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How to pray & practice
Step-by-step guides to the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Confession, and the spiritual life — steps first, then each prayer in a dropdown.
Sacraments
Being in a state of grace, keeping the one-hour fast, coming with attention, approaching reverently, receiving on the tongue or in the hand, answering Amen, and making a thanksgiving afterward, as the Church's law and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal ask.
Sacraments
Who may receive the Anointing of the Sick, why you should not wait until the last hour, how to arrange it with a parish or hospital chaplain, and what happens in the rite.
Confession
Coming back to the Sacrament of Penance after a long absence: what to expect, how to prepare, what to tell the priest, and how to begin again without fear.
Sacraments
Coming back after months or years away: the truth that you can, the conversation with a priest, confession, the situations that need pastoral help — a marriage outside the Church, a Confirmation never received — and rebuilding the habit of Sunday Mass.
Advent
The crib at home in the tradition of Saint Francis at Greccio: where to place it, setting the figures in order, keeping the manger empty until Christmas, the household blessing, placing the Child on Christmas Eve and the Magi at Epiphany.
Adoration
Corpus Christi and other Eucharistic processions: what they mean, how a parish prepares the route and altars, the order of the procession, hymns and the Rosary along the way, Benediction at the stations and at the end.
Family
The Sign of the Cross, grace at meals, the Guardian Angel Prayer, the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be and the Act of Contrition, taught age by age at home.
OCIA
The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, formerly called the RCIA, from first inquiry to the Easter Vigil and beyond: who it is for, the periods and rites in order, what happens at each, and how long it takes.
Rosary
The five Glorious Mysteries, prayed on Wednesdays and Sundays: the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Assumption and the Coronation of Mary.
Rosary
Meditations, Scripture and the traditional fruits for the five Joyful Mysteries, prayed on Mondays and Saturdays and on the Sundays of Advent.
Rosary
The five Mysteries of Light, prayed on Thursdays, which Saint John Paul II added to the Rosary in 2002: the Baptism of Jesus, the Wedding at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration and the Institution of the Eucharist.
Rosary
The five Sorrowful Mysteries of the Passion, prayed on Tuesdays and Fridays and on the Sundays of Lent: the Agony, the Scourging, the Crowning with Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross and the Crucifixion.
Mass & Liturgy
What happens at each moment of the Mass, what the people say and do, and why: from the Sign of the Cross to the dismissal.
