Beautiful Things About Being A Catholic

Here is a list of “15 Really Awesome Things About Being Catholic.”

1.) Confession

One of the great things about being a Catholic is the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or Confession, as it’s popularly known. Confession is a spiritual powerhouse. It gives an opportunity for us to accept our faults and failures, hear the words of forgiveness, and then set out on a new start. Saying we’re sorry and commencing again – it’s something we all need to do once-in-awhile.

2.) The Rosary

Saint John Paul said that the Rosary “is a prayer of great relevance, destined to bring forth a harvest of holiness,” and indeed it has. A prayer unique to Catholics, the Rosary combines meditation on the lives of Jesus and Mary with the recitation of familiar prayers. Through the centuries the Rosary has strengthened Christians going into battle, brought families together, and comforted devout Catholics in times of crisis. The Rosary – so simple, so powerful, and so Catholic!


3.) Saints

Catholics embrace their saints, as favorite, if sometimes eccentric, members of our spiritual family. We turn to the saints for motivation and we turn to them for assistance. Looking for a lost item? Call St. Anthony. Worried about your sick puppy? St. Francis is there to help. Trying to sell a house? Bury St. Joseph. (And then scarf down a zeppole for good measure.) Any Catholic worthy of the name has a favorite saint or two.


4.) Blessings

“The celebration of blessings holds a privileged place among all the sacramentals of the Church for the pastoral rewards of the people of God.” (The Book of Blessings) In other words, Catholics love their blessings. We bless people, pets, homes, cars, meals, religious items and just about anything else. A blessing doesn’t change the nature of the item. It simply shows that it’s dedicated to a religious purpose. It just makes us feel better.


5.) Music

Catholics have a rich tradition of liturgical music. It begins with the heritage of Gregorian chant, a gift of the Church to the world, and moves on to beloved Catholic hymns that many of us grew up singing – the Salve Regina, “Holy God We Praise thy Name,” Tantum Ergo, “Jesus, My Lord, my God, my All.” Catholic congregations aren’t known to be great singers, but when we do, we have an extensive songbook to select from.

6.) Eucharist

In John 6, Jesus clearly outlines that the Eucharist really, truly, is Him. It's crazy that the God of the universe finds it important to dwell within us during each Holy Mass! Just another proof that our God loves us to no end.

7.) Jesus Himself is the founder

We also have a line of Popes that has not been broken since the very first pope, St. Peter, who was appointed by Christ himself.





8.) We are universal.
When a Catholic travels, they can be assured that there will be a Catholic Church there! A year ago, I traveled to see Pope Francis in Philadelphia and it was the most amazing experience to be there with so many diverse people. We are One faith!

9.) There are hundreds of devotionals to choose from.There are so many different ways to express the Catholic faith! There's the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, songs, Liturgy of the Hours, anything! Each devotional has a different meaning, but they are all ways to grow in relationship with Christ.




10.) We have a bunch of really cool holy sites to travel to!
Like Mexico, Portugal and France, just to name a few. There's plenty of places even in the United States, like Holy Hill, National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians, in Wisconsin!

11.) We love beauty and art.



Art has always held a prominent place in Catholicism; it was used as a tool for teaching about the faith before people were literate! For centuries, the Catholic Church could claim all of the famous artists of the past. Michelangelo, Raphael and all of the other Renaissance greats painted many works of art for the Church! Even in more recent times, Antoni Gaudi, designed the beautiful Sagrada Familia that is still in construction today!

12.) One word: Adoration.



13.) WE have thousands of Saints and We celebrate different Saint's feast day almost every day!
It's like having a best friend always at your side. St. Anthony has helped me so many times to find lost things and St. Francis de Sales helps calm my anxiety.

Feast days are awesome! Usually they are in remembrance of some type of event or person. The feast days of saints are typically on the anniversary of their death, which is celebrated as a birthday into Heaven! They are celebrated by a Mass and sometimes there are different traditions that go into feast days, like leaving shoes out on the Feast of St. Nicholas, and water when we celebrate Saint John the Baptist's feast day.

14.) We love candles.

We lit candles when we offer prayers for particular petitions. Don't even get me started about the candles. We really like fire.






15.) Mary is not only Jesus's mother, but our mother too.

In John 19:26, Jesus said "Behold, your mother!" while he was dying on the cross. Those words were not only meant for the apostle John, but for all of us. Mary takes care of us as if we were her very own flesh and blood.

Catholicism truly is a gift from our heavenly Father.