Advice on prayer and customs for a new Catholic?

Hello,





I think that of late I have felt the call to Jesus Christ. I am unsure as I have, over the last few years, thought I was an atheist.





I am looking into Catholicism, awaiting e-mails back from my local parish and my local diocese.





I have purchased a Catholic appropriate bible and have started praying simple prayers





The thing is, I don't know if I am doing it right.





1) After reading advice in several articles, I make the sign of the cross before kneel (both knees) to pray. Am I permitted to do this before I have even approached Priest let alone started the RCIA? I would've thought any prayer was better than no prayer, but best to check. I also think or whisper ';In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, Amen';, should it be latin or English?





2) I read the bible and listen to it from an audiobook - both Catholic versions. I ensure my hands are clean before handling the bible but are there any rules as to ';spiritual purity';? For Example, Muslims believe they must fully bathe before touching the Qu'ran or praying if they have touched a menstruating women, had intercourse or touched something unclean.





3) Can someone give me some quick tips on what I should be doing before starting the RCIA?





Thanks for any advice :)Advice on prayer and customs for a new Catholic?
You're doing fine so far.Advice on prayer and customs for a new Catholic?
You don't have to worry about doing it wrong. The only thing you cannot do is receive communion until after rcia. If you go to confession just tell the priest you are not catholic yet. But you can go if you want to.





Pray sitting standing kneeling one knee or two, in any language you want.


Hand washing is good hygiene but not a requirement for any catholic activities at all.
Welcome home!





First and foremost pray the rosary daily. This will help you engrave a regular pattern of prayer and will deepen your connection to God. from this all other things will naturally arise.





Congratulations and enjoy the RCIA
You don't need to be ritually clean before handling the bible: Christ's sacrifice provided all the spiritual cleansing you will ever need, so you simply need to accept his payment for your sins and ask for his forgiveness.





You can pray at any time of the day or night - God is always listening and speaking. You don't need to approach a priest first, and you can pray in any language you like - this is your conversation with God. Whilst set written prayers may help to focus you, prayer is how we speak to God, so just say what you want to say and ask him to enable you to listen to what He's saying back to you.





I hope that helps. God bless you :)
1. Catholic prayer is VERY diverse, and not that rigid. Express yourself openly to Jesus Christ. Listen in silence, trying not to think about anything, but the Holy Spirit.





2. Catholics read the Bible daily, in private, or in public. Wash your hands only if they are soiled so that you protect a book that you respect. This certainly is not a rule of the Catholic Faith.





3. Read the Bible, Catechism of the Catholic Church, and pray, pray, pray how you want to speak with Jesus.
You're not allowed to do any of that stuff until you've learned the secret handshakes.





Seriously -- you've hardly started and already caught up in immaterial questions of ritual. God speaks neither English nor Latin -- the language matters to you, not to him. Nor does he worry about whether you approach on feet or knees. If going to your knees helps you to render yourself humble, then do it -- but for yourself, not him. As to the bible -- I tend to ensure my hands are clean before handling any book. This is important respect, but spiritual purity before reading scripture comes from calming and ordering your mind, and your feelings, most especially your attitude -- dismissing from yourself any anger or impatience or jealousy, and willingly opening yourself to receive the Holy Spirit.





I was Catholic for about thirty-five years ... I am no longer.
My advise is to go to the forums at catholic.com and re-ask this question there. You're going to get some bigoted answers here. And most people who do genuinely want to help, instead of just vilify and insult the Catholic faith, aren't going to give you the rather enthusiastic and in-depth answers you will find there.





1. The sign of the cross is mostly optional, except in church. It is typically said as a mini prayer before and after other prayers, but that is not necessary. As for being permitted to do this - the ONLY things you are not allowed to do until you become Catholic is participate in the sacraments. If it's not a sacrament, it should be ok.





2. fyi, there are more than 2 Catholic versions. I suppose its nice to keep your hands clean when handling a bible, but the Church stresses that while scripture is the most important book, it is still just a book. One must be careful not to show a stack of paper with lettering on it too much reverence/respect or you are crossing into the realm of idolatry. Personally, I say it's not going to be a problem if you wash your hands just because they're dirty. But if you're doing it ritualistically every single time no matter how clean your hands appear, that's probably going too far.





3. Pray. Really, there's nothing that NEEDS to be done before starting RCIA. They teach you all you need in RCIA.
catholics are not that strict. you are not required to wash before reading the bible, if you do so of your own accord then i would say that is being very reverent and that is good. there is no wrong way to pray. in the bible jesus teaches us to pray but simply saying the our father prayer.





you can pray out loud, you can pray to your self, you can meditate on the word of god there is no wrong way. you can pray on your knees in your home or pray standing or sitting or even laying down. its all o.k. in church there are times when we are asked to stand and pray or knell during different time at mass.





we are not muslims our beliefs are very different. you can never be clean enough to touch even the hem of jesus garment, we are all dirty with sin and no amount of soap and water will wash that away, only jesus can wash away the filth of sin. and he knows when we approach him that we are all sinners. so don't concentrate so much on getting clean. just focus your mind on christ. christ touched prostitutes, jesus has touched lepers, he's touch people who thought they were clean but wasn't. he touched you in your heart because now you are converting.


your cleaniness will come with purgatory, that is the ultimate clean cycle.





in church people shake hands and offer one another christs peace. then we go to the altar and recieve the eucharist in our hands.


after touch all those people.





study the bible, and pray is all you need to do to prepare, get a sponser unless they provide you with one. and don't worry you are doing just fine.





there is a good book called Catholicism for dummies. its a good easy to read book for questions like this.
prayer is nothing more then a conversation with God. There are structured prayers ';The Our Father'; (being that Jesus himself told us to pray this one I always include it), The Hail Mary, the Glory Be etc. but, also there is the prayer of just telling God how wonderful he is and thanking him constantly and asking him to accept your life in conjunction with his son's life everyday. Sometimes I get the biggest blessing just asking him to accept the good job of washing the dishes I intend to do. In union with his son all things good and small are wonderful in his sight.
hi there please note that my advice is given not as a canonical lawyer but rather as a catholic.


I also think or whisper ';In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, Amen';, should it be latin or English? God doesn't care. Since Vatican II masses are said in english, but (and i do not mean this in any sort of disrespectful way) you're awareness is one of God first and the structure which you seem to think fits you is within the Catholic Church, with that in mind God sees the truth of your intent whether it be in English, French, Polish, Latin or Gobbledeegook. There is no law to my mind that governs how one address God in an expression of prayer. The same applies to blessing yourself, if this act is an act that brings you closer to God I would not question doing it.