From the brief "penny" catechisms of the 16th century to our own late 20th-century Catechism, scores of faithful priests, bishops, popes, saints, and even Church Councils have for Catholics young and old published succinct, reliable summaries of our Church’s perennial teachings: catechisms.
In them, readers have encountered Catholic doctrine presented in refreshingly clear and even elegant language, often accompanied by handsome woodcuts on lovely pages.
Now, for the first time ever, dozens of historic catechisms are being unearthed and painstakingly restored. They are being reformatted for publication and presented to you in this gorgeous 20-volume, cross-indexed collection.
What’s in Volume VI:
This volume features several "medieval” catechisms that provides a fascinating glimpse into the catechetical methods of the middle ages, and a clear demonstration of Catholic doctrines that were held long before Trent or even Florence. Catechisms include the text of the Athanasian Creed, Quicumque Vult (ca. 370) as well as four brief catechisms from mid-1200s to early 1300s: The Catechetical Instructions (ca. 1260) is an arrangement of St. Thomas Aquinas' Opuscula in catechetical form, Ignorantia Sacerdotum (1281) is the work of the Provincial Council of Lambeth convoked by the renowned Archbishop of Canterbury, John Pecham, Quinque Verba (1300) is an inexpensive pocket manual designed to “remedy the ignorance of simple priests…lest anyone try to excuse himself from knowing this material”, and finally, Oculus Sacerdotis (ca. 1320) is a single chapter from William of Pagula’s sizeable and meticulously detailed guide for priestly ministry — this chapter was frequently excerpted and circulated as a standalone text for religious instruction at the time.
