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Author Topic: Help w/ research on Catholicism, please...
HSO
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Admittedly, this is an extremely lazy way to research a question, but I'm hoping someone here can at least point me in the right direction.

I've got a character who is a practicing Catholic--mostly practicing, sort of moderate I suppose--and has just cursed God for letting his son die. Well, almost cursed... he stopped just shy of cursing.

So, I want him to immediately ask for forgiveness the next moment after suppressing the curse. What would be the proper prayer for Catholics in this instance? I'm guessing he'd say "God, forgive me" or something similar, but is there a prepared prayer already in place for such a circumstance? The age-old customs and rituals of the Catholic church would leave me to believe that, yes, there likely is something all set to go for something precisely like this. You know, something like signing the cross, but whatever one does for cursing God... I dunno.

Can someone tell what the proper thing to do to tide him over until the next visit to the confessional?

Btw, there are few Catholics in England, it seems -- mostly just the breakaway Church of England, which has different rules. So, I don't know anyone here in London who is Catholic that I can ask.

Thanks in advance,

HSO


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JBSkaggs
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Depends entirely on the particular form of catholocism he practices. his response can vary from:

"I'm sorry."

to

"Jesus Christ faithful and true forgive me a sinner."

And everything in between including sometimes prayers to saints or angels if the character practices a hybrid form.

If he is a mainstream practicing catholic he would probably say "Father, forgive me." or "Dear God, forgive me."

JB Skaggs


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RFLong
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My husband's a catholic and according to him, your character could either

say an act of contrition

"O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven, and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace,
to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.

Amen."

or the Confeitor

"I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin,all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God."

If you type the beginning of either into Google, you get the various forms. The exact form would depend on how orthodox the catholic.

R

[This message has been edited by RFLong (edited March 28, 2005).]


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HSO
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thanks, JB and RF. Would it be said aloud, perhaps murmured? Or can it be said in silent prayer?

Cheers.


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JBSkaggs
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That's entirely up to you. Most people I know murmer.
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RavenStarr
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Actually... even the way it's said is like what JB said, it all depends on the person's orthodox (Greek, Roman, Irish, etc), they all have different intensities about how things should be done... some will just silently think to themselves the little "sorry" while others will shout RF's prayer as it echoes through the whole house while flogging themselves until they pass-out (you really should do some googling on Catholics sometime... it can be interesting)...
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jimmyjazz951
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As an almost practicing Catholic fram a family of mostly practicing Catholics, it seems a simple "Lord, forgive me." followed by a mental note to hit the confessional the next time your in church. But thats south Louisianna and Texas.

[This message has been edited by jimmyjazz951 (edited March 28, 2005).]


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wbriggs
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If he's moderate, I doubt he'd go for the formal act of contrition, unless he felt really really bad. (I'm Catholic, but grew up Protestant.) I'm also a little unclear on the sin. He almost cursed God, but didn't. Sounds like he didn't actually do anything wrong. But maybe he's having a guilt attack anyway.
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Christine
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THe only thing I can tell you is that in the circumstance you describe his catholocism will have little to do with it. You're looking at a character thing, a personal thing. There are literally billions of catholics in the world and there's not a rule of thumb for this. If you want to know about the mass and what he might do, if you want to know about him going to confession, then maybe there is an answer to what most moderate catholics would do, but just standing there thinking bad things about God? The only thing I can tell you is that many catholics think of God as "Father" moreso than "Lord" or "Almighty" although all three words come up in mass and all three might come up. It's really up to you. I can't think of much that you would put in the book that would set up red flags for us Catholics out here.


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HSO
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I think I've got it sussed now. Thanks, all, you've been a huge help.

--HSO


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yanos
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Actually there are lots of Catholics in England. You must live in one of the posh areas of London. Go to Kilburn and you'll find reams of them.

That said, I don't know of any Catholics who would say the act of contrition for such an event. They might, if they felt really bad, go to confession. I went to Catholic school in the UK, and most just go through the motions. In fact, most of the Catholics I know in England can't even remember the act of contrition.


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RFLong
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I think the bottom line is: it's going to entirely depend on your character. But at least you have a wide range of actions available to him. I'd say if you have him immediately asking God for forgiveness, he's actually going to be quite devout, even if he doesn't express it openly. Otherwise he might just feel a bit guilty etc.

r


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HSO
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All right. I'll post how I handled it. If it looks really egregious, say so. Otherwise, keep in mind it's first draft -- very rough.

Setup: Walter lost his son, Jaime, 15 years ago. He's never got over it; time didn't heal the wound, only made it worse. Presently, he's in the middle of a crisis with a prank caller; what he believes to be someone calling him up on the phone and playing an audio tape of his son at four years of age.

*** start ***

God. What about him? Where was He when the school bus skidded off the icy road? Why didn’t He do something?

Walter believed he knew why: God was a cold-hearted sonofa--

Dear God, forgive me. Walter hoped his blasphemy had been suppressed in time. He would confess it to Father Praliss, but just to be sure, he murmured an act of contrition. Jaime waited for him in Heaven, and Walter would see him again. That was certain.



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Jaina
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Sounds good to me. For all my knowledge about the subject (or lack thereof... this thread taught me as much as it taught you, I think).
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Doc Brown
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HSO, your take on Catholocism is fine. Please allow me to point out something about your writing.

You have Walter asking for forgiveness before he notices that he is blaspheming. Writers use this sort of temporal confusion all the time, but I don't think that effect is what you were going for here.

Swapping the order in which things happen is a tool to help the reader share the experience when a character is in a confusing, chaotic situation (e.g. an accident, a fight). This scene is the aftermath of such a situation, the "sequel," where you usually want to go for more depth of emotion and less chaos.

I suggest you write it once with Walter realizing he is in the middle of a blasphemy, experiecing a moment of horror, then asking God's forgiveness. I think you'll find that version both smoother and more emotionally powerful. If you don't like it then you can go back to your original with no harm done, but a useful writing lesson under your belt.


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Survivor
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I don't know about Catholics, but I think bad stuff about God all the time and all I do is admit that I'm being silly about it. I don't always do this in a nice way, either. God really has a very good sense of humor since I've never been struck down for one of my "Yes, yes, You're the Almighty smarter-than-me One and never wrong no matter what..." prayers (one of the dangers of praying silently is that sometimes your words are a bit too close to what you're actually thinking rather than what you should be saying).

Okay, so I'm really not a Catholic. If I were, I'd say one of the petitions for forgiveness of sins. In Latin.

Under my breath, because that's just me


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