Catechisms

I’ve been reading Catholic Catechisms lately.

1. One was a fun Catholic Catechism from France. It was written in the early 1900s for older children, and is illustrated with lovely paintings. When we were in Dubai a couple of years ago, I bought it at the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church. 

I like the way the author, through a kind translator, said the following about grace.:

Grace is a supernatural gift freely bestowed upon us by God through the merits of Jesus Christ for our salvation.
We speak of it as a free gift, because God bestows it purely and freely out of His own goodness, not being in any way obliged to do so. We call it supernatural because it transcends our own powers and cannot be acquired by our own unaided effort. We say that we obtain it through the merits of Jesus Christ, because He won it for us by dying on the cross for our sakes. And, lastly, we say that it is given to us for our salvation, because God grants it to us, not for our earthly happiness, but to enable us to merit the bliss of heaven.  (p. 20)

The book - unlike Gaul - is divided into IV sections.

I.   The Apostle’s Creed - with 13 articles
II.  The Sacraments - with 8 articles, including grace plus the 7 Sacraments
III. The 10 Commandments
IV. Prayer - The Last Things - Sin - Virtues - Works of Mercy (corporal and spiritual)

The Catechism in Pictures, translated from the French Un Catéchisme en Images
First printed by R.P. Baily, founder of the Maison de la Bonne Presse, France

1909

68 pp. with corresponding paintings to illustrate the teachings

2. For two years I followed the Flocknote posts about the Catechism - Catechism in a Year.

One year I did the Popes in a Year series from Flocknote. That was a fun way to go through all of Church history in abbreviated form.

3. I am now reading The Aquinas Catechism. Here is a bit from the Forward to this edition.

St. Thomas Aquinas preached a series of sermons during Lent in 1273, the last year of his life. Delivered in the church of San Domenico in Naples in Thomas’ native Neapolitan dialect (rather than Latin), the sermons were directed tot he simple faithful and had an immediate and profound impact on those who heard them.
We are told by a contemporary Neapolitan (John Coppa) that “almost the whole population of Naples went to hear his sermons every day.”  And William of Tocco writes that “he was heard by the people with such reverence that it was as if his preaching came forth from God.” (p. xi)

Here is one quote about the Holy Spirit. It is from the section on the Apostles’ Creed.

The Giver of Life. The soul´s life is union with God, inasmuch as God is the life of the soul (just as the soul is the life of the body). Now, the Holy Spirit unites us to God by love, for He is Himself God´s love, which is why He gives life: “It is the Spirit that quickeneth.” (John 6:64)  Hence they added, The Giver of Life.  

Aquinas’ friend, Reginald summarized the sermons in Latin, and that is how they came down to us.

I am reading the Sophia press edition. It is under 300 pages with wide margins and spaces between each section, so it is a fairly easy and quick read. I am a very slow reader, but others will have no trouble finishing it quickly. It is well worth the time.

These Catechisms are a lot of fun to read & very practical. Give it a try. Protestants may or may not be surprised at how much of what we are and were taught is actually taken from Catholicism.  My saying that may or may not sit well with some.