I have seen various pictures of Jesus with his heart exposed and various people outside the church will often ask what does that mean. I don't remember ever being taught what it exactly meant. They could have explained it in catholic school growing up and being a young child I wasn't paying attention. I remember seeing a painting maybe in my grandparents house or maybe it was a statue. Honestly I really can not remember, but later on I bought a small plaque from the dollar store with a picture of the Sacred Heart Of Jesus. Yes that's right I said dollar store and not in a religious book store.
Going back to when I was younger growing up in the Catholic Church it was very quiet in the summer time. We were out of school at Saint Thomas The Apostle in Rochester New York. That is where I went to school and graduated from 8th grade. It was usually very hot in the summer and I can remember going to Mass on a Sunday and sweating like crazy. Of course eventually they had air conditioning and that made it a little more comfortable. If you rode your bicycle around the school the parking lot was empty and the church was quiet. If you went to confession on a Thursday there were some people, but not many. I my self when I was a little older liked to go to the early Mass on Sunday, because it was cooler and then I had the rest of the day to relax. What can I say , I was a kid.
Now when I think about it as an adult it would be a good time to maybe sit down and read the Bible. I know when I was in my early twenties I did just that. Of course at that time my journey had taken me into the Pentecostal church. I did a lot of soul searching in those days. I was dating my wife at that time and learning things I had never thought of. We were married in the Pentecostal, did leave after I realized that certain things were just not right. We then were in the Lutheran church while my children were very young, but eventually decided I had to come back to the Catholic Church after hearing things about the Eucharist that were not right. I did a lot of searching, reading the Bible and found lots of books on the Catholic Church. I studied the history of religion that brought me back to the catholic church. I read about the Early Church Fathers after listening to the Journey Home on EWTN. I learned about various people that had come back to the church and some that left other religions and came to the Catholic Church. I ran into situations with other non Catholics and wanted to know how to answer their questions or how to correct them when they had some incorrect view on the Catholic Church. There is a lot of incorrect information going around about the Catholic Church. I believe it is time for us to stand up as Catholics and testify to the true beliefs of the Catholic Church. I never want to put down someone or make them feel bad. I would rather give them the correct information, tell them about books or guide them to someone that can explain various things within the Catholic Church.
There are plenty of books out there that will explain all the different traditions in the Catholic Church. There are also books such as the Catholic Catechism that will explain many things with the Catholic Church. I would suggest that anyone buy the Catholic Encyclopedia, because it has a wealth of information. There are also various books that explain the origins of the Catholic Church. I would also look into various Catholic Bibles especially the Catholic Study Bibles. You can also look into getting books on the Early Church Fathers. This
can be very interesting when reading about various people that were directly associated with the Apostles. There are also plenty of books on the Saints, so you can learn who they were and what they were doing. There are also loads of information on the internet as well. Just make sure that whatever you read has been written by a Catholic.
Thank You For Reading and God Bless.
Do you need a Catholic Medal for a specific reason. There are many different kinds of medals in the Catholic faith. Most of the time the medals are of various saints. It may be the saint that you chose at your confirmation. Sometimes it may be a saint that a family member always asked for them to pray for the person. We do not worship the medal or the individual on the medal. It is only to remind us of who the person is and what they did during there life on earth.
Four Way Cross
Four Way Cross
Another favorite of mine is the crucifix. The crucifix in itself is not a medal. It is to remind
us that Jesus Christ was crucified, died and rose from the dead. I know some people see the crucifix and say that is bad, because we crucify Jesus over and over again. This is simply not true, it just to remind us that he was crucified on the cross for the forgiveness of sins for all of us as well as what I said in the beginning of the paragraph. Now there are some crosses called the four way cross. This is a devotional cross and has been worn by Christians throughout the earliest of centuries.
On the four way cross is the sacred heart medal, St Joseph medal, St Christopher medal and the Miraculous Medal. On the back of the medal is the message I am Catholic, please call a Priest in case the wearer of the medal is found unconscious and in critical condition. There are other four way crosses that simply say on the Back Pray For Us.
Crucifix
The Miraculous medal is another medal that has been around since July 1830. Here is the story below.
"By what intervention and through what vessel did the Blessed Mother convey the design of this medal? As in the case of The Divine Mercy revelations to St. Faustina, a young, unassuming nun in 1930s Poland, once again God chose an unlikely helper. Nearly 100 years earlier, He selected a 24-year-old novice in the community of Sisters known as the Daughters of Charity, Paris, France, in 1830.
The extraordinary story begins on the night of July 18, 1830, when a mysterious child awakens Sister Catherine Laboure. The child leads her to the convent's chapel. There, Sister Catherine sees the Virgin Mary, sitting in a chair. She kneels beside Mary, and rests her hands in the Virgin's lap. The two speak for several hours. During the conversation, Mary promises she will return and give the young nun "a mission." The child leads Catherine back to her bed. Catherine hears the clock strike 2 a.m., July 19.
A little more than four months later, Sister Catherine learns what Mary wants.
During her evening meditation on Nov. 27, 1830, Catherine has a vision of Mary standing in a position similar to the depiction on the medal. Later, the vision changes to include the inscription found on the front side of the medal.
Mary speaks to Catherine, saying, "Have a medal struck upon this model. Those who wear it will receive great graces, especially if they wear it around their neck."
There are many different medals for the individual to choose from. Some of the medals may be for a certain devotion. There are also catholic medals from different communities within the Roman Catholic Faith. My advise is to learn about the specific medal you are going to wear. That way if someone confronts you with incorrect information you can give them the correct information so other people will understand the truth.
![Sacred heart of Jesus in Arco 2](http://commons.wikimedia.org rel="no follow"/wiki/File%3ASacred_heart_of_Jesus_in_Arco_2.jpg)
I have seen various pictures of Jesus with his heart exposed and various people outside the church will often ask what does that mean. I don't remember ever being taught what it exactly meant. They could have explained it in catholic school growing up and being a young child I wasn't paying attention. I remember seeing a painting maybe in my grandparents house or maybe it was a statue. Honestly I really can not remember, but later on I bought a small plaque from the dollar store with a picture of the Sacred Heart Of Jesus. Yes that's right I said dollar store and not in a religious book store.
Going back to when I was younger growing up in the Catholic Church it was very quiet in the summer time. We were out of school at Saint Thomas The Apostle in Rochester New York. That is where I went to school and graduated from 8th grade. It was usually very hot in the summer and I can remember going to Mass on a Sunday and sweating like crazy. Of course eventually they had air conditioning and that made it a little more comfortable. If you rode your bicycle around the school the parking lot was empty and the church was quiet. If you went to confession on a Thursday there were some people, but not many. I my self when I was a little older liked to go to the early Mass on Sunday, because it was cooler and then I had the rest of the day to relax. What can I say , I was a kid.
Now when I think about it as an adult it would be a good time to maybe sit down and read the Bible. I know when I was in my early twenties I did just that. Of course at that time my journey had taken me into the Pentecostal church. I did a lot of soul searching in those days. I was dating my wife at that time and learning things I had never thought of. We were married in the Pentecostal, did leave after I realized that certain things were just not right. We then were in the Lutheran church while my children were very young, but eventually decided I had to come back to the Catholic Church after hearing things about the Eucharist that were not right.
There are plenty of books out there that will explain all the different traditions in the Catholic Church. There are also books such as the Catholic Catechism that will explain many things with the Catholic Church. I would suggest that anyone buy the Catholic Encyclopedia, because it has a wealth of information. There are also various books that explain the origins of the Catholic Church. I would also look into various Catholic Bibles especially the Catholic Study Bibles. You can also look into getting books on the Early Church Fathers. This 
can be very interesting when reading about various people that were directly associated with the Apostles. There are also plenty of books on the Saints, so you can learn who they were and what they were doing. There are also loads of information on the internet as well. Just make sure that whatever you read has been written by a Catholic.
Do you need a Catholic Medal for a specific reason. There are many different kinds of medals in the Catholic faith. Most of the time the medals are of various saints. It may be the saint that you chose at your confirmation. Sometimes it may be a saint that a family member always asked for them to pray for the person. We do not worship the medal or the individual on the medal. It is only to remind us of who the person is and what they did during there life on earth.
us that Jesus Christ was crucified, died and rose from the dead. I know some people see the crucifix and say that is bad, because we crucify Jesus over and over again. This is simply not true, it just to remind us that he was crucified on the cross for the forgiveness of sins for all of us as well as what I said in the beginning of the paragraph. Now there are some crosses called the four way cross. This is a devotional cross and has been worn by Christians throughout the earliest of centuries. 
On the four way cross is the sacred heart medal, St Joseph medal, St Christopher medal and the Miraculous Medal. On the back of the medal is the message I am Catholic, please call a Priest in case the wearer of the medal is found unconscious and in critical condition. There are other four way crosses that simply say on the Back Pray For Us.
There are many different medals for the individual to choose from. Some of the medals may be for a certain devotion. There are also catholic medals from different communities within the Roman Catholic Faith. My advise is to learn about the specific medal you are going to wear. That way if someone confronts you with incorrect information you can give them the correct information so other people will understand the truth.