Catholic History and Religion :: 2023-24 School Year

It's my annual post on our Catholic history and religion for the upcoming school year!

Below you'll find lots of Catholic supplements for medieval and modern history, which is what we'll be studying the coming year with the CMEC. As usual, I have also included some Bible and religion resources I'll be using and links to recommendations from years past.

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:

• 2020-21 School Year (1450-1600 and Ancient Near East/Egypt)
• 2021-22 School Year (1600-1780 and Ancient Greece)
• 2022-23 School Year (1780-1900 and Ancient Rome)

This is my LAST post in the four years' history rotation. Soon I'm planning to create separate pages on the site to house these resources for future years -- and to be a place I can update as I come across great new books!

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BIBLE

Lower Forms

For Old Testament, my students in Form 1-3 will be reading through parts of Samuel and Kings. For New Testament, my students in Forms 1 and 2 will read the Gospel of Matthew. 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 (Prophets and Kings and Saint Matthew). 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 (it's a thick one!) 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.

Upper Forms

For Old Testament, my high schoolers will be reading through some of the minor prophets this year: Amos, Hosea, and Micah. 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.)
• I will be previewing the Navarre volume on The Minor Prophets for their reference as well.
• 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 the epistles to the Thessalonians and Corinthians. I like the short introductions to each epistle from Catholic Answers as well as the Dummlow linked above. (I have been previewing additional commentaries but don't think they are necessary for these epistles. However, if you have a favorite classic commentary written by a saint to recommend, let me know! For example, we loved St. Robert Bellarmine's Commentary on the Psalms last year.)

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 coming year, we will be studying roughly 1900-present. My Form 2A and 3 students will also be studying the Middle Ages in Europe for their general history stream.

Biographies

There are many great options for saint biographies for these time periods! 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. Ideally, the Form 2A and 3 kids to have one medieval and one modern saint to read about each term. 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. Catherine of Siena: The Story of the Girl Who Saw Saints in the Sky
• Saint Dominic: Preacher of the Rosary and Founder of the Dominican Order
• Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Story of the Dumb Ox
• St. Benedict: The Story of the Father of the Western Monks
• The Children of Fatima and Our Lady's Message to the World
• Saint Hyacinth of Poland: The Story of the Apostle of the North

Vision series: 

• Tarry's St. Katharine Drexel: Friend of the Oppressed (assigned by the CMEC)
• Beebe's Saint Dominic and the Rosary
• Thompson's St. Elizabeth's Three Crowns
• Homan's Francis and Clare: Saints of Assisi
• De Maria's Saint Maximillian Kolbe: A Hero of the Holocaust
• Diethelm's St. Pius X: The Farm Boy Who Became Pope
• Buliard's My Eskimos: A Priest in the Arctic (out of print)

F.A. Forbes series: Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Athanasius, Pope St. Pius X (better for Form 3)

Other books:

• Ball's Blessed Miguel Pro (from Tan Books, very nice bio, better for Form 3)
• Royer's Padre Pro (from Hillside)
• Saint Gertrude the Great: Herald of Divine Love (from Tan Books, tiny volume)
• Fitzhenry's El Cid: God's Own Champion (haven't read this yet, but it was recently written and there are others by this author if we like this one!)
• Canton's The Story of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (a PNEU selection)
• Saint Gianna Beretta Molla from the Encounter the Saints series (out of print)

Historical Fiction

I like to add some Catholic historical fiction to the free read shelf when able. A few for this year:

• Godden's The Kitchen Madonna (a longtime favorite)
• Leighton's Twelve Bright Trumpets (new to me and looks very promising!)
• Peek's Crusader King: A Novel about Baldin IV and the Crusades
• Kadar-Kallen's The Cross Our Compass (well-researched, set in WWII, and written by a homeschool grad!)

Other Notes on Form 1-3 History

For the Middle Ages, Christine Miller's The Story of the Middle Ages is the CMEC's recommended spine. The nice thing about this text is that it provides a broader view, covering the history of much of Europe (not just England). I read this book with my students four years ago and don't recall anything problematic for Catholic families but will add notes here if I encounter anything worth a caution.

Similarly, our assigned American history texts for these Forms for the modern period (Builders of Our Country, The Landmark History of the American People, and Land of Hope) do not present issues for Catholics.

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RELIGION FOR FORMS 1-3

Catechetical Instruction

This year, I will be continuing a study of the Mass with my Form 1 and 2 students and preparation for Confirmation with my Form 3 and 4 students. See the post from last year for the resources we are using!

My Form 3 and 4 students will also be reading Knox's The Mass in Slow Motion, which was a big favorite of my older kids at this age! (Note: I have a different version than the one linked. Mine is a poorly-done reprint with lots of typos; I'm hoping this one is perhaps better?) I also have O'Sullivan's All about the Angels on the shelf for my Form 3 student since he hasn't read it yet.

We will be also reading from Children's Retreats by Reverend Halpin, which unfortunately seems to be out of print. I plan for my Form 1 and 2 students to read the Confession and Communion chapters and my Form 3 and 4 students the Confirmation chapters, but I may end up reading it aloud over breakfast with everyone.

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

This year, we will continue A Character Calendar, which has been a favorite with my younger students. I will also be reading from Mother Loyola's "With the Church" series, which has been my personal reading for the past year. I am excited to share some of my favorite parts with the children.

I also plan to read from Mother Loyola's Trust, a new-to-us title. We have loved everything Mother Loyola wrote and I'm hoping this book will be another winner!

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

This year, I will have two seniors (Form 5) and one freshman (Form 4). My seniors have read so much and are also so much older, so there are some things I will be assigning all my high schoolers together and others that make more sense for me to assign separately. You will see notes to that end below.

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.

The main text for all my high schoolers this year will be Laux's Church History. Even in this one-volume history text, the Middle Ages makes up a large chunk of it (pp. 192-409, or about eight pages weekly). But it is more condensed than the volume and a half of Carroll's series that covers this time period, and I think my seniors will like Laux's style more than Carroll's. (My Form 4 student will focus just on the medieval era in her Catholic history reading, so this will be her only assigned text.)

My Form 5 students can handle a bit more reading and will benefit from a broader view in this their senior year, so they will add the following:

• One chapter per term from Belloc's Europe and the Faith
• A bit of reading on the history of the modern era in the Church at the end of Term 3 (not sure yet, but currently planning to assign about thirty pages from Vidmar's The Catholic Church Through the Ages -- not a big fan of his take on it, but I already have it on the shelf and it will make for good conversation with my students)
• On the free read shelf because they love Belloc: the rest of Europe and the Faith, The Great Heresies (will tie together their history from the past four years), and The Crusades

Catholic Literature (tied to this year's history studies)

These will go in their leisure reading time. Some selections for this year:

• Benson's The Lord of the World (he is a family favorite and I am looking forward to this for my Form 5 students)
• O'Brien's Strangers and Sojourners (pre-reading for my Form 5 students -- if you have read it, let me know what you think)
• Wilder's Bridge of San Luis Rey (we are doing Our Town with the CMEC, so I thought this would be a nice addition)
• Chesterton's Lepanto (we have already done his wonderful Ballad of the White Horse, which is scheduled by the CMEC, so we will read this instead)
• Barrett's The Lilies of the Field (and perhaps we'll watch the movie afterward!)
• We will also be reading Dante's Divine Comedy this year along with the CMEC!

Biographies, Autobiographies, and Spiritual Classics (tied to this year's history studies)

Some of these will be for Sunday reading, some for leisure reading, some just optional.

• Chesterton's Saint Francis and Saint Thomas Aquinas (scheduled by the CMEC as one of the term biographies)
• Glynn's A Song for Nagasaki (scheduled by the CMEC as one of the term biographies)
• Dorcy's Saint Dominic
• Undset's Catherine of Siena
• Coulombe's Blessed Charles of Austria
• Goldmann's The Shadow of His Wings
• Raymond's The Family that Overtook Christ
• Molla's The Journey of Our Love (for my Form 5 daughter, named for St. Gianna)
• Additional books on St. Therese for my students who read Story of a Soul last year: My Sister St. Therese, The Father of the Little Flower, The Mother of the Little Flower (all seem to be out of print on Amazon, unfortunately)
• Stronger than Steel: Soldiers of the Great War Write to Thérèse of Lisieux (a gift from a good friend!)
• The Life and Revelations of St. Gertrude the Great
• De Wohl's Citadel of God: A Novel about St. Benedict, Lay Siege to Heaven: A Novel about St. Catherine of Siena, The Quiet Light: A Novel about Saint Thomas Aquinas (fictionalized biographies -- my older kids have loved these, and I think my newly-Form 4 daughter will too!)
• The Little Flowers of Saint Francis (my older two have used the Italian version for this Italian studies over the years, the version of I have is out of print but this one looks good)
• The Rule of St. Benedict

As a note: the biographies listed for Form 3 by Ann Ball and F.A. Forbes would also make great reading for a high school student.

Catechetical Reading (tied to this year's history studies)

My Form 4 student is preparing for her Confirmation, as mentioned above, so this reading is just for my Form 5 students. This will be slotted for Sunday reading and includes some from the Middle Ages and some from the modern era:

• Aquinas's Shorter Summa: Saint Thomas's Own Concise Version of His Summa Theologica (they have been begging to read some of the Summa, so I thought this would be a good option -- it's still quite long, though, so they likely won't read the whole thing)
• I also plan to have them read an encyclical each term, which is something they have not done yet. I wanted to choose ones that would be both historically important and clarifying about some aspect of the Faith or the Church's position today. I am currently planning on Aeterni Patris by Leo XIII, Pascendi Dominici Gregis by Pope Pius X, and Caritas in Veritate by Benedict XVI.
• Last in this section, I wanted to have them read some short works by the Early Church Fathers. Ideally I would like a compilation volume, but every one I have previewed so far has been too much (very long, multiple volumes) or not enough (mostly descriptions of the Fathers rather than the works themselvees). If you have recommendations, please let me know!

Devotional Reading (not tied to this year's history studies)

This includes Advent reading, Lent reading, daily spiritual reading for their personal devotional time, additional reading for the free read shelf, etc.

• Sheen's Characters of the Passion (for Lent -- they loved his Life of Christ last year)
• Knox's In Soft Garments: Classic Catholic Apologetics (for my Form 5, and there is a second volume of these Oxford lectures if they want to read further!)
• Jarrett's Classic Catholic Meditations (daily reading, really looking forward to this one)
• Sister Mary Philip and Mother Mary Loyola's The Sacred Heart and Mine in Holy Communion (for my Form 4 daughter)
• Hildebrand's The Privilege of Being a Woman (for my Form 5 daughter)

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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!

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