Once A CATHOLIC.

Alan Gilmartin

Alan Gilmartin

Proper Accy
Tackler
I thought I would start a new thread, on this, instead of put ting it on Accy photos. Bob I know what you mean, with the clergy, it was a case of do as I say, not do as I do. Hypocrisy was rife in those days, you wern't allowed to question the faith. Now the Polititions have taken over.George bush has made a career out of it, with his little mate Johnny Howard.
 
I recall that at the age of 6 we were instructed, at school (St. Oswalds, Willows Lane),on the rituals and dogma associated with making our first confession. So every day for what seemed like an eternity we were made to turn our chair round and kneel on them and chant the Confession Formula;"Bless me Father for I have sinned" etc etc. There is a lot to be said for learning things by rote.

Then one unforgettable day our teacher, Miss McGinn, (Who I believe had red hair and freckles.) decided that she would treat us to an explanation of the evils of sin and the consequent necessity of confession. Remember, we were 6-7 years old at the time. She said that every time we committed a sin it was as though we had placed Jesus on the cross again and that his wounds would open up and bleed. This revelation was delivered with such macabre relish that it silenced the lot of us, the ones that weren't in tears that is. There was a good deal more of this in the days and weeks leading up to the event itself, but thankfully my brain appears to have blocked most of it out.

I am sure that a psychologist would have had a field day with Miss McGinn. I am also sure that it is a wonder that we turned out to be reasonably sane individuals. Or maybe I am overreacting here?
 
Last edited:
Acrylic-bob said:
IThere was a good deal more of this in the days and weeks leading up to the event itself, but thankfully my brain appears to have blocked most of it out.

I am sure that a psychologist would have had a field day with Miss McGinn. I?
Click to expand...
I hope you tell the priest about these horrible thoughts next time you go to confession...you're going to get more than 3 Hail mary's & an Our Father, I can tell you.
 
Ice cream wafers eh, you went to a posh school then?:)

Do you remember the Holy Souls collection? We were given a little card as a record of our contributions to this worthy cause. Every time we paid a penny one of the little squares surrounding a picture of St. Joseph was pierced with a needle. I wonder how much they managed to rake in with that little scam? Oddly enough though when we moved to Holy Family the practice was not continued.
 
Acrylic-bob said:
Ice cream wafers eh, you went to a posh school then?:)

Do you remember the Holy Souls collection? We were given a little card as a record of our contributions to this worthy cause. Every time we paid a penny one of the little squares surrounding a picture of St. Joseph was pierced with a needle. I wonder how much they managed to rake in with that little scam? Oddly enough though when we moved to Holy Family the practice was not continued.
Click to expand...


They still have the practice but with boxes. My youngest left junior school two years ago and up till that time brought one home every year (think it was October) to fill, but has never done at Mount Carmel.
 
Is there any explanation on the boxes about what the money will be used for?

In my day it was to pay for extra Masses to be said for the souls in purgatory. Funny thing, that; having to pay priests to say Mass. You would think that if they were so concerned to limit the time spent by souls in purgatory that they go to the trouble of organising a public collection, then they would be spending every waking hour saying Mass anyway. Or better still doing whatever they can to persuade the Pope to abolish purgatory altogether. If I understand theology correctly it does fall within his remit.

Incidentally, did you know that whenever the Pope celebrates a Pontifical High Mass he is handed a purse of gold coins "For a Mass well sung".
 
So what conclusion are we to draw from the above statements. That everyone contributing now considers religion a big con, invented by the rich minorities to control the poor majorities?
 
:rose8: I think you hit the nail on the head JW only I havent just come to that conclusion Ive always thought it.
 
Not quite sure if there is any explanation on the boxes about what the monies are for. I always persumed that it went towards missionaries.
 
>>So what conclusion are we to draw from the above statements. That everyone contributing now considers religion a big con, invented by the rich minorities to control the poor majorities?<<

I don't really know to be honest. The original post, on another thread, was about the hypocracy of the clergy. I suppose this thread is turning into something of a breast beating exercise for our gullibility. I mean, when you look at it dispassionately and objectively, it really is the most ridiculous load of old tosh. How were we sucked into it?
I feel to be fair, I must at this point, offer some apology to readers who may still hold their faith precious. It is not my intention to belittle or denigrate your personal beliefs in any way at all.
 
Thats what faith is all about, just because we are being a bit negative,it doest mean to say we are having a go at people who have that faith, that goes for any religion.Its just that in hind sight, If you questioned it, you would go to hell. remember, we had to get permission to go into a non catholic church from the parish priest, mixed marriges where pretty rare.These thing had nothing to doe with Jesus. Im a great believer in god, does that make me a hypocrite. By the way Bob I went to St Mary's Clayton, then on to Holy Family.
 
Speaking personally, I incline toward a more Gnostic view of religion. But , as far as Rome is concerned that is HERESY.

Well it would be wouldn't it, since Gnosticism places far more importance on self knowledge and the development of a personal response to the divine as well as denying the hierarchy any place at all.

It is hardly surprising that,faced with a potential loss of power, influence and money, Rome organised a Crusade to stamp the heresy out in the thirteenth century. But Gnosticism is as old as Christianity and refuses to die. The Church seems to be unable to take the lesson from the central tennet of Christianity; namely that you can kill people, but you can't kill an idea. Which, I suppose, is why so many people now say they believe in God but no longer believe in the Church.
 
I've been a non-believer now for many years. My wife, a devout Christian, though not a regular churchgoer, prays for me daily. Because of her beliefs and her constant requests for me to think deeply about it all; I have really made an effort to concentrate my thoughts in a positive way. However, the more I delve into my mind, the more convinced I am that there is absolutely nothing/no-one there. If there is someone there with ultimate power, then it is my opinion that he/she has either, made a damn mess of the whole thing, or has a very sick/perverse sense of humour.
 
But then again, 'The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there.' (L.P. Hartley. "The Go-between")

I can recall coming back from holiday in Cleveleys, my father met us at the train station with the awful news that Pope John XXIII had just died. I can recall thinking that it was somehow right that it was raining, I felt there was some kind of link between the rain and my own tears. The shock that we felt was real and our grief was almost palpable. It was as though a member of the family had passed away. I can also recall -just- watching part of his funeral on television. It was the first time I had seen anything of this quasi-mythical place called the Vatican. To say that I was spellbound would be something of an understatement. I had never seen anything like it before. I think that one event, has coloured my life in ways that I can only now begin to guess at.

Will we and our children feel the same when the current incumbent eventually passes away? I somehow doubt it.
 
Why once a Catholic? - nobody asked me. Somebody a lot bigger just poured water over me and mumbled a bit. What does that make me? I refuse to believe that somebody else can make promises on my behalf and expect me to be the one to keep them.

That said, I did all the Communion stuff, too, WITH ice cream wafers - dead posh.

Does anybody remember black babies? I think the money was for the missions, but if you paid 5 shillings you got to "adopt" one and give it its baptismal name. I sometimes used to wonder what I would do if they all turned up on the doorstep! I remember trying to call one Russell after my little cousin, but that was refused because it wasn't a saint's name. My friend Mary's mother's parents (bit convoluted that) wanted her to be called Marian, but the priest refused, on the same basis, so she was baptised Mary Ann, but always called Marian.

Why did we let them get away with it??
 
Why indeed. But there are other things that lurk in this particular closet, things that shame, things that can still hurt, things that can horrify. Shattered illusions are just the begining.
 
JohnW said:
If there is someone there with ultimate power, then it is my opinion that he/she has either, made a damn mess of the whole thing, or has a very sick/perverse sense of humour.
Click to expand...
It isn't God who has made a mess of things - it is mankind, human beings or whatever the polically correct term us. God doesn't control us like puppets on a string. We all have our free agency. Unfortunately by and large we don't seem to do very well with it do we?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top