I have always wondered about some of the gestures I see at Mass ? the making of the sign of the cross at the Gospel, bowing at the Creed and shaking hands for the sign of peace. Where do these come from? Are they required or options, since some people do not do them? ? A reader in Leesburg
Can a person who is impotent or infertile get married in the Catholic Church?
As cited in the Catechism (No. 2043), the Precepts of the Church maintain that each person has the duty to support the material needs of the Church.
Many years ago, I had an abortion. After many years as a lapsed Catholic, I returned to the Church and to confession. The abortion sin was confessed to a chaplain while I was in the hospital. Although he said something about abortion carrying with it an excommunication, he gave me absolution. I gave it no additional thought and continued to receive the sacraments (Communion, Reconciliation, and even remarriage within the Church.) It wasn?t until recently that I read something about the "rite" of removing an excommunication that I began to fear I had done and continue to do something wrong.
My elderly mother always has Masses offered for deceased relatives on the anniversary of their deaths. Where did this practice come from and is it important?
