Vatican declares this book a masterpiece!

Pope Pius XI told Catholics: "In ancient times in time of famine, it was said to the Egyptians: 'Go to Joseph, that you might receive from him a supply of wheat to nourish your bodies.' So, now, We say to all who seek the truth: 'Go to Thomas.' St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) "Go and ask St. Thomas for the food of sound doctrine, which nourishes souls for eternal life, and which he possesses in rich abundance." (From Pius XI's encyclical Studiorum Ducem)

What about you? Have you gone to Thomas? If you hesitate lest St. Thomas Aquinas be too hard for you, consider beginning with hisCatechism, which is as easy to read and understand as the Baltimore Catechism that taught generations of Catholics our Faith.

Rather than being complicated expositions of subtle points of our Faith, both works are intended as simple introductions: they're purposely little more than outlines, easy-to-understand, easy-to-remember — with one significant difference: the Aquinas Catechism was written by a saint. "Because St. Thomas's method is concise, clear and easily followed, even persons of little instruction are eager to possess his writings." Pope Pius XI Simple they are, but his teachings are also rich. Which is why artists from time immemorial have shown so many other great Catholic thinkers sitting at the feet of St. Thomas Aquinas: In Zubaran's Apotheosis of St. Thomas Aquinas (1631), the four Latin Doctors of the Church (Sts. Ambrose, Gregory, Jerome, and Augustine) listen while St. Thomas teaches. "The teachings of St. Thomas are so vast that they contain, like a sea, all the wisdom that flows from the ancients: all the truths that had been spoken, all that had been wisely sifted by the pagan philosophers, by the Fathers and the Doctors of the Church, by the eminent men who flourished before him. "His teachings have a singular force and virtue for curing the evils with which our age is afflicted." Pope Leo XIII

Other popes who urge you to turn to St. Thomas: Pope Nicholas V • Pope Pius IV • Pope St. Pius V • Pope Sixtus V • Pope Clement VIII • Pope Paul V • Pope Alexander VII • Pope Innocent XI• Pope Innocent XII • Pope Benedict XIII •Pope Clement XII • Pope Benedict XIV • Pope St. Pius X • Pope Benedict XV • Pope Pius XI •Pope Pius XII • Pope John XXIII • Pope Paul VI• Pope John Paul II • Pope Benedict XVI • and scores of others. "His teachings could have come only from a miraculous intervention by God." Pope John XXII Earlier, I quoted Pope Pius XI: "So, now, we say to all who seek the truth: Go to Thomas." What about you? Have you "gone to Thomas?" Isn't it time you found out why so many popes have urged you to do so? There's no easier — and no better — place to begin than right here, with the Aquinas Catechism.

The most extraordinary (and little known) book ever written about our Faith . . . was not written for philosophers or for theologians — even though its author was the incomparable St. Thomas Aquinas, the man lauded by more than 25 popes as the Church's preeminent theologian. Its pages contain the Lenten sermons St. Thomas preached to the townspeople of Naples in 1273, soon before his death. Citing almost 1,000 quotations from the Bible, St. Thomas preached eloquently on: The Our Father The Hail Mary The Sacraments The Commandments and The Apostles' Creed * Gathered together now in one book, these sermons constitute a complete catechism on the teachings and practices of our Faith, and reveal the profound links that bind Holy Scripture to each of them. In one volume, The Aquinas Catechism gives you: An introductionto the Catholic faith A refresher catechism by the Church's greatest mind A mini-course in Scripture by an unexcelled master of the Bible, with almost a thousand Scriptural quotations A brief course in theology "taught" by the Church's greatest theologian; and A defense of the faith against its critics Best of all, because St. Thomas was not writing for scholars but preaching to laymen, anyone can profit from the saintly wisdom found here. To ensure that happens, we have (as the Vatican joyfully notes below) designed our edition of these sermons for ease of use: boldfaced subheadings on every page make them easy to read and our handy 22 page appendix outlines the entire book for you. "A Masterpiece!" Vatican newspaper "To give highlights of this masterpiece is difficult because so much is distilled. The benefits of prayer are presented so attractively that one wishes one could pray for hours on end. A very clever editor put in helpful headings and subheadings to bring out more clearly the meaning of the text. Now beginners and advanced scholars alike can understand the faith more aptly through these brilliant sermons of the Angelic Doctor." L'Osservatore Romano 7/15/91 Don't pass up this opportunity to learn from St. Thomas Aquinas himself! Among the things St. Thomas will teach you: Why we ask the Lord not to lead us into temptation The five conditions necessary to prayer, and its three principal benefits Three ways in which Mary is full of grace, and why they're important What we must learn from Jesus' descent into Hell Where astrology is forbidden in the Apostles' Creed How we are to respond to God's Word Defenses against heresies that are still held Why Christ's judgment is to be feared (and four ways to prepare for it) The marks of the Catholic Church The qualities of the bodies of the blessed and of the damned The nature of eternal life and of eternal death Four things we should desire and pray for The effect of each Sacrament The necessarycomponents of a good confession The three things we must do on the Sabbath (and the three we must avoid) Misconceptions and errors concerning the Sacraments Why faith is reasonable, not blind (as many say) The sin that's most dangerous to the sinner himself "Thy kingdom come": what we're really asking for when we pray this How "Thou shalt not kill" applies to the death penalty and the killing of animals How we sometimes impede the grace of a Sacrament Who really administers the sacrament of Matrimony How Holy Orders changes the recipient The crucial differences between divine and human law God's rewards for honoring our parents (and His punishments for failure to do so) Others we must honor besides our parents How we may blaspheme without even knowing it How we can bear false witness unknowingly Four ways we can overcome sinful desires What it means to take God's name "in vain" The one kind of anger that is always sinful (and the two that are not) Common ways we "bear false witness" unwittingly, even in casual conversation "Concupiscence" defined. Four ways to overcome it And much more to help us all grow in wisdom and holiness! "These sermons bear the mark of the Holy Spirit. They are filled with clarity and life." The Word Among Us "Flawless spiritual direction from the Church's premier theologian." Midwest Book Review The Aquinas CatechismA Simple Explanation of the Catholic Faith by the Church's Greatest Theologian by St. Thomas Aquinas Foreword by Ralph McInerny $19.95  336 pgs ppbk Sophia Institute Press1-800-888-9344 Box 5284, Manchester NH 03108 Other books by or about St. Thomas: For Young People: A Fascinating Biography For Serious Students of Aquinas:   Saint Thomas Aquinas$12.95  128 pgs ppbk   Aquinas's Shorter Summa $24.95  432 pgs ppbk Consider, as well: The Remarkable Book that Teaches You the Methods of the Great Catholic Medieval Memory Masters: "They laughed when I said I could name all 27 books of the New Testament . . . but after I named them all in order, plus the 46 books of the Old Testament, they begged me to show them how I did it." Then, a 5-year-old used the same system to learn her numbers, letters, shapes, and colors: the system St. Thomas created to help him remember the teachings of our Faith. You and your children can use the same system to remember virtually anything:names, dates, phone numbers, passwords, the first 12 digits of pi (3.141592653589, if you really want to know!), and even whether, on the way home, you're supposed to buy ice cream and toffee (or was it truffles and coffee?) Memorize the Faith!  $19.95  272 pgs ppbk Saint Thomas Aquinas  (1225-1274) was both a scholar and a saint. Educated in Naples, he entered the Dominican Order in 1244 and devoted the rest of his life to comprehending God's Revelation — through reason, contemplation, and prayer — and to living in conformity with that Revelation. In the course of a brilliant career, he preached widely throughout Europe and wrote over 100 volumes. St. Thomas died in 1274, was canonized in 1323, and was proclaimed a Doctor of the Universal Church in 1567. Order all four books: The Aquinas Catechism 336 pgs ppbk$19.95   Saint Thomas Aquinas  128 pgs ppbk $12.95  Memorize the Faith!  272 pgs ppbk $19.95  Aquinas's Shorter Summa432 pgs ppbk $24.95 1-800-888-9344www.SophiaInstitute.com Sophia Institute Press Box 5284, Manchester, NH 03108 USA