Adult Catholic Catechism Made Easy

Catholic Adult Faith Formation

One adult Catholic catechism is all you need to read as it does not take going through grade levels to learn the Catholic Faith.

The Creed, Commandments, and prayers are most of what you need to learn.

Audio Catechism Recordings

St. Anne's Helper Adult Catholic Catechism CDs

Need a short cut to learning the basic truths of the Catholic faith?

We have Saint Anne's Helper audio downloads that teach the basic Catholic truths that serve as Catholic Cliffs notes, Catholicism 101.

• St. Anne's Helper uses the Baltimore Catechism so that you can have confidence that the answers will always be true. 
• You can trust the material with these adult Catholic catechism CDs. 
• The CDs come in white DVD boxes that will withstand many openings, many drops and falls, and even a bit of a coffee spill!

Think about it. The basic Catholic beliefs about the Catholic Eucharist and Confirmation never change. 

Both volumes have the audio file and the text file on the same CD or Download so that you can make copies to use as you drive or do light chores and print the text to have the words handy, too. 

The easiest way to learn the catechism is by listening to an audio recording. Even though most "courses" take ten to fifteen weeks, most of the info condenses to about 27 minutes of audio.

If learning the Baltimore Catechism seems daunting or you want reinforcements through the week, you'll want our recordings (CDs or digital downloads). As an adult you'll want to have both. You can read the questions and answers on these pages:

• Volume One teaches the basics necessary for Baptism and one's first reception of Penance and the Holy Eucharist. This volume gives an introduction to the first three Catholic sacraments that Catholics usually receive: Baptism, Penance, and Holy Eucharist.
• Volume Two teaches additional basics necessary for Confirmation. This volume gives the basics necessary for all seven sacraments with an emphasis on Catholic Confirmation and the truths about the Blessed Trinity.

Both volumes teach the Catholic prayers, the Catholic Ten Commandments, and other basic Catholic beliefs as found in an adult Catholic Catechism.

They include the questions most frequently asterisked to be memorized for each sacrament.

Read what Catholic priests and catechists have said.

Adult Baltimore Catechism Books

* Catechism of the Council of Trent

My favorite adult catechism is the Catechism of the Council of Trent (CCT). It has plenty of Biblical sources, too, and is the original book upon which The Baltimore Catechism is based.

It is a solid adult Catholic catechism teaches doctrine plainly. It is a joy to read both for marvel and for clarity.

Did you ever hear about the General Judgment that:

"Those who depart this life sometimes leave behind them children who imitate their conduct, dependents, followers and others who admire and advocated their example, language and actions. Now by all these circumstances the rewards or punishments of the dead must needs be increased, since the good or bad influence of example, affecting as it does the conduct of many, is to terminate only with the end of the world. Justice demands that in order to form a proper estimate of all these good or bad actions and words a thorough investigation should be made. This, however, could not be without a general judgment of all men." (CCT, p. 82)

The General Judgment is not merely a simple revelation of our foul deeds!

Our reward or punishment will be increased at that time! This gives us more encouragement to live right. There are many more wonderful thoughts like this in the book.

The Roman Catholic Catechism, or the Catechism of Rome, is the Catechism of the Council of Trent here.

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* The Catechism Explained

The Catechism Explained is also quite helpful as it is encyclopedic and has a much better Index than most old books. It is truly an adult Baltimore Catechism and also quotes Bible sources.

The Catechism Explained (Amazon) is an adult Catholic catechism that explains the Baltimore Catechism (which was based on The Catechism of the Council of Trent). It uses the same basic questions from the Baltimore Catechism and expands with further doctrine, examples and anecdotes from history, especially from such saints as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine. 

Adult Catholic Catechism Spiritual Reading

* The Douay-Rheims Bible

The Douay-Rheims Bible is my favorite for reading. It retains the Catholic vocabulary and tells the story beautifully.

This is the best source of Bible verses about faith. You will appreciate that the words are the same as they have been for hundreds of years.

Check here for my list of several sources for this Bible.

A Practical Commentary On Holy Scripture

A Practical Commentary On Holy Scripture combines the Bible and the catechism. I wish all books were this good. It is the best of the Bible study books that I have read.

It not only explains the stories from the Bible using the commentary of saints and the Church Fathers, it includes meditation and Catholic spiritual reading.

It covered many questions that I had had for many years and incorporates the catechism throughout the Scripture commentary.

It also has an excellent Application at the end of each story -

• "How does your life compare?" 
• "How do you practice these virtues?"

When it covers the Fourth Commandment it asks, "How well do you obey your superiors?" in a way that makes you think and gives hope that you can improve with God's grace.

The Practical Commentary has wonderful companion books, too, if you're studying the faith with your children.

• Give the Child's Bible History to your little children as it has nice line drawings and is a great Bible story book for kids.
• Give the Bible History book to your high school children to follow along for a family read along.

We homeschool and combine classes whenever we can.

It worked out super well for me to read the big book outloud while the older children read the same text (almost) in the Bible History and the little children saw the drawings in the Child's Bible History.

The books were all interesting and even generated some great family discussions.

* The Sinner's Guide

The Sinner's Guide (Amazon) is a great book in an adult Catholic catechism program to fill in the details in the practical order in the spiritual life.

• "Do I have the obligation to tell my employer this?"
• "Should I mention this to my friend?"

This sort of book gives confidence that we can do what we are supposed to do, even in the face of temptation!

The Sinner's Guide is a great book in an adult Catholic catechism program to fill in the day to day details.

* My Imitation of Christ

We have so many guides that are supposed to make our daily lives easier: MyComputer, MyDocuments, MyThis, MyThat. What about My Imitation of Christ (Amazon)? Is my own imitation recognizable? Can anyone tell that I am trying to imitate Our Lord Jesus Christ? This book does an excellent job of setting the standard in the spiritual life. It is said that it is the number one most popular book in sales behind the Bible! We can see why. It covers many topics not covered in most "self-help" books!

Catholic Doctrine

If you're interested in the source of the catechism, you will want to read the original writings of the Fathers, the great doctors of the church.

The trouble is that they were written in Latin and Greek.

What to do?

Read the book called The Church Teaches. It has:

• The Athanasian Creed, 
• The Oath Against Modernism, 
• The Interpretation of Sacred Scripture, 
• Condemnation of the Modernists, 
• And Papal Infallibility.
  

One of my favorite pages is page 141 where it says:

"It is possible to know God's existence from the creatures that he made. ... to know that creatures were made by God out of nothing. ...

"God has revealed the fact that he alone is the creator of all that is. ...

"The true concept of creation excludes every form of emanationism and pantheism, while it emphasizes the liberality, power, wisdom, and goodness of God, manifested by his free creation of the world in time. These truths are the cornerstones on which men can build lives of Christian optimism and personal responsibility. For that reason the Church has always insisted on them as basic to the revealed religion entrusted to it by God."

The book covers:

• Professions of Faith;
• Revelation, Faith, and Reason;
• Tradition and Holy Scripture;
• The Church, the Triune God;
• God the Creator and Sanctifier;
• The incarnation and Redemption;
• Grace, The Sacraments, and the Last Things.

In other words, it is in the form of a concise adult Catholic catechism straight from the Fathers and Doctors of the Church.

Personal note: I knew the editor's twin brother, Fr. VanAckeren, from my college days. I do not know much about either of them, yet his brother who was also a Jesuit priest was very nice. One day he gave my friend and I tickets to the symphony as he was not able to use them that night. We had our first introduction to beautiful music, so it was very good for me. How wonderful that they were both priests! May God rest their souls. +

TAN's Definitive Catholic Catechisms and Doctrine

Disclosure: I show products that I think will help you. If you use my links, I may earn ad commissions at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

If you are not required to use the Baltimore, check out the old version of DeHarbe's Catechism at Amazon. The Small Catechism is for Communion preparation and The Large Catechism is for the rest of us. No Wite-Out necessary. :-)

Deharbe's Large Catechism

Catechism of the Bible, Douay Version (Amazon)

A Practical Commentary On Holy Scripture combines the Bible and the catechism. I wish all books were this good.

Child's Bible History (elementary) and Bible History book (high school) are excellent for catechism class.

Catholic Books Add To The Story

Many Catholic books add interest to a great adult Catholic catechism program. The ones I learned the most from are from the lives of the saints.

Sometimes, if one is new to the Catholic Faith, it is nice to use some children's books to get a quick overview.

We know adults who had never read through the Bible, yet knew the stories because they had read a Catholic Children's Bible (Amazon) as mentioned above.

Any good catechism covers the Articles of Faith in

• The Apostle's Creed, 
• The Catholic Ten Commandments (yes it is different from the Protestant versions), 
• The Catholic prayers - especially the Rosary and Mass prayers, and 
• The (three Theological, four Cardinal, Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy, Seven Corporal Works of Mercy, etc.).

The expansion of ideas on an adult level is the main difference between a child's catechism and an adult's. 

Once you know the basic Catholic beliefs, and get them memorized, the rest of the information in a larger catechism fills in the story or gives the fuller Catholic doctrine.

The trick is to find a catechism that gives plain Catholic answers, especially during initial studies. Click the link to see some points to beware even in older "Catholic" books.

Once you make a comparison between books as to whether they concur with the timeless Roman Catholic Catechism, you can relax and enjoy your choice of books.

If the principles and the stories are true, you have a good adult Catholic catechism!

Note Bene: One cannot always depend on the Imprimatur, see Blessed Pope Pius IX's encyclical Pascendi paragraph 60.

You might also like:

• Catholic Baptism
• Adult Baltimore Catechism
  
• Adult Religious Education
• The Catechism of the Council of Trent

Audio Baltimore Catechism, Catholic Worksheets, Catholic eBooks, and Catholic Coloring Pages:

Catholic catechism resources for your Roman Catholic catechism class, Faith formation, Catholic homeschool, religious education, or Sunday school lessons. Save on bundles!

Order our Baltimore Catechism worksheets. Choose your favorite fonts, colors, and SIZES on our fillable digital interactive worksheets and coloring pages. Paperless or printable.

First Communion Preparation Baltimore Catechism No. 1 For Children And Adults - Or get the bundle.

Baltimore Catechism Confirmation Preparation: Audio, Worksheets, eBooklet - or all 3 bundled.

All for the love of You, my God!