A: First, “Marriage possesses the favor of law; therefore, in case of doubt, the validity of a marriage must be upheld until the contrary is proven.” (Canon 1060) The Church always assumes a marriage cannot be annulled until proven otherwise. The required conditions of the Church for a valid marriage are: that the couple be…
A: The short answer is “no” but this is a very complex issue, I will have to break this question down into several parts which will be answered over the next few weeks. First, we must look at the Catholic understanding of marriage. (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church 1638-1654): …the marriage bond has been…
A: The Sacrament of Reconciliation has had several names given to it throughout history: Penance, Confession, and Reconciliation. The Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Sacrament of God’s forgiveness, has three elements to it: Confession, Absolution, and Penance. Confession refers to verbalizing one’s sins to the priest. However, confessing one’s sins is not enough, one must also…
A: The tradition of genuflecting when we enter and leave the pews of the church is a sign of reverence and respect to the Body of Christ reserved in the Tabernacle. Our genuflection ought to be directed to the Tabernacle because the presence of Christ is the focus of this action. This is normally done…
A: Blessing ourselves with holy water is a reminder of our baptism. We were baptized with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, which is the same form we make when we bless ourselves with holy water in the sign of the Cross. The Sign of…
Here are some photos from the 2011 Easter Vigil.
