Catholic for Dummies By Victoria Chavez

In the 16th Century there were two main Christian religions, the Catholics and the Protestants, who broke away from the Roman Rite in the middle of the century. As Highland Scots or Irish, we would be Roman Catholic and should act accordingly at faire. Since very few people who play these two nationalities are actually practicing Catholics in mundane life, I have written a brief laundry list of things to know about the Church that will help you portray a Catholic character.
Religion was a larger part of the Elizabethan's lives than it is in ours. It was
evident if you were a Papist or a Reformer and following some of these guidelines will help you look more Catholic. Feel free to use some of these little nuances to make your character more believable, however, I can't vouch for the complete accuracy of this list since I am not documenting sources and it is really just scattered bits of information from my own knowledge in the Church. Good luck!

1. Sign of the cross- This is the first and most important thing to do, this singles us out as Catholics even if you can't do anything else. Always goes forehead, breastbone, left shoulder then right. you should touch each of them briefly and lightly with your three of your fingers (index, middle and ring) not your thumb (you'll look like you're pounding on yourself ). This is an appropriate action before AND after a prayer, after seeing something that might make you question your faith or sobriety, when mentioning a dead person, and during Mass. The words are simple: "In the name of the Father (touch forehead) and the Son (touch breastbone) and the Holy Spirit (left then right shoulder) Amen" In Latin (and we might know this if we knew ANY Latin) "in nomine Patrius et Filius et Spiritus Sancti Amen"

2. We owe our religious allegiance to our Holy Father in Rome. During the 16th century there were three Popes, we usually just refer to His Holiness, Pope Clement since two of the three were named this.

3. Simple prayers:
Grace- Bless'd is our Lord for these, thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hail Mary- Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Our Father (The Lord's Prayer, Catholic version)- Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Glory Be- Glory be to the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, now and everlasting. Amen.


4. Oaths-
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph" (use sparingly, even we considered this a wee bit
blasphemous)
"Sweet Mary mother of Christ"
"Holy Mother in heaven"
You may also call upon any Saint at any given time. Any biblical ones are appropriate; Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, Timothy, Paul, and Anne. Other period saints are Michael (archangel and patron saint of War), Brigid (favorite Irish female saint), Margaret (11th century Scottish queen later canonized) Christopher (patron saint of Travelers) Patrick (Welshman that came to Ireland to Christianize them). Feel free to invoke any of them or the whole Holy Family.

5.We do not kneel except at prayer. When we pray we do remove large weapons (swords, shields and such), men remove head covers, and kneel on both knees with heads bowed.

6. We do NOT believe in divorce, in England that was the deciding factor for King Henry VIII to break the country's ties with the Mother Church in Rome.

7. The rosary is a wee bit complex, it is basically a form of meditated prayer where you repeat a series of prepared prayers (see above for simple prayers) using the beads as a guide. the crucifix at the bottom marks the beginning and is a sign of the cross. Directly above it is a single bead, this is the marker for an Our Father. Next is a series of three beads together, these are three Hail Marys. Next, another single bead representing a Glory Be. We move then clockwise following the series of ten beads, each representing Hail Marys, this is called a decade, in between each decade is a single bead where the
faithful contemplates one of the four mysteries. This is complicated and it isn't necessary to know when faking a rosary for theatrical purposes, just pause here and continue with the next decade until you reach the end.

8.We call church "Mass", I don't know why, we just do, the pastors in our church are called "priests" and do NOT marry, they are celibate.

9.We don't usually accept the whole premarital sex thing, if you get a lass with child, you marry her. End of discussion.

10. We believe the Holy Trinity are THREE SEPERATE people, the Protestants believe they are one in the same.

11. We honor the Virgin Mary more than the Protestants do. We probably mention her more than anyone else would. Women strived to be more like her in their daily life and men turned to her as a motherly figure in times of need. Refer to her once in a while for theatrical sake. If you're a woman, it makes a great insult to sarcastically call an acquaintance you're having an argument with "the Virgin Mary." To do so implies her virtue isn't intact.

12. Women cover their hair after marriage. It was a Papal law that "impure women" should cover their hair. A woman should not be "impure" until the morning after her wedding (see #9).

13. Cross dressing was also looked down upon greatly by the Church. Women would not wear men's clothing (this means no women wearing kilts) nor vice-versa. After the whole Joan of Arc thing, the Bishops could not get her on anything without proof, she was instead charged with being a "moral deviant" because it was known that she dressed like a man to fight in battle. This was against the Church's laws about gender roles (I know, a wee bit unfair, but we can't go changing history in the name of social reform).

These are only some small elements of playing a Catholic at faire, any specific questions should be directed to someone who knows about the faith from firsthand experience.