Did anyone else go to Catholic grade school in the 50's. Remember All Souls Day indulgences?

[Mountainman]

I think it was on All Souls Day. The nuns taught us that if you went to church on All Souls Day you got indulgences and the more times you went to church the more indulgences you would get. The indulgences were like time off for good behavior. They cut your time in purgatory down. Purgatory was the place you go when you die and you didn't have enough grace to go straight to heaven and you weren't evil enough to go to hell.

The nuns would march us into church for a few minutes then out the side door and back around into the front door for another visit. This went on all morning.

I may have some points wrong here because it was a long time ago and my memory is not what it once was but that's how I remember All Souls Day. Maybe it was on All Saints Day, I get them mixed up. But about 50 years ago today that what I was doing.

I also remember that I did not buy into that belief even as a little kid. To me it was a way to get out of regular class, so it was alright by me.

I don't understand how adults like the nuns could believe it either. I'm willing to bet that not all of them did but they were just following orders maybe.

[SharonAnn]

1. I did attend Catholic school then, but I don't remember that specific ritual.

There were lots of others, but I don't remember that specific one.

Could be that my memory is faulty, though.

[eleny]

2. I thought today was a Holy Day of Obligation and we got the day off

So it may not have been 11/1.

[Warpy]

13. It was 11/1

All Saints Day. Halloween was All Souls Day. The indulgences depended on the order running the school and I do remember one flavor of nun doing it. Otherwise, we were instructed to try to pray the souls of our dear departed out of Purgatory on that very special day.

We did get the day off from school, but we had to show up in church, so there was no way to sleep in after our sugar high the night before.

Catholicism has remained my yardstick for religious nuttiness. This was small potatoes.

[sueh]

17. All Souls Day is Nov 2.

I'm still a practicing, active Catholic. And, yes, All Souls Day is still a day to pray for the departed who are in purgatory.

[havocmom]

23. Nov 1 is All Saint's day, isn't it?

[rox63]

3. I went to Catholic school in the 70's

They must have discontinued the practice by the time I got there.

[onehandle]

8. So did I. I never heard anything about Indulgences during those years. nt

[EFerrari]

15. Maybe we used up all the indulgences by then.

:)

[TwilightGardener]

29. Same with me--don't remember indulgences.

[onehandle]

4. What does this have to do with priests touching little boys?

You can't mention Anything about Catholicism at Democratic Underground without talking about perverted priests.

It in the the rules.

Apparently.

[ret5hd]

18. I see you made sure you were the first to bring it up. So tell us, why...

did you bring it up? No one else did, till you.

[onehandle]

21. No one else brought it up yet.

And they may not because maybe I preempted them.

[ret5hd]

26. If those priests would spend their time asking for indulgences...

rather than touching little boys, the RCC wouldn't offend me as much.

(I wouldn't have done that if you hadn't brought it up. Guess that didn't work out that well for you.)

[Ignis]

35. Oh, let me guess--

It's because DU is a hotbed of anti-Christianity, isn't it?

Is it time to break out our hankies for that poor, oppressed majority religion yet?

[BOSSHOG]

5. I went through the ritual in the early 60's

I also recall fondly getting cuffed about by sexually regressed Nuns. Democracy reigned though. You will be an altar boy or sing in the choir, your decision now please. I was an altar boy, had pretty good grades so I got to do funerals on Wednesday morning. Usually got five bucks from the family. When I was about ten I had a desire to be a priest, even practiced serving Mass, but then I discovered pussy, so plans changed. The church has really pissed me off over the years, seemingly their goal now is to find a new group each week to instruct the flock to hate.

[symbolman]

31. Jesus Christ, Bosshog!

Your post is like looking in the mirror!

I remember the swing and sting of the yardstick and ruler, and acting like Spock when they beat your hand, "There is no Pain.."..

The thing I love the most is that those repressed people are Dead now, and we can share the fact that we were in some strange private Club, eh?

The truth is tho, I see a Nun in my view, I start shaking and want to punch them out.. My wife has seen it happen, actually thought of sueing the church once, but what's the point?

I still don't go to "Penguin Island" at Zoos though :)

[BOSSHOG]

32. Sister Martha Marie was about 300 years old in 1964

and I doubt if she is dead. I doubt whether she was human. She most likely is still terrorizing little boys somewhere. However, I do recall a very benevolent (and much younger) Nun who was incredibly kind and a very good instructor. No doubt, she is now dead.

[zanne]

6. I remember that!

I also remember the nuns telling us that if you pray for somebody who just died, their time in purgatory will be shorter, and the more prayers you said, the sooner they got out of there. If they were in hell, though, the prayers didn't count. The more I think about things like that, the less I think that the "Madrassas" are as fanatical as we think!

[angstlessk]

7. As I recall the indulgences were for people already dead...I recall

being taught we can pray for souls already in purgatory, but we could not pray for time off before being sent there..I went to Catholic elementary school for 8 years and the church was across the street and we went to benediction every friday during lent, and of course at any other special day.

[EFerrari]

12. That's what I remember, too. I went in the early 60s.

[malaise]

9. Didn't we have both All Souls and All Saints days?

I remember the stupid ash on my forehead. Catholicism is one hell of a cult of superstition. I've never seen so much mumbo jumbo in one institution.

I pissed off my mother as a pre-teen by refusing to kiss the bishop 'my lord' and there was no way I was kissing his stupid ring.

Gr. and spelling.

[Mountainman]

10. We had to go to mass on All Saints day then got the day off I think.

We always went to the movies to see the latest Disney flic. The other kids had school so us Catholics had the movies all to ourselves that day.

[malaise]

11. Yep that's right

We didn't go to movies during the week though.

[EFerrari]

14. I don't think we got the day off -- it would have been a real problem

in our blue collar neighborhood because there was nobody home to watch us. Iirc, we went to mass, then our teachers showed us movies in the church basement or planned some other festivity for us.

[CountAllVotes]

16. my father died 10 years ago today

and he was a half-baked Catholic. I had a candle lit for him at www.littleflower.org . :cry:

Fare you well Dad. I miss you!

[michaz]

19. I am the parish secretary here at one of the Catholic churches.

Today is All Saints Day and tomorrow is All Souls Day. I did go to the Catholic school in the 50's into the 60's. All Soul's Day is where we remember the deceased. Today we pray to the Saints and acknowledge them. Including the one's not yet saints. I know of nothing regarding the indulgences to get time off in Purgatory but I think I will ask Father about that. Today our Catholic School kids came to a special Mass, which they took part in. It was really cute and the kids were very well behaved.

[Mountainman]

24. My purpose was not to offend anyone. It is just that in my family I decided that Catholicism did no...

make sense to me and my brother became a priest. Same family background different outcomes. I am studying Buddhism now and it's basic ideas are rather the same as Catholicism.

[ourbluenation]

30. michaz - do the kids not get today off anymore? I always loved it cuz it was the day after halloween

disneyland used to make it catholic school day in the so cal. we owned that place for one day! good times.

[kestrel91316]

20. I was raised nominally Presbyterian. As you can imagine, we didn't

have any of this "superstitious nonsense". It was all somber and serious and about the spoken and written word, not rituals.....

.....which has left me as an adult very curious about Mass. Someday I want to go to a Catholic Mass just to see what it's like. But I want to do it in a very fancy, ornate Catholic cathedral.

[havocmom]

22. Did the nuns get some sort of commission on a head count for the day?

That's as silly as the anti-choice marchers who kept marching around a building housing a TV station in Phoenix to make it look like there were 5 times as many marchers as there actually were. (Now, THAT direct observation was a real education back in the 80s)

[Kingofalldems]

25. I went to Catholic school in the 50's

The only plenary indulgence I recall was if you went to Mass and Communion every first Friday for a certain period you would receive an indulgence. Never heard of the All Souls day thing.

[ChickMagic]

27. I thought that everyone went to purgatory

to await the release of the prophets by Jesus, then everyone would be judged and sorted. Where did I get this? I'm soooo confused...

[Kingofalldems]

28. We also got All Saints Day off

Don't believe they do that anymore.

[begin_within]

33. Heaven upgraded its computer system in the 1980s and sadly, lost all the indulgence data

So we have to start all over. Damn. I had built up more than 3 years' worth of indulgences, and it all got erased. So that's 3 years I'll have to spend in Hell that I really shouldn't. They won't even let me "buy back" the time.

[monmouth]

34. All I remember is the nuns with those GD clickers. Kneel, stand, kneel, stand...ugh...

The "Stations" were fun too....

[Ino]

36. LOL! I'd forgotten about the clickers!

I went to Catholic school in the 50's & 60's. I don't remember any routine for indulgences, though there was PLENTY of other nonsense.