Popping back in with my annual post of recommendations for books on Catholic history, literature, and religion tied to the time period we will be studying with the CMEC this year: roughly 1650-1800 in American and British/European history.
For previous years' recommendations, check out my Catholic History and Religion archive. At this point, I have written posts every era! I have shared about this period before, but I have reorganized and refreshed my previous suggestions here and added a few 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).
BIBLE
Lower Forms
The CMEC follows the PNEU in scheduling Paterson-Smyth's books as a complementary resource for Bible lessons, and I will be using them in my preparation as well. I don't agree with everything he writes, but he offers good "captain ideas" for Bible lessons that get at the overarching themes of the assigned Bible texts.I like to take his suggestions in light of Catholic thought, so I rely on Knecht's A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture as well. This tome provides a Catholic perspective on both Old and New Testaments, from historical background to theological and doctrinal connections to application. I have used it in various ways over the years and always with good results. The section on Moses and Exodus, which will be our Old Testament reading for Forms 1-3 this year, also includes nice images and diagrams helpful for our Book of Centuries.
I will also be using these two references in preparing to go through the Gospel of Luke with my Form 1 & 2 students.
Upper Forms
My older kids will read straight from the prophetic books (Ezekiel, Ezra, and Haggai) and the Epistles (Philippians, Colossians, Hebrews, and James), along with various commentaries. On the shelf are the PNEU-recommended Dummelow One-Volume Bible Commentary for historical background, the Navarre Major Prophets and Letters of St. Paul volumes, and the relevant sections from the Catholic Encyclopedia at New Advent (I always print these and add to a binder).
All Forms
In all of our lessons, we will be reading from our preferred 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: the CMEC TBG Songbooks include the Bible passages for the year in the King James Version, so I print ours in the Douay-Rheims and tape them in for our recitations. We also add at least one Latin hymn to our hymn study each year.
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Biographies
My Form 1 students will read a couple of the shorter/easier biographies from the list below this year. When they come around to this period 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: 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. Rose of Lima
- St. Martin de Porres
- Blessed Marie of New France (longer)
- St. Louis de Montfort (longer)
- St. Margaret Mary (longer)
Vision series (some of these we read this prior year, but for those who haven't):
- Derleth's Father Marquette and the Great Rivers (scheduled by the CMEC last year)
- Brown's Kateri Tekakwitha, Mohawk Maiden (scheduled by the CMEC this year)
- Lomask's Saint Isaac and the Indians
- Connolly's Saint Philip of the Joyous Heart
Other biographies (many are from the American Background Series reprinted by Hillside Education):
- Betz's Priest on Horseback: Father Farmer (1720-1786)
- Heagney's De Tonti of the Iron Hand and the Exploration of the Mississippi
- Lomask's Charles Carroll and the American Revolution (such a good biography of this Catholic signer)
- Steffan's Padre Kino and the Trail to the Pacific (scheduled as travelogue by the CMEC) and Clark's Father Kino: Priest to the Pimas (Father Kino's life was one of charity and adventure, and we love that he was in the West!)
- Boesch's The Cross in the West (a Western overview)
- Demarest's The First Californian (unfortunately out of print)
- Hindman's Mathew Carey: Pamphleteer for Freedom (scheduled by the CMEC -- so inspiring and so many connections to other figures we are reading about this year)
- Sr. Osiek's St. Rose Philippine Duchesne: A Heart on Fire Across Frontier
- Hopkins' Colonial Governor: Thomas Dongan
- Buchanan's Don Diego de Vargas: The Peaceful Conquistador
- Grant's Adventurous Lady: Margaret Brent of Maryland
- Sheehans' Pierre Toussaint: A Citizen of Old New York (scheduled by the CMEC -- a fabulous and heart-wrenching story)
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. I love the books and think they are certainly worth using! I can't really imagine our homeschool without them. However, I do edit here and there and supplement with Catholic reading as described above for a more balanced view. With this approach, I think my students get to understand how the viewpoint of the author colors his or her 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 (for the chapters scheduled to coincide with this time period, not the chapters assigned to Form 2B by the CMEC this year): Chapter 83 (I would question some of the arguments against King James), Chapter 85 (I edit)
A History of England: Chapter 61 (I would discuss these translations in relation to Catholic ones), chapter 64 (I edit sections of "Why King George Found a Welcome")
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RELIGION FOR FORMS 1-3
Catechetical Instruction
Each week I have a half-hour religion slot in which I work with my Form 1 & 2 students. We read aloud, add to notebooks, memorize prayers and catechism, etc.
For last year's religion block, I had planned more than we had time for, so we will continuing with the following resources this year:
- Terms 1 and 2 - finishing our study of 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
- Terms 2 and 3 - St. Joseph: A Practical Manual of Devotion to St. Joseph, the Litany to St. Joseph
My Form 3 students will be reading Fr. Knox's The Creed in Slow Motion this year, and I will also slot in some of the high school spiritual reading for them as I finalize our plans.
I also have a Form 2 student who is learning to serve the Latin Mass and has been working with his older siblings on that all summer. We will also slot in some review for him on Sundays to cement the prayers and motions.
Spiritual Reading and Liturgical Year (read over meals as a family)
This year, we continue our re-readings of A Character Calendar and First Communion! These are perennial books for us, and I read them over breakfast.
(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!)
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 Carroll's The Cleaving of Christendom (Chapter 12 in Term 1) and The Revolution Against Christendom (Chapters 1-3 in Term 2 and Chapters 4-7 in Term 3). My older kids read from different books when they studied this period, but Carroll's series seems a better fit for my current students. (They read from Laux's Catholic History last year, but there aren't enough pages in that text for this year's studies.)
A few more notes on history:
The CMEC's high school history texts, which are written from a secular perspective, are quite nuanced. If I'm being picky, the only issue I see in this year's selections from Medieval and Modern Times, for example, is that Robinson has the typical negative view of the Middle Ages and positive view of Voltaire and Rousseau. But he acknowledges diversity of opinion and I think the way he states his thoughts makes for good discussion and is a useful part of the students' intellectual development. Overall I really like his approach, balanced by the Catholic history books we will read alongside.
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.
- Blessed Claude Columbiere's Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence
- St. Louis de Monfort's True Devotion to Mary and The Secret of the Rosary
- Jean-Pierre De Caussade's Abandonment to Divine Providence
- The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Ligouri for All the Sundays of the Year (as well as so many other classic texts by St. Alphonsus, like The Glories of Mary)
- Fr. Faber's Spiritual Conferences (I have an older copy, but there seem to be various independent reprints available)
- The Autobiography of St. Margaret Mary
- The Letters of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
- Bolton's The Padre on Horseback (short but more challenging book about Padre Kino)
- Roos' The Royal Road (unfortunately out of print -- written for children, but weaves various issues of European politics into the narrative and is a bit more challenging than the Demarest listed above)
These are not tied to the historical period but will be additional reading they can choose from in this slot:
- Houselander's The Reed of God (during Advent)
- Father Patrignani's A Manual of Practical Devotion to St. Joseph (during Lent)
- Chesterton's Orthodoxy (the rest of the time!)
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I hope this helps those studying the Revolutionary period with us this fall! I can't wait to dive in.
Any favorites to add to the list? Let me know in the comments!
(Amazon links above are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!)
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