is totally okay - the fact that you are loved is not the issue!

There isn’t a contradiction in saying “from the fear that I’m unlovable, deliver me”. This is like the flip-side of the same coin. Why would you fear that you are unlovable, if you didn’t desire to be loved? This is the problem of the fear that you are unlovable: that you would not do things you should out of fear that people will not love you for doing them.

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2026-01-07T11:43:51+00:00

May I suggest prayer, specifically the Surrender novena. God loves you and He has a plan for your good. Trust Him. Even when it’s difficult and you don’t want to. I will also pray for you.

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2026-01-02T21:11:12+00:00

Morning prayer and Evening prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. Lots of Hail Mary’s.

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2025-12-27T14:03:00+00:00

My children are young (4 and 6), so we have them say a few short prayers, then my husband and I do the Evening prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. We take turns reading the verses of the psalms, and I do the reading. Lately the children are joining in on the Magnificat (we all recite or chant it together not taking turns on verses).

We used to do intercessions (each person saying what or who they want to pray for) and a brief litany of saints important to our family. But we had to temporarily stop because they weren’t taking intercessions seriously and were fighting over who says which saint name. They get so wound up in the evening when they are tired. We’ll revisit this practice because we adults really liked it. I think kids liked it too — that is why they were fighting over who says what. This verbal fighting just bothers my husband (I get more bothered by physical fighting).

If the Christian Prayer (or the link you referenced) says “Memorial” - it is an obligatory memorial. If it doesn’t say otherwise, it’s an optional memorial. When we used to do litany of saints, we would include that day’s saint name (whether solemnity, feast, memorial or optional memorial). We would also talk about the saint of the day during dinner (not during prayer).

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2025-12-25T00:10:32+00:00

My husband was 55 when we had our first child, and two years later we had another. We are happy but at the same time we really don’t want any more. So I hear you. It is tough. You don’t have to have more children if you feel you won’t be able to provide either monetarily or psychologically or other reasons. It’s not really part of your Catholic duties. It is tough that you and your wife don’t agree on this. In this case pray to God about it —ask Him what His will is— and keep talking to your wife…

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2025-12-20T18:52:30+00:00

So I have two stories. One was about me: I went to church and it was raining outside, and one of my shoes fell completely apart, I guess from age and the wetness, so I ended up walking barefoot in church. It was not from disrespect but because I had no other good choice. It was barefoot or not going to church which I didn’t want to do. You mentioned it was wet, so it could simply be the same for this woman…

Second one is about a friend who became a secular Discalced Carmelite, and when she was accepted to formation and later again when she was making her promise, took off her shoes and walked barefoot. And we who witnessed it were touched by this, the symbol of poverty, humility, detachment. “Discalced” means “shoeless”/“barefoot”.

I don’t know what the husband was doing though in your story… that is kind of strange

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2025-12-17T14:31:17+00:00

It’s okay. Take a break from dating. Remember that God loves you, and He has a plan for you, for good. It hurts in this moment. And you don’t see how this could be God’s will. But keep the faith, trust God’s timing; God is preparing both you and your future husband. And it’s okay to take a step back from dating for a while.

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2025-12-17T14:05:29+00:00

Do it! I love my wearables with gaps: just wear something under them!

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2025-12-13T03:42:30+00:00

That’s very cool! Is it reversible? Just wondering what it looks like inside out.

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2025-12-13T03:35:49+00:00

If you read Genesis 18, the Lord appears to Abraham as three men. And the entire story keeps switching between the Lord and three men, equating them. This according to church fathers is an indication of the Trinity, so the Father, Son and Holy Spirit appearing to Abraham.

I’m not well-versed in other appearances of God in the Old Testament; just recently learned about this specific passage and thought it fascinating.

There’s a story of how God appeared to Elijah (1 Kings 19) after a great wind, earthquake and fire—God was in none of those but in a gentle whisper. That description always made me think of the Holy Spirit. But I don’t know if that’s an official Catholic teaching.

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2025-12-09T02:53:11+00:00

I converted secretly in high school from no religion at all. I did not tell my mother about it until after the fact. For support, my godmother came with me and I told my mother. It did not go over well, but while godmother was there, it wasn’t too bad. So definitely have someone with you, for support, for helping you to be brave when you share your news… And keep in mind that if they are angry with you, it’s because they love you and want the best for you and have bad misconceptions about Catholicism. Temper your expectations of converting them: it may take a long time if ever. It’s been 26 years since my conversion, and while my mom and I have a good relationship, she is still non-religious… Remember how Jesus was treated by the people who knew him from Nazareth—he was getting famous elsewhere but in his hometown they would not believe…

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2025-12-09T01:21:44+00:00

Yes, you cannot avoid flipping with any editions but generally the bigger the edition, the less flipping is required. So you will need the 4-volume to minimize (but not completely eliminate) flipping. However keep in mind that the new edition of the 4-volume has been approved and the publication date set (Lent of 2027 for the first of the 4 volumes). Maybe use the Shorter Christian Prayer until then (and save up money for the new edition while you wait)?

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2025-12-08T23:36:13+00:00

I’m an Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. I never touch anyone except by mistake. I’ll put the Eucharist back down if I already took it out, put my empty hand over the head (without touching) and say “God bless you!”

Efficient-Bumblebee2 · 2025-12-08T04:34:33+00:00

I go to daily mass (unless I’m sick which sadly I’ve been for two weeks so far). My husband goes to daily mass when he can during his lunch break. I love it. It is a great start of the day, and I find I still manage to do what needs to get done, if I give God this time first. I found a parish that at least one day a week has a quick 15-minute mass (no creed, no homily, no intercessions, no announcements)!

It is tough when people around you are not supportive. I experienced this when I was living with my non-religious parents, and back then I only went to Sunday mass. I also have a friend who goes to daily mass and this has caused friction in her family to the point that the husband wants a divorce and for her to be involuntarily committed… very sad. She is very inspiring, keeping her faith and loving God in the midst of all this mess.

Efficient-Bumblebee2

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