Customer Reviews

The How to Book of Catholic Devotions: Everything You Need to Know But No One Ever Taught You

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Often times, the biggest problem faced by those new to the Catholic faith is that they are surrounded by lifetime Catholics. Not that there is anything wrong with lifetime Catholics for these people are the pillars of the faith but they have trouble grasping just how much the novice has to learn. Having lived all of their life with all of the tradition and ritual of the Church these lifetime Catholics can't know just how confused someone new to the Church can become. That is where books like this come in.

The authors seem to have aimed this book at Catholics who have never been at all active in the Church and have never been taught its ways but for the novice this book is a treasure. Many of the central beliefs of the Church are explained here and explained in a way that anyone can understand. For example, most Catholics wouldn't really consider Holy Water confusing. The new Catholic however only knows that Dracula doesn't like the stuff and has no idea of its real significance. This book explains just what it symbolizes and is used for.

Among the things explained in this book are the Sign of the Cross, the Angelus, pilgrimages, the Sacred Heart, and the significance of Fridays. All of it explained in an easy to grasp and fun to read manner. About mid-way through the book the reader will almost hear the sound as everything begins to click. Suddenly, many things that were kind of fuzzy become clear and understandable. Things learned in this book will bring the whole world of the Catholic Church into a much clearer focus.

Many people have great knowledge of the things they write about but only a few can communicate their knowledge as well as these two authors. For someone thinking of converting or just curious this book will be a great help and I highly recommend it to anyone going through the RCIA. Even if you are just studying the Catholic Church to better understand world history, this book is a must. An easy and quick read this book explains much of the knowledge of two thousand years. What more could one ask for?

this book is essential for the NEW catholic, the catholic brought up in the "anything goes" period of the 60's and 70's, or the catholic who would just like to expand their knowledge of the faith. Very easy format, and flows beautifully. Includes just about all of the basics. I bought it because I was bothered by distractions during prayer, but it gave me much more than I had hoped for.

This books is so much better than what I thought it would be. It is loaded with great prayers and interesting facts. I studied theology at a Catholic College and I was afraid this book was going to be too fundamental for me, but it is loaded with good stuff. I have learned a ton from it and have started using a lot of the prayers in my own prayer life.

I bought this book and read a little to my 11 year old every night. He was very touched by it. I highly recommend it. It explains things so thoroughly, and makes you really pay attention to prayer. As a practicing catholic, I really thought I knew these very basic devotions, but you read this and look at the devotions much more deeply and really appreciate them for what they are. You will never pray the Lord's prayer the same way!

New and Cradle Catholics agree that this book is a wonderful title for all that are interested in their faith. I myself became a Catholic about two years ago and I have always been searching for a book that could teach me the basics of catholic devoions. This book is the answer to my search with its wonderful descriptions and easy to understand directions in regards to Catholic devotions. This book is also recommended by Cradle Catholics who found this as a wonderful refresher and often offer the title to new members to the church.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I am a cradle Catholic but I'm not completely clear on why we do some of the things we do. This book covered all types of devotions. I have things highlighted and bookmarked all over the place. A wonderful resource that will be on my "bookshelf" for handy reference. May God abundantly bless you both for your work on this book.

This is a reference work. It is arranged in some ways very much like those A-Z guides to, say, Japan... there is no guarantee that the items that are listed are in any meaningful order relevant to each other. As long as you understand that Rosary is next to RCIA because both start with R, not because one follows the other, you will be fine.

This book explains a LOT, and the long time Catholic will often be wondering why they bothered to include this or that since "everyone knows that" but as someone who purchased this book as a convert i can only tell you that its all new to *someone*. If you are newly practicing, intersted in Catholicism, or have realized that maybe you didnt get the religious education you needed, this book will be vetry useful. it is also very handy to have a simple answer handy when people ask you about "that Catholic thing".

Some of the entries are a bit more in depth and detailed than might be suitable for beginners, while some are far too simple to cover a topic for any BUT a beginner, but thats a minor quibble. no book can do it all. I suggest getting this book together with "Catholicism for Dummies" because that is a good overall course of study.

This is a wonderful book and I refer to it all the time. I have had this book for a while now, and still I get great use out of it. Detailed by not long-winded on the explanations, which I really like. Put together nicely in an organized manner. I also like that it is paperback, so it is lightweight.