Yes, and keep in mind.

You know what, I went to Catholic school for 8 years.

Not once was it ever mentioned about the red candle meaning Jesus was present in the Eucharist. It was just another candle to us, and held no special meaning.

How’d they leave that out of our teachings?

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Okay, that’s mind boggling as well. I feel let down since I was an altar boy for 7-8 years too. That candle was always just lit, we never needed to care about it. That should’ve been mentioned, but not knowing sex before marriage was a sin is unreal.

Glad I left all that malarkey behind

Yes

Huh? That’s one of the lessons I had spanked into me. North Country, NY. circa 1982.

(That’s a Huh? of surprise. Not dismissing/discounting your experience)

Eta: clarification and seplling.

The number of people who have get a "Catholic" (or any other religious) education and graduate without knowing even basic matters of theology is bizarre. This goes all the way through the university level! I have a hard time understanding what someone even means when they say they hold a particular religious affiliation when they know nothing about why their church runs the way it does. These same people often rely on their religion for moral and political guidance and it makes no sense.

Yep. 82-95. K-7 school, 6-12 altar boy. Never once heard that. We learned the names like apse and sacristy and all that. But never was told what the red candle meant.

Honestly.

I’m atheist now (GASP! Someone raised Catholic who is now atheist?! How rare lol) and I can guarantee I’ve learned more about religion and the Bible and all that on my journey to becoming an atheist than I did in all those years of daily religion classes and twice-weekly masses.

Yes, by all means. It's in Polish Hill, not hard to find. An interesting church for sure, and unique.

It is on Troy Hill…Not quite the same place.

Up until university, really, kids don't really have a huge say in where they're going to school, and the choice of a religious education is up to the parents. As for why parents might choose a religious school for their kids, it could be physically closer to home or work; public schools in the area could range from abysmal to subpar; or any other sort of non-religious reason. I've not known the local religious schools to be exclusive to members of their faith, either, so ultimately the proportion of religiously interested and theologically educated students coming out of these schools is really low, I'd guess 10-20%.

I went to visit once and was informed by the nice lady in the rectory that the church was closed because it was the day of the week when they perform exorcisms there, and that this is where the diocese performs them. Talk about something I never learned in catholic school

I have 18 years (grade school, high school, college) of Catholic school education, and I also did not know this.

I would recommend listening to the audio tour before you go. I listen to it in the car afterward and about bust a gut when they said that the stations of the Cross were and I quote anatomically correct.

is it bad that even though i was raised jewish, i learned about the red candle during grade school, mostly because my friend's mum said i shouldnt bow since i wasnt baptised?

Boney Tony's Skeletal Emporium? You sure can!

I was an alter boy all my teenage years at a small suburban Catholic church and let me describe what was drilled into me :

The "rules" were the church, if it was just like empty, was fine to walk in front of the altar. But when the Eucharist was present, you had to genuflect in front of the altar. A lot of people honestly did it all the time, because the ins and outs of the monotonous ceremony made it hard to remember when to do it, so better safe than sorry.

Anyway, we'd proceed in carrying a cross and candles in dramatic fashion. Stand, kneel, stand, kneel, stand.

And now a reading from the book of boring. And a 2nd reading. Now the priest will give a homily about how one of the boring stories reflects on modern life, as much as he can being a Catholic priest at least.

Then it's time to say an Our Father, and shake hands with everyone around you. Really gets a sense of community going.

And now, for our main act - take it away on the organ! Pass the collection basket around! OK now just to be sure we didn't miss anyone, pass it around a second time! Get all that guilt out folks, into the collection basket.

Now that you've given us our money, here comes the wafers and wine, some light refreshment. We carry it up with the priest and sprinkle some water on his hands to "wash" them (ew), and assume position on the bells.

"Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us." in as monotone as possible. Now come get your snacks!

OK a few announcements, we have a coffee klatch next Sunday so everyone bring your dozen donuts.

Finally : "You may go in peace". And with 300% more enthusiasm than any other part of the rhythmic chanting through the entire mass, everyone responds "Thanks be to God!". And then you wait for 20 aisles of old people slowly to file out - shaking the hands of the priest on the way out, who has just basically touched everyone's mouth.

I grew up going to the church next to it, I got to go in there relatively a lot. It is really cool, and I still think that even though I’m not religious any more. If I were you I would definitely check it out, it’s really cool.

Probably their parents are Catholic, and they go home and go to church on Easter and Christmas. They don't care about memorizing the ceremony or all the rules, because honestly it's pretty boring, and let's be honest if they really believed they would go every Sunday and practice. "God is good, and Mom wants me to go" is good enough.

My parents made me go to church every Sunday, CCD class every week, was an altar boy, did all the sacraments. Up until Confirmation, which they told me to make my own choice - and I did. They never brought it up again, or nagged me to go to church. They still say grace at holiday dinners, but are cool with us not doing the song and dance and just bowing our heads respectfully.

Know what’s bizarre to me? The number of Catholics who are suddenly concerned about “obscure dogma virtual signaling” above all other aspects of being Catholic.

I genuinely do not know what you mean by this comment.

Yeah, I understand all of this. But despite that a lot of people claim to hold a particular religious affiliation and predicate huge portions of their lives around it (even those who rarely attend church and aren't getting their dogma from a particular preacher). I'm saying that I truly do not know what is meant by "I am a Lutheran" or "I am a Catholic" (or literally any other sect or religion) when it is said by people who don't know what their sect believes.

I know. But I am Catholic, educated by Catholic priests and nuns. We were taught the rules. We learned the mass. But we were also taught the value of welcoming new people — openness, of bringing Christ into our lives outside of church, and if respecting other denominations and faiths. Suddenly everyone is concerned about conservative dress and posting “SILENCE” signs everywhere. My priest growing up would prop the door open during mass to let the world in and let Christ out. Have a Pop Warner football game after church? Wear your uniform to mass and blend church with the rest of your life. Let that baby talk during mass. He’s the future of our faith community. The openness was beautiful. Now anyone who veers from robotic adoration in silence with properly folded hands is disrespectful and judged. I’m Catholic just as much as you but I am not on board this crazy train. Maybe the energy directed to all of these proper adoration sessions would be better directed to volunteering at Catholic Services and bringing Christ into the community.

I'm an atheist who was raised Lutheran, so I think that's worth saying first.

Second, I think that you're missing my point. I'm saying that if one let's their Catholicism (or as I've recurrently said, and other sect or religion) guide their politics or their daily interactions with others, but fundamentally knows nothing about what their church believes, I don't understand them.

You talk a lot about openness and respect, but your church doctrine fundamentally is not about either of those things. Even at communion, the blood is no longer poured out "for all", but "for many". Your church believes that some how mortals need to earn their way to the grace of God through worldly acts. So, worldly acts need to be in accordance with the kinds of things God likes and opposed to those things he despises. If you don't understand what those kinds of acts really are, but spout on about what nations need to do to be more godly, I do not know what you're basing your politics on other than what you personally feel is good or bad.

So only when the candle is lit? How do they know?

I have SO MANY questions

OK. We're talking past each other, and I'm pretty sure no one else on this subReddit about Pittsburgh matters needs to hear more about our informed religious views.

Please observe an air of sensitivity and decorum while we show you magic fingerbones

Me too

Thanks. It's been a while since I was there.