Catholic History and Religion :: 2024-25 School Year

I'm happy to be back with this annual post: a round-up of Catholic resources tied to our studies with the CMEC next year for my students in Forms 1-5.

We will be covering 1400-1650 in both American and British/world history and the ancient Near East, including Egypt.

This is our second time studying this period since we switched to the CMEC five years ago. I have written about this period before, but I have reorganized and refreshed my previous suggestions and added some new ones!

This post is organized into the following categories: Bible for all Forms, Catholic Historical Supplements for Forms 1-3, Religion for Forms 1-3, and Catholic Historical Supplements and Religion for Forms 4 & 5 (High School).

Previous years' plans:

• 2021-22 School Year (1600-1780 and Ancient Greece)
• 2022-23 School Year (1780-1900 and Ancient Rome)
• 2023-24 School Year (1900-present and Medieval Europe)

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BIBLE

Lower Forms

For Old Testament, my students in Form 1-3 will be reading through parts of Genesis. For New Testament, my students in Forms 1 and 2 will read the Gospel of Mark and parts of Acts. As I have explained before, the CMEC follows the PNEU in scheduling Paterson-Smyth's books as a resource for Bible lessons, so I will be using his volumes on these sections for my preparation as well (titled Genesis and St. Mark). I don't agree with everything he writes, but he offers good "captain ideas" for Bible lessons that get at the over-arching themes of the assigned Bible texts.

I like to take his suggestions in light of Catholic resources; for this, I often rely on Knecht's A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture. This tome provides a Catholic perspective on both Old and New Testaments: historical background, theological and doctrinal connections, notes for personal application. I have used it in various ways over the past few years and always with good results. It also includes a few nice images and diagrams helpful for Book of Centuries work. The section on Genesis is particularly thorough, so it will be a good resource for us this year.

Upper Forms

For Old Testament, my high schoolers will be reading through Job and Isaiah this year. We will have a few commentary resources on hand:

• Dummelow's One-Volume Bible Commentary - We have used this PNEU-recommended commentary for the past few years. My kids appreciate the historical details it includes on each book. (This is the new edition -- we have an older used one.)
• The CMEC recommends Kreeft's Three Philosophies of Life alongside Job, which my older kids read and enjoyed.
• I have the Navarre volume on the Major Prophets on the shelf as an additional resource.
• We also draw on the Catholic Encyclopedia at New Advent whenever my kids have a question they'd like to explore further.

For New Testament, they will have two streams of reading. First, Form 3 and up will be reading the gospels alongside Charlotte Mason's Saviour of the World. Second, they'll be reading two short epistles each term. We like the commentaries on each epistle from New Advent as well as the Dummlow linked above for historical context or when questions arise.

All Forms

In all our Bible lessons, we will be reading directly from our favorite translation, the Douay-Rheims. Each of my Upper Forms students has his or her own copy to use, and I use mine for the younger kids. 

We rely often on The Dore Bible Illustrations. I have used this volume for years and it so handy to have these scenes so reverently and beautifully illustrated all in one place!

As a side note: our TBG Songbooks from Riverbend Press include the Bible passages for the year in the King James Version, so I print ours in the Douay-Rheims and tape it in for our recitations. And for the terms that schedule a hymn we have already covered, we will work on reciting the additional verses of that hymn but also add in a Latin hymn to learn.

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CATHOLIC HISTORICAL SUPPLEMENTS FOR FORMS 1-3

This is a period I enjoy very much, especially in British and European history! There are so many good Catholic books detailing the persecution of Catholics -- and the saints that arose out of that persecution -- in Renaissance England for all ages. It is a part of history that is little included in most textbooks but full of living interest and heroic deeds.

I have all of these currently on my shelf and am in the process of selecting which will be assigned for Sunday reading, which will be simply leisure reading and set on the free read shelf, and which might be family read-alouds.

Biographies

My Form 1 students will read a couple easier biographies from the list below; when they come around to this period again in Form 2 or 3, they will have the chance to read the others. My Form 2 and 3 students have 1-2 biographies assigned each term, depending on age and ability. The rest will go on their free read shelf.

A few notes on the list: The books below have been ordered by series/difficulty level. This list is not meant to be comprehensive; it is just what I have on my shelves or have purchased for this year's studies! Also, Form 3 students who are strong readers may also like some of the options under High School.

Windeatt series: 

• St. Margaret Mary and the Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
• St. Francis Solano: Wonder-Worker of the New World
• Saint John Masias: Marvelous Dominican Gatekeeper of Lima, Peru

Vision series: 

• St. Thomas More of London
• St. Edmund Campion: Hero of God's Underground
• St. Francis of the Seven Seas
• St. Isaac and the Indians
• Kateri Tekakwitha: Mohawk Maiden
• St. Philip of the Joyous Heart
• Father Marquette and the Great Rivers (already scheduled by the CMEC as an option for Term 3)

Other biographies:

• De Tonti of the Iron Hand (from Hillside)
• MacDonald's Star of the Mohawk: Kateri Tekakwitha (seems to be out of print)
• First Martyrs of North America (an out-of-print book I picked up a long while back and will have on the leisure shelf for additional biographies)
• The Autobiography of Saint Margaret Mary (from Tan Books, better for Form 3 and up)
• St. Vincent Ferrer: The Angel of Judgment (from Tan Books - thin volume, may be cheaper directly from Tan, better for Form 3 and up)
• St. Philip Neri: A Portrait (better for Form 3 and up)

Historical Fiction

A few Catholic historical fiction options:

• Garnett's The Blood-Red Crescent (on the Battle of Lepanto, the Crusades, and 16th century Italy)
• Garnett's Crossbows and Crucifixes (historical fiction about priest hunters and recusants)
• Sun Slower, Sun Faster (more historical fiction involving priest holes, relics, and time travel -- what a combo!)
• Lomask's Ship's Boy with Magellan
• Sr. Imelda Wallace's Outlaws of Ravenhurst (classic!)
• Borton de Trevino's Nacar: the White Deer (takes place in Mexico in 1630, and will go nicely alongside those below)
• Two books that deal with Catholic issues, assigned by the CMEC for Form 3: Strousse's The Friar and the Knight: Bartolome de Olmedo and Cortez and Baker's Walk the World's Rim

Other Notes on Form 1-3 History

Arnold-Forster's A History of England and H.E. Marshall's Our Island Story are both written from a British, Anglican perspective. As such, they laud "Good Queen Bess," pass fairly quickly over the Catholic martyrs, claim that the Church didn't want commoners reading the Bible, approve of the rebellion of the Scottish presbyterians, and so on. I love the books and think they are certainly worth using! I can't really imagine our homeschool without them. However, I do edit a few chapters covering this period and supplement with the above biographies and such about Catholics who lived then and what life was like for them. With this approach, my students get to experience how the viewpoint of the author colors their work.

I have listed below some chapters Catholic families may want to preview. You may decide to include them and discuss them with your kids, or you may choose to omit/abridge.

Our Island Story: Chapter 63 (I begin the chapter at "When King Henry heard..." on p. 285), Chapter 66 (I edit p. 301), Chapter 68 (I omit the first four paragraphs on p. 308), Chapter 76 (I read the first half only, stopping at "Like King James" on p. 346)

A History of England: Chapter 41 (I omit), Chapter 42 (I edit sections on "The Oxford Martyrs" and "The Death of Cranmer"), Chapter 43 (we discuss the section on treason on pp. 365-6)

Also, if students (or parents!) would like a fuller picture of Guy Fawkes, this article is interesting!

For American history using This Country of Ours, you may want to preview Chapters 9-10, which describe when Spanish Catholics brutally attack a group of Lutheran settlers.

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RELIGION FOR FORMS 1-3

Catechetical Instruction

Last year I really enjoyed studying the Mass with my Form 1 and 2 kids. We went through all of the parts of the Traditional Latin Mass using our books and images, did illustrated copywork of some of the most beautiful prayers and responses of the Mass, and practiced using a hand missal. It was very fruitful, especially with one of my little boys receiving First Communion and another beginning to serve Low Mass.

This year, I'm tentatively planning to do a new study each term with resources already on my shelves:

• Term 1 - The Holy Angels: Marigold Hunt's A Book of Angels, the Litany to the Archangels, the Book of Tobit.
• Term 2 - Our Lady: Leading Little Ones to Mary, The Secret of Mary Explained to Children, Mother Loyola's Hail, Full of Grace, the Litany of Loreto.
• Term 3 - St. Joseph: A Practical Manual of Devotion to St. Joseph, the Litany to St. Joseph.

My Form 3 student will read about the same topics but in her own time: O'Sullivan's All About the Angels or St. Michael and the Angels for Term 1, Mother Loyola's Hail, Full of Grace for Term 2, and joining the older kids' study of the Mass in Term 3 with Fr. Knox's The Mass in Slow Motion.

Spiritual Reading and Liturgical Year (read as a family over meals)

We will continue A Character Calendar, which has been a favorite with my younger students.

We did not finish all of Reverend Halpin's Children's Retreats last year, so we may revisit that for some of our morning reading together. But I am also thinking about re-reading Mother Loyola's First Communion, since it has been a few years! (If you have not read this, schedule it as a family read! She walks through the "types" for the Eucharist in the Old Testament and walks through the life of Our Lord in chronological fashion. This will be our third time through this text and it remains a family favorite.)

(Also, I have some special titles in this post if you're looking for religion books to read aloud to littles or that children learning to read can read for themselves!)

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CATHOLIC SUPPLEMENTS AND RELIGION FOR FORMS 4 & 5 (HIGH SCHOOL)

This year, I will have two high schoolers: a freshman (Form 4) and a sophomore (Form 5). As always, please preview the books listed below before handing to your high schoolers.

History Texts

In addition to the CMEC's high school history texts, I add a weekly Catholic history block to my high schoolers' timetable, during which they will read from two books this year:

• Laux's Church History (picking up from where we stopped last year and covering pp. 410-501)
• Belloc's Characters of the Reformation (this was a favorite of my older kids -- not exactly a Catholic book, but has a unique perspective on the period)

Additional supplements for real history buffs:

• Eamon Duffy's books: Fires of Faith: Catholic England Under Mary Tudor and The Stripping of the Altars
• And recommended to me by a reader: Cobbett's A History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland
• My older kids also read from Starr's Continental Ambitions, a comprehensive Catholic history of America. But my current high schoolers need something a bit lighter, so we are going with Laux. (Please be sure to pre-read this text if you decide to use it! There are some difficult sections.)

A few more notes on history:

Ball's Great Astronomers, which my high schoolers will be reading from this year, tells the story of Galileo in the usual way. I would like my kids to read the fuller story so have printed this article on the common misconceptions about the Galileo affair and tucked it into the book.

One benefit of the overall CMEC selections for American history is their breadth. The curriculum includes stories of the French and Spanish settlers of America too, not just the English and Puritans. Even our travelogues highlight some of these lesser-studied figures and events. Much British writing from or about the period is very anti-Spanish by default, so I am happy to have, for example, Cabeza de Vaca's account to balance this out. Just because this was the period of treasure-hunting Spaniards does not mean all Spanish were brutal, obviously! And I'm pleased for my students to read about the Frenchman Marquette, who has a beautiful story of adventure and service to the native peoples. I am sure these will inspire worthwhile discussion in our home this year.

The high school book the CMEC uses for general history, Robinson's Medieval and Modern Times, is much more even-handed on the Renaissance and Reformation. This year's chapters were a pleasure to read. They will provide good context for what my students have read before and it is perfectly timed for their last pass through this historical period.

Catholic Literature

These will go in their leisure reading time. Some selections tied to this year's studies:

• Monsignor Benson's Come Rack! Come Rope! (I have an old edition so haven't previewed the one linked) and By What Authority? (both historical fiction -- I read these years ago and know my kids will enjoy them too)
• Lyra Martyrum (beautiful poetry collection from Catholic martyrs of the English Renaissance)
• We will also be reading Mazoni's The Betrothed this year along with the CMEC!

Biographies, Autobiographies, and Spiritual Classics from the Time Period

Some of these will be for Sunday reading, some for leisure reading, some for seasonal devotional reading.

• De Wohl's The Golden Thread and Set All Afire (fictional saint biographies that are often profound and very engaging -- have a few intense moments, to be sure to pre-read)
• Waugh's Edmund Campion
• Pearce's The Quest for Shakespeare: The Bard of Avon and the Church of Rome
• Twain's Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (scheduled by the CMEC)
• St. Teresa of Avila's The Way of Perfection and Autobiography
• The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross
• Fr. Gerard's The Autobiography of a Hunted Priest
• Sermons from St. Francis de Sales for Advent and Christmas and for Lent
• The Imitation of Christ (there are many different translations)

Also, the biographies recommended for Form 3 above would also make great reading for a high school student.

Catechetical Reading

My Form 4 and 5 students are still preparing for their Confirmation, as there was no local Confirmation here last year. You can see their reading plan for Confirmation here. They will also spread St. Michael and the Angels (a long-time favorite of mine) and The Mass of All Time (recommended by my oldest daughter, who read it on retreat this spring) across the year.

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I hope this helps those studying these time periods with us this fall!

Any wonderful books I should add to the list above? Let me know in the comments!

(Amazon links above are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!)