To: Ultra Sonic 007
Congratulations on your decision.
Books:
- Catholicism for Dummies by Fr. John Trigilio.
- People have already recommended the Catechism of the Catholic Church. But as useful is the Companion to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. When you get the Catechism, you will find that there are a HUGE number of footnotes to obscure documents. The Companion has the texts that correspond to those footnotes -- thus, it is a very useful reference.
- People have recommended Ludwig Ott's book, the one that goes with it is Denzinger's Sources of Catholic Dogma. Ott looks at the doctrine from a topical organization, while Denzinger looks at it from a chronological point of view. Both are very useful, but: they are theological textbooks. Thus they are EXTREMELY dry to read. I'm not saying "don't get them." I am saying, "bring toothpicks."
- I would also recommend The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. (I know there are people reading this asking "WHY????") The reason I recommend this is that there are a lot of good parishes out there, but there are also a lot of parishes that will seem politically very liberal. In the process of discernment, it is very important to know what the Church actually teaches as her social doctrine, rather than what some interpret to be her social doctrine. As a candidate/neophyte, the tendency is to believe everything you hear at face value. Chances are, down in the South, it's not going to be as bad as it is here in the Northeast, but, you never can tell (I hear there are a lot of carpetbaggers that have moved down South in recent years).
Websites:
- Universalis. This site primarily contains a resource known as the "Liturgy of the Hours," the Church's "official" prayer throughout the day. Instructions for how to pray this are here. Essentially, it is a collection of the psalms, along with other readings, prayers directly from the scriptures, short readings from the early Church fathers, and intercessory prayers. It's benefit to you is that it provides a structure whereby you can consecrate your entire day to the Lord through prayer. (There are "hours" for when you wake, for the early morning, mid-morning, noontime, afternoon, evening, and night-time)
- Catholic Culture online. This site has a good collection of reviews of Catholic websites and a good library of articles covering a variety of subjects theological.
- New Advent. This well-known site has the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia online, a Douay Rheims Bible (as well as the Vulgate), St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica, and a decent collection of the writings of the Church Fathers.
- Mass Times. If you travel, this is a useful site to find out where the nearest Catholic church is, or to find out when Masses are in the local area. In addition, if there are several parishes in the area, you might want to think about which one you'd feel the most comfortable in. (Editorial note: back "in the day," all Catholics would go to the church that was within their parish borders. It would be EXTREMELY rare to find a family who went to another church -- even considered scandalous in some areas. While "church-hopping" is not generally done, you may well wish to check out any different options that are available to you prior to actually settling into a place)
Of course, if you have questions, don't hesitate to either post a thread of FReepmail one of the regular Catholic posters here.
117 posted on
05/29/2008 2:27:32 AM PDT by
markomalley
(Extra ecclesiam nulla salus)
To: markomalley
Wonderful! I love the book and website suggestions on this thread! Going to bookmark it for a reading list! These are valuable resources for even cradle catholics like me!
125 posted on
05/29/2008 3:39:14 AM PDT by
sneakers
(Liberty is the answer to the human condition.)
To: markomalley; Ultra Sonic 007
**Of course, if you have questions, don’t hesitate to either post a thread of FReepmail one of the regular Catholic posters here. **
Ditto for me.
543 posted on
05/29/2008 5:52:29 PM PDT by
Salvation
(†With God all things are possible.†)
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