Catholics in the South

Just dropping by to say hi. I hope everyone is doing good. God Bless!

Hi, everyone! I've been enjoying reading the discussions and thanks to cacaco for the picture. I'm trying to add a picture of "Our Lady of Katrina."

Welcome Tony9712262 . I feel for you, my friend. I'm sure you're a great defender of Christ now because of your experiences. It only reenforces my feelings that a lot of protestants that make comments like the kids did to you are nothing but hypocrites. Our real Christian brothers and sisters respect our faith and rejoice in what we have in common. Pax†

hi datingtrappists,
I am about an hour South of Knoxville and a hour North of Chattanooga. I live in McMinn County. It is such a beautiful area, after spending most of my life in crazy,crowded, noisy NJ, McMinn County TN is so wide open and quiet, I just love it.

Hi Tony9712262! I have read articles and watched on EWTN subjects based on the Early Church Fathers and Catholic apologetics but I haven't read any on my own. I would love to dig into some. I think I will check some out. I know my parish has a pretty good library. My sweet Baptist friends think the Catholic faith seems to have too many rules and regulations. I tell them that for each "rule" or "regulation" that there is; it has a purpose to help us grow in Christ and be free in Christ. Peace be with you Tony!

I am a Vietnamese Catholic living in Protestant Purgatory Georgia for about 15 years now. I was born in Pensacola, lived there for about 7 years, then moved to Georgia. Um....when I was in high school...whew. I once wore the Miraculous Medal and this girl in my class saw it, and said "ur necklace sucks." Once in my other class, this girl told me "you worship Mary" and i didn't know what to say, i stuttered cause I had no clue what to say except "we don't worship Mary' and she was like 'u bow down to statues, I call that worship." Another class, this guy asked me "why do u pray to Mary" I didn't know what to say except "Mary has special roles in heaven." LOL. Well...after encountering so many protestants on myspace, I finally took it upon myself to read Cathlic apologetics and read the Early Church Fathers. I finally know my faith now! wahoo!

Hello medrano and datingtrappists, whatevergirl,
I have no complaints, You all would love my parish. The original was built... I believe, in the early 1900's. The newer part is breathtaking as well. Wish you could see it and smack dab in the south too. I feel blessed, after I have heard of some of the more disappointing parishes that you all attend. Keep working towards the more traditional. Blessings-sambfive

Hello fellow Southerners! My name is Alfred and I am so glad to have found this group. I live in Lubbock, Texas and believe me when I tell you there is a protestant church, sect or cult at almost every 10 to 15 blocks. But as Catholics, we are proud of our faith and church and are very much visible in the community. Hope we can all be good friends.

Hello fellow Tennesseeans, Karen and Sam! I haven't posted in this group for awhile, so I'm just seeing that y'all (lol) are here in TN... I'm about an hour north of Knoxville, close to the Kentucky border. Actually, it's closer for me to go to Kentucky than it is to Knoxville. I am very, very blessed with my chosen parish. I don't attend my geographic parish for many, many reasons, most of all because the one I pray at now has the only Latin Mass in the area. It's only a 40 minute drive (and since I commute 45 minutes to school each day, that's not a long drive for me). Holy Ghost actually looks like a Church, with high altar, side altars, reredros, choir loft, pipe organ and such. The pastor, though I was a bit afraid of him at first (I picked up on that fear from those who attened Knox Catholic High when he was principal), since I've gotten to know him, I've found out what a wonderful, holy, and kind man he is. The associate, my regular confessor, is also one of a kind, as well, and is perhaps my favorite priest.

Anyways, I am a native of East TN; minus the one year I lived in Knoxville, I've lived in my little town my whole life. I've been told, though, that I'm a bit Northern in my accent, manner, and attitude towards life (whatever that means!). I am also a convert to Catholicism. For the most part, that isn't a problem with most people. I have had a couple of words with Southern Baptists and Evangelicals (very few... once I started practicing apologetics, I scared them off), but the most flack I get is from self-called and so-called "recovering Catholics".

As for those who don't want to move where they don't know anyone... well, most Southerners I know don't know a stranger. I can't tell you how many times even in a week I will have a conversation with someone who I have never met before. There are some drawbacks about living in the South, and especially around here, but the benefits, in my humble opinion, FAR outweigh the drawbacks.

Hi cacaco, one of the things I dislike about ''churches'' here in the south, is that they seem to want to get away from the beauty and tradition of authentic Catholic mass. It bothers me, as well. I attend a parish now, that is very reverent, but it's a blossoming parish, so we don't even have an actual building yet. We are worshipping within a store front. I suppose it doesn't matter, to a degree, but in some of the other parishes we have attended, they looked like conference halls I'd go to for business. No kneelers. I asked one of the priests last year about this, and he said that it is perfectly acceptable to stand after Communion, and during the Consecration. It is acceptable in the GIRM, according to him. I think it's just a way for these parishes to get away from the authentic traditions of the Church. And why is that? Why would they want to change things like that? I agree, it is a big change. We are strongly considering moving back to PA...It has been one of my biggest problems with Florida, that their parishes are just too modern, sterile, and lack authenticity of the Church's traditions. People don't move to the south for anything but better weather, and the ''hope'' of an easier life. When you actually live here, it's not an easier lifestyle, yes, I'm not driving on black ice, or worrying about a blizzard, but the traffic, the accidents, the tolls, the road construction, the lack of authentic Catholic parishes...and on and on...it is not a place to move to if your Catholic faith really matters to you, because it is not practiced as it should be here, if you ask me. It's a little disconcerting.