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Reception Desk!

Important Notice: Items herein are not comprehensive and are subject to change at any time without notice. We do not guarantee the availability of any section / page / topic / feature / posts / etc. We make no guarantees whatsoever regarding any item herein. Posting / advertising / donating / use of site / is subject to all terms / requirements / limits / etc. All use of this site is at your own risk and is subject to our terms of use. By using this site you agree to all our terms. For more terms information, see "Notices" below and click here. 

Welcome, First Time Visitor! 

Note: Click on the links below for further information. For your convenience, this screen stays when you click these links so that you do not lose your place. Simply close the other windows to return to this page.

We're so glad you stopped by. Please let me begin by telling you a little more about us. Please click here to read about us and about this site (when finished, close the window).

Please note that in order to maintain the quality of this site, we require that all users adhere to certain rules. Click here for our Code of Conduct. Use of this site (and related materials) also requires agreement to our terms of use (click here). Note that by using this site (or related materials), you indicate agreement to all our terms.

This site is comprised of various sections in which you can share your experiences, tips, etc. as well as learn from the experience, tips, etc. of others. There is so much to do here! You may announce births, request prayers, tell others about favorite saints and answered prayers, review and share Catholic books, seek volunteer opportunities, learn more about your faith, and even list your pets' names on our St. Francis page. You may also find crossword puzzles, share unneeded items, tell about favorite Catholic churches and priests, meet Catholic friends, and more. I hope you will stay a while. Please look around, add your comments, and spend some time in a "safe" Catholic environment. 

If you are not sure what you want to do first, why not consider the 'Not Sure What You Want?' page (click here). This page may help you find activities, facts, things to do, things to read, etc. It may help you receive assistance with this site, submit tips, learn new prayers, learn more about the Blessed Virgin, the Church, search for information, and more. Also, you might like our 'quick guide' (click here). If you have an idea of what you'd like, you might instead consider the General A - Z Index which may contain over 10,000 entries (click here). If you want a lift or want to learn more about your faith, why not consider learning from Saints, Doctors of the Church, Popes, etc.? You'll find thousands and thousands of quotations - called "Reflections" - on this site from Popes, Saints, Doctors of the Church, Councils, Theologians, Church Fathers, Canon Law, Catechisms, Scripture, and more (click here). 

You can conveniently find these and other items using the various indexes and helps that are available on this site (click here) or by visiting the various sections on this site and exploring what they have to offer. We think you will find the conveniently categorized content on this site to be helpful in finding just what you want quickly and easily. Note that while some content on this site is "permanent" (e.g. content we provide), other content (e.g. user posts) may be subject to frequent change [we may employ 'automatic scheduling' to keep user-supplied content fresh]. 

With regard to user-supplied content, we hope you will appreciate that we ask only the 'well-catechized' to post on matters of doctrine and want all posts to be in full accord with the perennial Magisterium. For your protection, our goal is to offer high quality content - unlike many blogs and newsgroups which are often peppered with offensive comments / uneducated opinions / pointless posts / etc. We hope you will find the content here to be "safe", as our goal is to filter submissions for you and require adherence to our code of conduct. Also, unlike other formats, which may be unstructured and hard to follow, we seek to provide an organized structure with easy to locate content. Further, unlike many e-mail lists and blogs, there is no "endless scrolling" through unimportant information and no long threads to follow - each post should stand alone. 

We also think you'll appreciate the fact that this site has no membership, registration, or joining requirements! There are no passwords to remember, no special software is required, and there is no membership to maintain. You may freely contribute posts or simply browse at your own option. For those who submit posts, you may contribute them with no future commitment. Even if you are not interested in user posts, you will still find a wealth of orthodox Catholic information throughout this site in a wide variety of topics. We hope you will find this information to be a useful reference.

* make use of 'oversized' text in various areas (which makes it easier on the eyes)

* often use serif fonts (which are also easier on the eyes)

* try to avoid very wide-screen displays of text which can be difficult to follow

* use "convenient, consistent" formatting, often with large headlines so that you may quickly locate what most interests you

* are 'well-organized' and offer various ways to quickly search for and find meaningful information

We also encourage conciseness/succinctness and prevent posts from getting excessively long by setting maximum character limits for most fields and requesting that previous posts not be re-quoted, and we make the site easy to navigate by keeping standard links on the top, bottom, and side of many pages as well as providing a somewhat uniform format throughout the site.

And furthermore, you'll be glad to know that we do not charge you to use this site! For other reasons why you'll love this site, click here.    

In keeping with our goal of providing a comfortable, easy-to-use website, the site's main section pages are easily accessed from the side border (available on many pages throughout this site). Simply click on a link to visit the section (scroll up to view the side border). We also think you will appreciate the non-commercial appearance of this site since most sections are non-commercial and do not contain (paid) third party advertisements.+

Since we do not charge you to use this site, you may be wondering what keeps us going. This site is financially supported by donations and nominally priced advertisements (processing fees currently start from as low as $9.95 to $24.95*). Ads are located in specifically designated commercial areas and may feature generous 'target cycles' (e.g. 1 month to one year*). These advertisements do not affect the non-commercial content of site since they are located only in certain commercial areas of the site. To view these ads, click on the applicable buttons and links on the side border (scroll up). You will find a link to the MCS Directory ["Your all-in-one resource from 'Advertising' to 'Wholesalers'"] near the top of the screen which covers dozens of categories as well as Sales & Specials listings ["Valuable, money-saving offers listed by product/service type and by offer type"] in a variety of categories. Also, links to Classified Ads ["Convenient Classifieds from 'Announcements' to 'Wanted'"] are located at the side of the screen (scroll up). If you enjoy this site and wish to become a sponsor, please visit here for information on sponsorships. To donate, click here. If you know of a business that might like to advertise here, please invite them. If you have an item or service to sell, please consider placing your own ad. Note that we offer free ads for qualifying Catholic organizations. [Note: Various items referenced above are no longer available. For more information, try here.]

Also, there are ways that you can support this site which don't cost any money at all, such as visiting often, telling your friends, praying for us, linking to us, etc. These ways of support are very important to us and greatly appreciated. For more information on no-cost and low-cost ways to keep this site going, please click here.

Also very important to this site are your contributions of information, or "posts". It's easy! To add a post, first go to the desired section and click on the "Add" link (usually towards the top of each section). Type in the relevant information according to the instructions and click the "Submit" button once to submit your post. After a short time, your post may appear on the site for others to read. This is a great way to share your experiences with others. To help keep this site "safe" and to assist in maintaining high quality content, posts may be subject to review (click here for more information). Please also keep in mind that there are posting rules and posting limits which must be adhered to. For more information, consider the following links...

* For a list of sections that accept posts, click here

* For information on where to post, click here 

* For guidelines / tips on submitting information, click here

* For information on the maximum number of submissions that are allowed per day / section / etc., click here

* For timetable information (e.g. to see how long posts might remain on this site), click here

* For information on why some posts might be subject to auto-rejection, click here

* To view / search existing posts, try here

* For information on our current update status (e.g. delays / alerts / etc.), try here

* For assistance regarding problems with posts, try here 

* For questions regarding posting, try here

* For terms information, click here

* For more help, try here

Please feel free to submit posts frequently, according to the guidelines provided. Again, despite the term "contribute", all posts in non-commercial sections are added completely free of charge. Also note that that while we welcome Catholics & non-Catholics to visit this site, non-Catholics may only post in certain areas (click here for more information).

You should also note that the system date / time may affect the content on this site. If the date / time are significantly off, we ask that this be reported to us. Note that the system date / time is based on the server date / time and is NOT based on your computer or your location. The server time may be on any applicable time zone (e.g. Eastern, Central, Pacific, etc.). Differences between the server's time zone and your actual time zone are to be expected and are not considered technical problems. Please do not report such differences to us. To check the system date / time, click here. If the system date / time is persistently and significantly off - and not as a result of time zone differences - consider reporting this matter to us (refer to our feedback page for instructions). Note: Please do NOT report that the clock image above is off - this image is for decorative purposes only and does not reflect the actual system date / time. For actual system date / time, click here.

Also note that, if desired, you may include your e-mail address when you submit posts so that others can contact you, but you usually do not have to include this information. If you do provide your e-mail address or other contact information, it will be accessible to many persons - including all those who have access to the Internet. If you are unsure about including your e-mail address, you should omit it. Note that we do not require that you register to use this site and understand that privacy is a concern. Click here to view our privacy statement. Note that we recommend a cautious approach to personal information - including e-mail addresses - for your own protection. Note: For more information regarding e-mail (including 'Did an e-mail really come from us?'), click here.

If you want, you may "start small" and just visit a section or two. Note that posting in the "Announcements" and "Prayer Requests" sections may be particularly simple. Eventually, we hope you'll visit all the sections of this site. Should you ever need a helping hand, you'll be glad to know that we offer extensive help. Simply click on the link labeled "Help" which may be found at the top of the screen (and also on the side border). Note: Scroll up to the top to find this link. You may also use this site's search page or convenient indexes to locate the information you desire. 

You will also not want to miss certain items which should be reviewed each time you visit this site (e.g. to be informed of important happenings / planned outages / alerts / etc.). To view "don't miss" items such as The MCS Daily Digest, MCS Calendar, Notices, Site Update Page, What's New, Featured Sections, Coming Soon, etc., click on the applicable links above or on the side border (scroll up to view) or at the top or bottom of the page. Note that the Daily Digest contains an assortment of topical information, quotes, trivia, etc. and is automatically updated every day. Be sure to visit daily!

Please also keep in mind that we have included a variety of standard links on many pages throughout this site both at the top of the screen and at side of the screen (scroll up), and also at the very bottom of the screen. These links can help you report problems, get help, invite friends, and more. They make navigating this site a breeze!

We hope you have found this brief introduction helpful and will find that you are soon able to get the most out of your time here. Before going, please also consider the following...

Additional Information / Assistance (click link to view):

* FAQs [Note: This page may take a while to load, please be patient]

* Did You Know?

* Technical Assistance [Includes System Requirements/Recommendations]

* Acknowledgements

* Imprimatur Information

* Search Tips

If you like what you see here...

* Join our mailing list

* Bookmark us

* Make us your default home page

* Donate from $1 [Click here for 'What Your Donation Can Do']

* Invite your friends

* Link to us

* More...

Don't know where to start?

* For a listing of sections, click here 

* For the general A - Z index, click here 

* To learn more about what is available on this site, click here

* Don't know what you want? Try here

* If you are a Non-Catholic, click here

* Catholic Seniors, try here

Have a question not answered above? Try here

Need more help? Click here for our comprehensive help page (or click the link found at the top of the screen). 

Want to complete our survey? Click here

Want to contact us? Try here

Want to send us feedback about this site? Click here (or click the link found at the top of the screen).

To start using the site now, simply click links found on the side border (e.g. scroll up and click the "Announcements" link for the Announcements Section or the "Prayer Requests" link for the Prayer Requests Section). For more information about each section, click here.

Thank you for visiting! I hope you will stop by often!  

May God Bless You Always!

~ 'Annamaria, receptionist'  Is Annamaria real?

P.S. Please note that we now accept user-submitted articles. For more information, click here.

Notices:

As applicable, above items should be considered as goals. We are unfortunately unable to guarantee any of the above items or guarantee any other specific results, features, functionality, usability, procedures, or any other details concerning this site. We do not guarantee the availability of any section / page / topic / feature / posts / etc. We make no guarantees whatsoever regarding any item herein. Posting / advertising / donating / use of site / is subject to all terms / requirements / limits / etc. All use of this site is at your own risk and is subject to our terms of use. By using this site, you agree to all our terms. For more terms information, click here.

* Prices/amounts indicated herein may be base price for non-refundable processing fee, excluding tax, optional ad enhancements, etc. Pricing, availability, and terms subject to change. Prices above do not include optional extras. Tax may be added where applicable. Sponsorships, donations & advertisements are not tax deductible. "Place your ad" / "list your business" / etc. is not a guarantee that any ad will appear on this site. Payment of processing fee does not assure appearance of ad on site. References to target cycles are not guarantees [ads that appear on the site may appear for a longer or shorter time than the indicated target cycles (e.g. from 0 days to multiples of a target cycle)] and are subject to change at any time without notice (either retroactively or on a go-forward basis, either individually / selectively / grouped / or in total). 

+ Although our goal is for advertisements to appear only in commercial areas of this site, we cannot make an ironclad guarantee that ads will never appear in any other area of this site. Please also note that "commercial areas" of this site refers to parts of this site reserved for advertisements. In addition to commercial sections of this site (e.g. entire sections of this site specifically devoted to advertising/commercial activities), sponsored items may appear in certain other designated areas [e.g. Today's Sponsor (Daily Digest), e-mailings, news items, links items, third party items (e.g. "tell a friend", etc.), News & Opinion Pages, Topic Pages, etc.] and may appear in pages linked to from this site. Wherever possible, on our site, our goal is to keep paid advertisements separated from non-commercial site content. Note that the term "advertisements" refers to paid third party advertisements, not to items on the side bar (or other locations) which refer to our own ads or to commercial parts of this site or to our donation buttons or to our placement of ads for third party referral / incentive programs or to links to sponsored sections in the Daily Digest or to various references which may appear on this site or to user posts or to search engines or others who may "frame" / "mirror" / etc. our page(s). Note that this 'policy' does not apply to e-mailings or other items which may contain advertisements side by side with content (including News & Opinion pages & Topic Pages). Note that above is not comprehensive. We make no guarantees regarding this site (including where advertisements may and may not appear) and we are not responsible for any occurrence which may result from using this site.

We make no guarantees concerning any item herein. By using this site you indicate agreement to all terms. For more terms information, see "Important Notice" above and click here.

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