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Waverley
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| Posted: Oct 02 2008 at 12:36pm | IP Logged
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Following in Vanna's brave footsteps  , I also have an embarrassing question.
I hear people speak of the Baltimore Catechism, is this a particular version of the catechism and are there really more than one version? I'm asking because I realized we do not have a copy of the Catechism at the house and I would like to purchase one. Any guidance for me?
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Mary G
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The Catechism that you want is either:
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
or
the one from the US Council of Bishop's, Catholic Catechism for Adults
(I prefer the one directly from the Vatican -- the first one)
The Baltimore Catechism is the pre-Vatican 2 version of the catechism that many of us home-educators use for our kids to help them understand the faith. The doctrinal details -- "purpose for us is to know, love and serve God" -- are still applicable. The Baltimore Catechism is publised in 3 "volumes" by age: Vol. 1 is a good one to start with. But again, that's for the little kids.
Every Catholic family should have a copy of the Catechism and the Compendium of the Catechism on their shelf next to the Bible. But that's just my $.02
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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Waverley
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| Posted: Oct 02 2008 at 9:13pm | IP Logged
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Thank you so much. I knew I could get a good answer here - with the links is even better!!
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Oct 04 2008 at 11:24am | IP Logged
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I would add that there are a couple different functional versions of the Baltimore Catechism.
The three sets that we own (for my own purposes of comparison) are sold by Aquinas and More. This list should be sorted by title (if I did it right!).
(We do have the CCC that was just recently done - a universal catechism from which local areas are encouraged to write their own catechisms for their areas - an example of this being the US Catholic Catechism for Adults, which I just recently finally picked up). In fact, looking over the link I just provided, I also have the Catholic Catechism (Hardon) and the Catechism of the Council of Trent - both were needed for various classes I took at Ave Maria College (not University)... All these catechisms, including the Baltimore are still applicable as they all contain universal truth.
For simplicity's sake, I'd recommend a complete version of the Baltimore Catechism along with the CCC and the US Adult version.
We have the original re-published Baltimore Catechism (white cover with one-color lettering and image) - there are 4 volumes in this set: elementary level, middle school, high school, and adult (full explanation - helpful for answering questions the children may have, since every child thinks in a different way and will focus on different aspects). It appears their new colored photo covers are identical information.
In the first couple books in the series, you'd notice that some numbers are skipped (they are a series of numbered questions) - these numbers are filled in within subsequent books and the last one (#4) has all of them with those long explanations (which have proven SO useful over the years!). They include phonetic pronunciation guides for new words and each "lesson" includes new vocabulary. The back of each book contains Order of the Mass, prayers, rosary information, etc.
We also have the St. Joseph New American set (by Father Lovasik, same author as the St. Joseph picture books) - the questions do not correlate with the original BC, but cover the same material. They have a lot more activities for the children to do at the end of each "part" (chapter or lesson) - specifically fill in the blanks and answering review questions in book 1 (primary grades), adding "practice" suggestions in book 2 (middle grades). Book 3 contains Scripture and VCII references, with explanations and discussion questions. The same type of appendices are included here as in the BC.
The questions between the books do not perfecly match up, but are on the same topic, taking it from different depths and angles.
The last set we own is The New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism, by Father Bennet. They have a 0 (First Communion), 1 (for ages 8-10 or so) and 2 (for ages 11-14 or so). The First Communion one has the questions and answers, then some review questions, with occasional activities such as looking for items in the church, etc. It has the prayers and Mass information as well, in front and back. I find this one useful for prompting discussion and we seek out our own additional activities - any FHC prep I do, includes at least looking this over to make sure we've hit all the topics properly. I really like it, as simple as it sounds.
1 and 2 have a dictionary in the back, with the prayers and such as well. They have the same q&a format, but with more types of review: T/F questions, liturgical action, other pious practice to cultivate (ie "Ask your guardian angel to help you in times of temptation"), discussion questions, fill in the blank, other readings from Scripture
Book 2 also includes some Bible projects such as looking up specific sections on specific angels and giving some type of report on it (of any preferred style).
I like them all for one reason or another - and while we use Catechesis of the Good Shepherd as our main form of religious education (ok, secondary to living it out in our lives, of course!), we supplement with these and use them to prompt discussions. They are all quite thorough and each family needs a different style that works for them (for us, we are so eclectic (and I do so much outside tutoring), that we find all 3 sets are useful).
I love the CCC and all, but it is not written specifically for children, so I read passages to children as appropriate, but it is not often. So there is that balance, too.
I apologize for the length, but wanted to be sure to get all the information in. :)
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JennGM
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I appreciate the clarification, Catholic Mommy. I had started writing something similar about the various Baltimore Catechisms and duty called me away and I lost my post.
Since the original was printed in 1891, the text is in the public domain. There are several online versions to get a feel of the original Baltimore Catechism:
No. 4 was for the Reference, designed for teachers.
And going to the main page, I found this site an excellent resource Nazareth provides "integrated, hyperlinked collection of five historic catechisms. It contains the two Church-wide or "universal" catechisms the Church has issued -- the Catechism of the Council of Trent and the new Catechism of the Catholic Church -- plus three "particular" or local catechisms of great historic influence -- the Catechetical Instructions of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Baltimore Catechism (4), and the Catechism of St. Pius X."
What a treasure!
a .pdf version of the #4
And here are the texts for Parts 1-3.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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ladycarobe
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| Posted: Oct 06 2008 at 3:57am | IP Logged
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Another beginner question:
I have been raised Catholic, but I turned away largely because of some bad things I saw happen. From being on these wonderful boards and reading lots of blogs I learned that a lot of the things I *thought* were Catholic are not  , and that there *are* good and inspiring Catholics.
I'm thinking of starting a reading plan I found at CHnetwork, to read the Bible and the Catechism in a year.
Howver I'm a bit confused about the Compendium. Should I read that first, as it seems easier?
Edit to fix a grammar mistake, I think :-)
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best wishes,
Ladycarobe.
mom to dd6  , dd4  and dd2 and pregnant.
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Oct 06 2008 at 7:48am | IP Logged
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ladycarobe wrote:
Another beginner question:
I have been raised Catholic, but I turned away largely because of some bad things I saw happen. From being on these wonderful boards and reading lots of blogs I learned that a lot of the things I *thought* were Catholic are not , and that there *are* good and inspiring Catholics.
I'm thinking of starting a reading plan I found at CHnetwork, to read the Bible and the Catechism in a year.
Howver I'm a bit confused about the Compendium. Should I read that first, as it seems easier?
Edit to fix a grammar mistake, I think :-) |
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If you really want to do that, I would suggest reading them together - read a section in the compendium, then the correlating section in the CCC - this will help SO much! I have done it both ways (with and without), and I would suggest that any "beginner" (we're all beginners!) use the compendium to help explain the organization and such.
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ladycarobe
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| Posted: Oct 06 2008 at 8:01am | IP Logged
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Thank you, CatholicMommy.
You wrote "if you really want to do that", English is a foreign language for me, so I'm not sure what you mean.
Do you question if *I* want to do this? I have to say I'm not sure yet  , with a newborn in the house my reading is really limited and I don't know if I'm ready for such a huge project.
Or do you question if I want to do *this* (meaning this readingplan)? Do you have a better suggestion for learning what the Catholic Church teaches and what being a Catholic entails? (I can't attend a class). I'm open to suggestions.
best wishes,
__________________
best wishes,
Ladycarobe.
mom to dd6 , dd4 and dd2 and pregnant.
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Buying a copy of the Catechism question
