Embarrassing Moments (4) --- Will I Go To Hell ?

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My husband’s brother asked my husband and me if we would be witnesses at his wedding which was to take place in a church in Milan, Italy. It was the smallest wedding imaginable. There was only one other guest present, an aunt of the bride's. We agreed although we’re both not religiously-minded. We had to sit on either side of the couple and thus couldn’t communicate. Had we been able to, the following incident wouldn’t have happened. I didn’t understand much of the ceremony which wasn’t due to language problems but to the fact that I’m not a Catholic and don’t know the rites. When the priest had finished his sermon, he made a gesture with his hands meaning that we had to stand up. Then he waved us towards him. I looked at the couple, they moved forward, so I moved forward, too. My husband remained seated. Strange, but I couldn’t ask him why. The couple knelt down, so I knelt down, too. They received a host from the priest and so did I. When the ceremony was over, my husband and I rushed towards each other and asked each other simultaneously, me, “Why didn’t you take the host?, he, ”Why did you take the host?” My husband told me that he never did, I said that I thought it was part of the show and that I had had to take it. My husband asked, “Did you go to confession before you came here?” He knew very well that Protestants don’t go to confession. What I had done was against all church rules. I had taken the sacrament without being prepared for it. For years the Protestant and the Catholic church have argued about an ecumenical sacrament. Up to now, they haven’t reached an agreement. Unintentionally I had already anticipated what one day may be permitted. I was embarrassed because I thought the young couple wouldn’t believe that anyone could be so stupid and not know how to behave during a Catholic wedding ceremony and that I had committed the blunder on purpose or that it would invalidate the ceremony. My husband vouched for me that I was indeed so stupid and they weren’t miffed. On the contrary, this story has become part of the family folklore and has been re-told many a time to everyone’s enjoyment. --- If you want to read about more embarrassing moments, click on the green line above the title of the post. ---