I wasn't exactly raised Catholic. Sure, my mother was a nun prior to meeting my father, a Jew, but they decided to raise my sister and I "nothing." This meant we celebrated most of the holidays non-religiously -- Christmas, Hanukkah, etc. -- but didn't attend church or synagogue.

So why is it that I'm having slight Catholic guilt over my Halloween costume this year?

Originally, I planned to go as the not-so-original parochial schoolgirl. Not exactly Mary Catherine Gallagher style, more in the vain of the naughty schoolgirl, but with a little quirk mixed in. Really, I just wanted to tote around my pink bible -- recently acquired from a thrift-store -- because it's so cute.

Anyway, I found my red devil horns from a few Halloweens ago, and decided Satanic Catholic schoolgirl was an even better costume. But while trying it on last night, I actually had a small pang of sacrilegious guilt. Not enough to change my mind about the costume, but still.

My friends who refer to themselves as "recovering Catholics" told me about their lifelong lingering guilt, but this is the first time I felt it. Maybe it's coming from the disappointed ghost of my deceased, Roman Catholic grandmother. Weird.