Catholic Encyclopedia for Children (Our Sunday Visitor)

Through the years, Our Sunday Visitor has had a successful history of publishing encyclopedia for the faithful Catholic. Such topics of these encyclopedias include Catholic History, U.S. Catholic History, the Saints, and Mary. I own and have reviewed at least three of these books, if not all four. Well, Our Sunday Visitor has recently released a kid-friendly encyclopedia, appropriately called Catholic Encyclopedia for Children. The book is divided into six sections:

1. In the Beginning
2. The Life of Jesus
3. The Church Begins to Grow
4. The Church Covers Europe
5. The Church in the New World
6. This We Believe

The first two chapters of the book rely heavily on the Old and New Testament. The sections covered in the Old Testament are Genesis, Exodus, and 1st Samuel. The New Testament takes us from the beginning of the Gospels to Pentecost in Acts 1 and 2. It also covers the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. Chapter Three is very brief and spends a few pages detailing how the Apostles spread the Church as Jesus instructed them to do so. Chapters Four and Five talk about the grown and spread of the Church through the centuries. We see saintly examples in Benedict, Francis, Juan Diego, and Kateri Tekawitha to name a few. The last chapters covers tenets of our Faith, such as the Pope, the Church, the Mass, the Creed, the Sacraments, and the Communion of Saints. Again, more saints serve as examples for your children.

The first thing that stands out about this book is that it's a paperback. When I think of encyclopedias, I think of a hardcover, not a softcover. The second thing I noticed about this book is that there aren't individual entries. For the most part, the book is a series of Bible summaries, saint biographies, and illustrations on every page. The book is well-written, faithful to Church teachings, and written in a manner that is engaging and accessible for children. It would be great for parents, teachers, and catechists to have in their library. However, I don't think I'd call it an encyclopedia, at least not in the traditional sense.

This book was provided to me for free by Our Sunday Visitor in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!

Encyclopedia of Saints (Our Sunday Visitor)

I'm a sucker for a good reference book. If you recall, I once had ambitions to read through the entire encyclopedia. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), this never happened. With the advent of Wikipedia and religious websites like New Advent and OrthodoxWiki, hardcover encyclopedias are becoming a thing of the past. Luckily, there are still publishers like Our Sunday Visitor who are in the business of printing these hardcover texts!

Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints is the second edition of this massive tome. The first edition was published in 1998, so it was overdue for another edition, especially since Pope John Paul II canonized many saints during his reign as pope. The editors for this book are Matthew and Margaret Bunson. You might recognize these names as they were also the editors for the Encyclopedia of U.S. Catholic History. The book's tagline says, "From Aaron to Zygmunt and 10,000 in between - her are the 'holy ones' of the Church!" This tagline made me immediately turn to the end to read about St. Zygmunt. He was a "Ukrainian priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph." He was beatified by Pope John Paul II and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI with his feast day on January 1st. How blessed for him to share a feast day with Mary, Mother of God.

Disclaimer: I did not read all 1,000+ pages of this encyclopedia. I read up on my favorite saints, did a lot of browsing/letting the book fall open and reading about a random saint. As this is a reference book, there is no right or wrong way to read it. I will tell you about some of my observations, though. Most saints received a few lines in the book. Some received a few paragraphs. Fewer received full pages. Those who received full pages would be considered "superstar" saints. As an example, Saint Pope John Paul II received slightly more than a full page. Early saints like St. Joseph or St. Mark the Evangelist received two paragraphs. I understand that space in this issue is at a premium; that more is known about recent saints than early saints; and that people tend to gravitate to the "superstar" saints. However, it would have been nice to see important saints get more words than they did or mentioned at all. For example, St. Augustine of Hippo received just over two pages of material. This was equal to the total space (pictures excluded) of the three Cappadocian Fathers (Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and Gregory of Nyssa).

Overall, this was a solid work. I was pleased that included both Saints and Blesseds in it. I also found the twelve (yes twelve) appendices extremely helpful. Just a few of the appendices are a glossary, list of U.S. martyrs, list of patron saints, and a list of Doctors of the Church. There was also a helpful introduction/history on the process of canonization. Was this book perfect? No, but it never will be. For starters, there will always be people, like myself, nitpicking entries and saying that they wish St. X had received more information and St. Y had received less information. However, if there was as much information printed as available, we'd need a 26 volume Encyclopedia of Saints! Also, there are new saints added every year. This book did include two of our newest saints, Popes John XXIII and John Paul II, but we could have new Saints and Blesseds next year that would then be missing from this book. You must do what I did, though, and appreciate the book for what it is. This is a well-researched, jam-packed tome for learning more about the saints in general and specific saints. Use this as a starting point for learning the basics about a particular saint, then dive deeper in your studies with primary sources and works written by them or about them to learn even more. This is a must-have book for every religion teacher, homeschooling mom, or lover of the saints!

This book was provided to me for free by Our Sunday Visitor in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!

Our Sunday Visitor: Encyclopedia of U.S. Catholic History

Welcome back to Stuart's Study. Today, I am reviewing a history nerd's dream book - Encyclopedia of U.S. Catholic History. Before I open up a book to read and review, I make a mental list (sometimes physical list if the book is long enough) of topics, aspects, and features that I expect to be included. If something is missing from my list upon completion of the reading, then it can lower the rating I give it. My method definitely helped review this encyclopedia.

Encyclopedia of U.S. Catholic History is an up-to-date and thorough single-volume encyclopedia that lives up to its name. Before I even cracked open the book, I was hoping that there would be some sort of timeline in it. Well, the first thing after the Table of Contents is a chronology that begins in 1492 and ends in 2011. This chronology featured important events that took place, like the first martyr in the United States or the birth of Elizabeth Ann Seton. Also included in this chronology were negative events in our history, like the clerical sex abuse scandal. I appreciate that Mr. Bunson did not ignore these warts in our history. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

After the chronology, there are approximately 1,000 pages of alphabetized information, spanning from "Abbelen, Peter M." to "Zumarraga, Juan de." I would be lying if I told you that I read every article in this massive tome. I instead chose topics that I knew about already, like my Archdiocese for example, and read these entries to see how accurate they were. Of the many articles I did read, the information was spot on and did not disappoint. Unlike most encyclopedias, this one was  lacking on images. There are some, but they are just sketches, so that was a bit of a disappointment.

After the articles, there are four appendices in this encyclopedia:  "Missionaries to the Americas," "Saints of the Americas," "Catholics in Statuary Hall," and the most interesting one to me "Cathedrals, Basilicas, and Shrines in the U.S." The first two appendices would be good starting places for reading articles in this work, but the last appendix would be a good vacation planner. Simply look up a state; see what cathedrals, basilicas, or shrines they have; and then plan a pilgrimage for your family or parish.

Overall, I would give this encyclopedia 5 stars merely for the fact that it even exists. It wasn't perfect, and information is always changing, but it serves its purpose. I would say though that the audience for this book is limited. I could see a history or religion teacher or even a history enthusiast wanting to own it, but who else? The only audience that I could think of is parents who homeschool. When your child is studying a certain point in U.S. history, they can supplement their studies with this book and see what was going on in the Catholic Church of the U.S. during this same time period. For example, without this book, your child might never learn that 500+ Catholic nuns helped tend to the sick and wounded during the Civil War.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Encyclopedia of U.S. Catholic History. The Catholic Company is the best resource for all your seasonal needs such as First Communion gifts as well as ideas and gifts for the special papal Year of Faith.