Growing Up Catholic - Part 1

I was born to immigrant parents. They were from Germany. Mom was Catholic, Dad was Lutheran. As a Catholic, mom had to have her marriage approved before a priest would perform it. Dad would have to promise that any children would be raised Catholic. I wonder how many people make that promise without thinking of the consequence or without intending to follow through. Whatever the case, when we were young, mom took us to church while dad stayed home. As we got older, mom just sent us to church. It was just over a half mile away, about a 10-15 minute walk.

Here's what I remember about Catholic church:

The kneeling. They had little padded benches that pulled down for when it was time to kneel. Seems like there was a lot of kneeling during the service.

The candles. A lot of them at the back of the church. You "donated" to light them, 25c for small and $1 for large. You lit candles in honor of loved ones. For each candle you lit, it shortened their time in purgatory. I'm not sure if the large candles shortened their time more or not.

Holy Water. There were small bowls mounted to the walls in the vestibule. You would dip your fingers in them and do the sign of the cross before entering the sanctuary. I guess that cleansed you before you entered a holy place? Not sure, but what kid doesn't like dipping their fingers in water?

Communion. They used real wine! And the priests got to drink most of it. Usually we just got the communion bread placed on our tongue. White circles and it melted in your mouth. Of course, the Catholics believe that the bread turns into the actual body of Christ once you partake.

Mary. The mother of God. You could pray to her and she would take your requests to God. I seem to recall also being able to pray to the apostles, but not sure about that.

Confession. This is where you go tell a priest all of your sins, and he offers absolution for you. For penance, you had to say prayers. Usually the Our Father and the Hail Mary a certain number of times. 

The priests. No, I was not molested, but I do have one encounter to share. Saving that for the next post.