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🥳 patron saint of divorced people, let's goooooo

I am not divorced but today *is* my wedding anniversary.

This was not picked on purpose.

Saint Helen

246 - 330

Feast Day: August 18th

Patronage: archaeologists, converts, difficult marriages, divorced people, empresses

Saint Helena also was known as Saint Helen, Helena Augusta or Helena of Constantinople was the consort of Emperor Constantius and the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great. She is traditionally credited with finding the relics of the True Cross, with which she is often represented in Christian iconography.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase. (website)

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St. Mary of the Cross Mackillop. Feast Day 8th August.

Australia’s first (and currently only) canonised Saint.

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please pray for me for a sudden medical issue 🙃

it's (hopefully) not a huge deal, but it's painful and annoying, and i may have to go see a doctor if it doesn't resolve itself soon (pray it resolves soon and without issues)

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Hello I have a theological question. First, I understand that when Jesus was alive he had human DNA. But whereas we have 50% from our mom and 50% from our dad, Jesus would've got 100% of his DNA from Mary. So you could say He was her clone. So I wondered if this is referenced and regarded in Catholic teaching. Yes of course Mary is special as the Mother of God, but she's also the only person who was made off the same genetic material as Him. And while early Church fathers wouldn't have known about DNA, they understood blood.

Secondly, what is the need for the Immaculate Conception is terms of what it means regarding God's plan, i.e. what would be different had it not happened? It made me wonder if, since Mary carried all Jesus's DNA as her own, maybe that was recognized as holy material at Mary's conception and so it had to be different from a normal pregnancy. Sorry if I am ignorant but I am only a beginner. Thank you.

Jesus wasn't a clone of Mary, and it's a minority opinion to believe that He only had the DNA of Mary. It's also not a Catholic position. The traditional opinion is that Jesus Miraculously had St. Joseph's DNA, if you want to get into the science of it. There's also the possibility that Jesus had His own unique DNA. You're making an assumption that the Church doesn't hold and makes no claim about. Plus, if Jesus was a clone of Mary, that would make Jesus a woman, which we know He isn't.

As for the Immaculate Conception, God had no earthly reason to do it. What the Church teaches is that God found it fitting - ie. good - to do so. And since God, being omniscient, found it fitting, that means that it was the only way to do so in actuality. If Mary is not Immaculately Conceived, God can, at any point, make her pure and holy to be the Tabernacle to His Son. He chose to do so at her conception. The exact reasoning's are beyond human understanding, but we can hazard some theories. It means that there was not any question about Mary's worthiness to be the Tabernacle, the Holy of Holies that contains God Himself. It most likely had nothing to do with DNA because again, Jesus wasn't a clone of Mary. If He was, God could have just indwelled in her as the Holy Spirit, and she would have been the sacrifice for us. But she can't do that, because she isn't God. Jesus is a distinct person, on every level, from Mary, and that would include in DNA.

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I am considering attending a mass this week as a protestant inquirer. This will be my first time since I was a little kid. Do you have any tips, dos and don'ts? Any resources you could point me to?

Thanks and please pray for me.

Skipping the queue with this one. Prayers for you, definitely.

If you have time to get a mini Order of the Mass book so that you can follow along, otherwise the iBreviary app has a section for the Mass, though it can be harder to follow along in that. I'd say that's only really helpful after you've gone a couple times to get the general feel down, if you don't have someone helping you.

I have a masterpost here about converting to Catholicism which includes going to Mass for the first time.

The biggest don't is to not receive communion. Everything else is tertiary, but if you are not a practicing Catholic in good standing with the Church, you should not receive communion. You can go up and cross your arms over your chest (like Dracula-style) if you feel uncomfortable staying in your seat, but you should not take the Body or the Blood, if it's offered.

Also, feel free to church hop if you can/there are multiple Catholic churches near you. People pretty much always have preferences for the way a priest does Mass or how he is in the confessional. I am in a women's group that's cross-parish bible study, and it's fun hearing about the other priests in my town, because my priest is is different than theirs.

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Catholic Asks that range from casual to prying

I thought I would make my own because why not? I tend to always get the same numbers asked so I tried to make enough of them so that you could do multiple answers in case you get asked it multiple times!

1. A saint that influenced you either by their life or writings?

2. Favorite places to pray?

3. What is one of the devotions you have?

4. Tell us about a divine experience.

5. Pick a Holy Day and tell us why you like it.

6. Opinion on [insert specific prayer or devotion].

7. Do you prefer the Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, or some other chaplet? (St. Anne, St. Joseph, etc)

8. Favorite church hymn?

9. Favorite Sacrament?

10. Tell us about a moment when you've felt close to God the Holy Spirit.

11. Tell us about a moment when you've felt close to God the Son.

12. Tell us about a moment when you've felt close to God the Father.

13. When were you confirmed?

14. When did you receive your first communion?

15. When were you baptized?

16. How often do you go to confession?

17. In the last week have you felt God's presence in your life?

18. How often do you pray?

19. What prayers do you do regularly?

20. Pick one thing that you could change about the Church, what is it?

21. Favorite pope?

22. When did you last sit down with God and think only of Him to pray?

23. Do you pray enough?

24. Do you do corporeal or spiritual acts of mercy more?

25. Tell us about a time when you might have felt embarrassed for or of your faith.

26. When was the last time you went to confession?

27. Is there a homily or a priest's advice that will always stick with you?

28. Pick a random quote from one of the Gospels and give us your opinion on it.

29. (If the blogger is female) What is your veiling preference? (If the blogger is male) What do you normally wear to Mass?

30. Have you ever been to a Catholic wedding?

31. Have you ever been to an ordination Mass?

32. Have you ever been to a religious profession Mass?

33. (Female) Nun or active sister? (Male) Diocesan priest or religious?

34. Who is a saint you've always admired from afar but never learned much about?

35. Which time is the best for Mass? (Saturday evening, Sunday early morning, or Sunday late morning)

36. Opinions on getting a tattoo as a practicing Catholic?

37. Opinions on getting piercings as a practicing Catholic?

38. Votive candles or incense?

39. Mary or Joseph?

40. Crucifix (Jesus died for you) or empty cross (that place was for you/die to self)?

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Please pray for my husband. I am not able of prayer rn. Thank you.

I will pray for him and you. 🕯️

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Prayer request for our family friend, Linda - she was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is now on hospice. They don't expect her to make it more than two more weeks.

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Why is the removal of an ectopic pregnancy not considered murder the same as abortion is? I mean isn't the child alive there too? I would like to have an argument to use against pro-aborts when they make out it's the same or claim women will be allowed to die. Thanks.

Sorry, I'm not really the person to ask this as I don't engage with anti-life people. But it's an idiotic position to take anyways. Being against the voluntary ending of someone's life isn't the same thing as doctors taking care of a woman in a medically dangerous situation.

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Prayer request for my dog:

His left eye was swollen sometime last month so he was taken to the vet. After some testing they prescribed him some medication and a cone for his head. I explained this in more detail in this post.

What I didn't mention in that previous post is that he seemed to have developed a condition in his right eye after that visit to the vet.

See he's mostly blind so normally his eyes look cloudy, but when he came back from the vet his right eye was black. I asked my mom why his eye looked different and she said his pupil was most likely dilated and that it would return to normal within a day. It didn't.

What's more concerning is that sometimes his eye appears cloudy again, only to change back to black. Sometimes it looks half black and half cloudy. It's as though the cloudy part that obscures his vision was moving around his eye, or worse, as though something was loose inside his eye.

He was meant to have the prescribed cone removed on August 9th, but they decided against it because his new condition requires attention from an animal ophthalmologist. The appointment is on August 18th but that's still three days away and I'm really worried.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, please pray for him if you have the chance.

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So many people have died in my area recently, car accidents and mechanic accidents and suicides and drownings. Please pray for them all and for everyone mourning them

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Happy Dormition of Mary! Will you be getting herbs blessed this year?

I will not, because I don't really use herbs in my cooking very much, since "technically" garlic and paprika aren't *herbs*. Also because I rarely use fresh herbs :( expensive.

However Mass was so beautiful and I nearly cried at the readings and the hymns I just love my Mother so much 😭

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"Marriage is just a piece of paper" is such an insultingly deceptive cope, if you actually thought that then it'd be no big deal for you to get one, or else you wouldn't have to come up with any other excuses not to commit

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Hi, I'm a potential convert really struggling with the Marian dogmas, and especially the Assumption of Mary. There seems to be zero historical evidence for it and it appears to be a very late development in Church doctrine. What do you make of it?

I think it makes the most sense. Mary was venerated in the Early Church and if she was dead, we would have a church/basilica at her tomb the way we do for other saints and for Jesus.

This video from Trent Horn goes over the arguments from silence regarding the Assumption.

Joe Heshmeyer has this video about arguments against Mary in general.

He also has this video specifically about the Assumption.

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