The Handbook for Confused Catholics

Editor’s note: adults can sign up for the summer adult Credo Catechism course at the Avila Institute. The high school program starts again next spring semester. -TSF

Catholics of a certain age know things about their religion that many — if not most — Catholics today have never been taught. We now have a resource, however, that points today’s Catholics toward a more rich and fulfilling experience of their religion.

Credo: Compendium of t... Schneider, Bishop Atha... Buy New $20.12 (as of 02:41 UTC - Details) This is Bishop Athanasius Schneider latest book, Credo: Compendium of the Catholic Faith.

Since it’s release late last year, most reviews that I have read regard the book as a catechism for our present circumstances. Indeed, Part I is about faith (Lex credendi, the law of belief) and Part II is about morals (Lex vivendi, the law of living). But Part III is about worship and acts of worship (Lex orandi, the law of prayer). This Part of the book can be a significant source of enlightenment and enrichment for Catholics who were born after 1970, when ritual began to be systematically restrained.

Any religion can have things to believe and rules to live by, but Catholicism stands out because of its liturgy.

III:750.  What is the liturgy?

The term is used for the many official rites and ceremonies of the Church’s public worship, through which she glorifies God and sanctifies man.

Any religion can have preaching, but is that worship?

III:2.  What is worship?

In its broadest sense, worship is the act by which reverence is given to God on account of His excellence…

So when we attend one of the many rites and ceremonies of the Catholic Church, we are glorifying God on account of His excellence. Preaching is for us; liturgy is for God (III:55). How the Catholic Churc... Thomas E. Woods Best Price: $8.00 Buy New $9.06 (as of 05:30 UTC - Details)

The essential worship of the Catholic Church is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

III:415.  What is the Sacrifice of the Mass?

It is the very sacrifice of the Cross, now really and truly re-presented and offered to God in an unbloody manner, under the external appearances of bread and wine.

The Church was established to offer right worship. It continues the priestly mission of Jesus Christ mainly by means of the sacred liturgy (III:756). Rubrics regulate the precise actions for conducting each rite in itself (III:752). They instruct the celebrant to perform the liturgy properly (III:753).  The prayers and ceremonies of Holy Mass are contained in the Missal (III:780).

The words and actions of the priest celebrating Mass are directed by the Missal. Everything else about the Mass has meaning and has been pre-established as well.

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