The Complete Catholic Handbook.pdf

The Complete Catholic Handbook

for the Latter Days

Humbly dedicated to the ever Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God

ISBN 0 907364 00 4

PREFACE

The aim of this book is to combine within the smallest practical space a complete state-

ment of Catholic doctrine; a compendium of all other important information relating to

Catholic Faith and Liturgy; a summary of the most important elements of Holy Scrip-

ture; and a Missal containing the Ordinary and Proper of the Roman Mass as canonized

in perpetuity by St. Plus V.

The Mass has been taken from a traditional Roman Missal. The foundation for the

other sections is the classic and enduring Penny Catechism. This formerly contained

valuable appendices summarizing an immense amount of varied and important refor-

mation, but over the years the supplementary information was gradually omitted and

from 1972 onwards un-Catholic alterations began to appear in the main text itself. We

have reprinted verbatim the version and its appendices published in 1921 by Burns and

Oates as The Explanatory Catechism of Christian Doctrine 1 and have added further

appendices from the 1920 Catechism of Christian Doctrine approved by the Archbish-

ops and Bishops of England and Wales, and information taken from other orthodox

catechisms (all bearing imprimaturs) and the traditional Missal.

We believe the result to be a basic yet comprehensive handbook suitable to be the

constant companion for all Catholics whatever their ages, intellects and circumstances.

One reason why we felt it necessary to compile this volume is that books providing

true Catholic teaching are now almost impossible to obtain. There is also another

reason. In 1903 St. Plus X, in his ﬁrst encyelical “E Supremi Apostolatus”, included

the following words: “Considering all these things, there is good reason to fear that this

great perversity may be the foretaste and perhaps the beginning of those evils reserved

Compiled from the Penny Catechism published as The Explanatory Catechism of Christian Doctrine

by Burns and Oates,1921; with additions taken from the Catechism of Christian Doctrine, approved by

the Archbishops and Bishops of England and Wales,1921; further additions taken from the traditional (St.

Joseph’s) Missal and other orthodox catechisms bearing Imprimaturs; and incorporating the Ordinary and

Proper of the Tridentine Mass. No copyright reserved This book may be reproduced in whole or in part.

1 Nihil Obstat: Gul. Can Sutcliffe; Imprimatur: Franciscus Cardinalis Bourne, Archiepiscopus West-

monasteriensis, Diei 23 Novembris, 1921.

for the last days, and the ‘son of perdition’, of whom the Apostle speaks, may already

be in the world”.

PREFACE

Great weight must be given to such a statement by a man so close to God. It is pos-

sible that, rather as Jonas’ preaching of the destruction of Nineve defeated his own

prophecy by causing that city’s inhabitants to repent and do penance (Jonas 4 and

Matthew 12:41), St. Pius’ own heroic actions against modernism and subyersion in the

Church delayed the moment when the wickedness of the world would be such as to

provide the appropriate setting for the birth of Antichrist. It would be folly however to

imagine that such a setting did not exist today, The iniquity and corruption in the world

may now be even greater than those which caused God to lose His patience in previous

ages, as when He brought about the Flood or when He destroyed Sodom and Gomor-

rah; while within the Church herself the Second Vatican Council has been followed by

a falling away from the Faith so dramatic, precipitate and unprecedented that it could

be that referred to by our Lord in Luke 18:8 and by St. Paul in I Thessalonians 2:3.

Thus we believe that the time may not be far off when the events foretold in

Matthew 24 and elsewhere in Holy Scripture will come to pass and when Catholics

will have to ﬂee from the housetops and ﬁelds into the mountains (Matthew 24:15–18)

and return to the Catacombs. This book is designed for such times: to be a vital pos-

session when the very least of possessions will be a luxury; and to provide the elect,

who hold fast in the Faith and will not be deceived (Matthew 24:24), with their daily

bread when most other forms of nourishment have been taken away.

THE PUBLISHERS

The Traditional Catechism of

Christian Doctrine

Faith

CHAPTER I

1. Who made you? God made me.

2. Why did God make you? God made me to know Him, love Him, and serve

Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in the next.

To know God. By hearing instructions, reading good books, knowing what He

is, and what He has done for us.

To love and serve God. By keeping His Commandments, and doing all we can

to please Him.

3. To whose image and likeness did God make you? God made me to His own

image and likeness.

Image. That which exactly represents anything.

Likeness. That which resembles a thing, as a picture or a portrait.

4. Is this likeness to God in your body, or in your soul? This likeness to God is

chieﬂy in my soul.

5. How is your soul like to God? My soul is like to God because it is a spirit, and

is immortal.

Spirit. An immaterial living being, having free-will and understanding, as God,

the Angels, our souls. We cannot touch or see a spirit.

Immortal. Not mortal, can never die. The soul has a twofold life—(1) natural,

which it receives at its creation and never loses; (2) supernatural, or the grace of

God, received in Baptism, lost by mortal sin, but regained by a worthy reception

of the Sacrament of Penance, or by an act of perfect contrition.

6. What do you mean when you say that your soul is immortal? When I say that

my soul is immortal, I mean that my soul can never die.

7. Of which must you take most care, of your body or of your soul? I must take

most care of my soul: for Christ has said, ‘What doth it proﬁt a man if he gain

the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul?’ (Matt. xvi. 26.)

Proﬁt. That which is for a person’s good.

Suffer the loss, &c. To lose one’s soul and go to hell.

8. What must you do to save your soul? To save my soul I must worship God by

Faith, Hope, and Charity; that is, I must believe in Him, I must hope in Him, and

I must love Him with my whole heart.

Worship. To adore, as in the case of Almighty God: to honour or respect, as in

the case of the Angels, or of the Saints.

Faith. To believe: to have trust or conﬁdence in what a person says. There are

two kinds of faith—(1) divine faith, which is relying on the word of God; (2)

human faith, which is relying on the testimony of man.

CHAPTER II

9. What is Faith? Faith is a supernatural gift of God, which enables us to believe

without doubting whatever God has revealed.

Without doubting, &c. We must believe ﬁrmly all that God has made known to

us. Firmness and entirety are the two qualities of faith. The denial of an article

of faith by one who has professed the Christian religion is called heresy; to

renounce or turn away from our religion is called apostasy; denying the existence

of God is called inﬁdelity.

10. Why must you believe whatever God has revealed? I must believe whatever

God has revealed because God is the very truth, and can neither deceive nor be

deceived.

The very truth. God is truth itself; He is all truth.

Deceive. To cause a person to go wrong, or to try to make him believe that which

is not true.

11. How are you to know what God has revealed? I am to know what God has

revealed by the testimony, teaching, and authority of the Catholic Church.

Testimony. To bear proof or witness to anything, The Church tells us what she

has been taught by our Lord.

Authority. The power or right to do a thing.

12. Who gave the Catholic Church divine authority to teach? Jesus Christ gave

the Catholic Church divine authority to teach, when He said, ‘Go ye and teach

all nations’. (Matt xxviii. 19.)

THE APOSTLES’ CREED

13. What are the chief things which God has revealed? The chief things which

God has revealed are contained in the Apostles’ Creed.

Contained. To be found or held in it.

Creed. A form of belief. There are ﬁve forms of the Creed—(1) The Apos-

tles’, composed by the Apostles before they separated to preach the Gospel

throughout the world; (2) the Nicene, composed at the Council of Nicaea; (3)

the Athanasian; (4) the Creed of Pope Plus IV, which was drawn up immediately

after the Council of Trent; and (5) the anti-modernist Creed of Pope Plus X. The

Creed teaches us our faith, or what we must believe in order to be saved.

14. Say the Apostles’ Creed. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of

heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord; who was conceived

by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was

cruciﬁed, died, and was buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose

again from the dead; He ascended into heaven; sitteth at the right hand of God

the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the

dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Catholic Church; the Communion of

Saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and life everlasting.

Amen.

Amen. ‘So be it’, or ‘May it be so’. This word at the end of prayers expresses a

wish that what we have been praying for may be granted.

15. How is the Apostles’ Creed divided? The Apostles’ Creed is divided into

twelve parts or articles.

Articles. Small parts or divisions, short clauses. The articles of the Creed may be

divided into three parts—(1) the ﬁrst article, which treats especially of God the

Father and the work of Creation; (2) from the second to the seventh inclusive, in

which particular mention is made of God the Son, and the work of Redemption;

(3) from the eighth to the twelfth; which treat of God the Holy Ghost and the

work of Sanctiﬁcation.

FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED

16. What is the ﬁrst article of the Creed? The ﬁrst article of the Creed is, ‘I believe

in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth’.

Almighty. Being able to do all things; all-powerful.

Creator. One who produces or makes something out of nothing.

17. What is God? God is the supreme Spirit, who alone exists of Himself, and is

inﬁnite in all perfections.

Supreme. Greatest, highest, above all others. There can be only one who is

supreme, and that one is God.

Exists of Himself. He depends on no one for His life or being. God is the origin

of all life.

Inﬁnite. Without end or limit in any way,

Perfections. Good qualities or attributes. God alone is perfect in all things. Some

of God’s perfections are—His omnipotence, or being able to do all things; His

omniscience, or knowing all things; His omnipresence, or being in all places; His

eternity, or having neither a beginning nor an end; His goodness, His mercy, His

justice, &c.

18. Why is God called Almighty? God is called ‘Almighty’ because He can do all

things: ‘With God all things are possible’. (Matt. xix. 26.)

Possible. That which one is able to do.

19. Why is God called Creator of heaven and earth? God is called ‘Creator of

heaven and earth’ because He made heaven and earth, and all things, out of

nothing, by His word.

His word. God had only to command, and what He wished was done.

20. Had God any beginning? God had no beginning; He always was, He is, He

always will be.

21. Where is God? God is everywhere.

22. Does God know and see all things? God knows and sees all things, even our

most secret thoughts.

Secret. Hidden, concealed.

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