The Catholic Catalogue : a Field Guide To The Daily Acts That Make Up A Catholic Life

446 Pages·2016·22.52 MB·English

by  Musick

Praise for The Catholic Catalogue
“Putting the richness of Catholic liturgy and life on full display, Melissa Musick and Anna Keating show us
that Christianity is constituted by keeping habits, performing practices, and embodying the traditions of the
Church. This book will be useful to Catholics, indeed to all Christians, looking for ways to make their faith
practical. At one point, this remarkable mother-and-daughter team quote Thomas Aquinas, who reminds us,
‘The things we love tell us what we are.’ The Catholic Catalogue instructs us in the virtue of love and thus helps
to make us what we are called to be: disciples.”
—Stanley Hauerwas, professor, Duke Divinity School
“It is written that faith without works is dead; one could not ask for a better guide to a lively life of faith. The
Catholic Catalogue offers ritual recipes for the everyday and extraordinary moments alike; presenting often-
neglected wonders from two thousand years of tradition in precisely the form we need them today. Every
domestic church should have one.”
—Nathan Schneider, author of God in Proof: The Story of a Search from the Ancients to the Internet
“From St. Polycarp’s martyrdom to prayerful room blessings, The Catholic Catalogue offers a smart, modern
look at the varied aspects of our faith tradition. Through personal stories and well-researched history, Musick
and Keating not only describe the building blocks for a Catholic household but demonstrate why, for so
many, the Catholic Church feels like home.”
—Kerry Weber, managing editor for America and author of Mercy in the City

For Martin,
and for our children,
for whom this was a life before it was a book
and
For Geoffrey
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
INTRODUCTION
Part One: SMELLS AND BELLS
1. WHAT WE KEEP: THE VENERATION OF HOLY RELICS—MM
2. HOLY WATER AND THE SIGN OF THE CROSS—AK
3. PALLS, VESTMENTS, LINENS, AND HABITS—MM
4. HOLY OILS AND INCENSE—MM
5. MAKING AND PRAYING WITH CANDLES—AK
6. MEDALS AND SCAPULARS—MM
7. MAKING AND BLESSING A HOME, HOSPITALITY, AND CHRIST ROOMS—MM
8. SACRED SPACE AND CHURCH ARCHITECTURE—AK
9. PROCESSIONS –MM
10. HOW TO DO EUCHARISTIC ADORATION—AK
11. DAILY PRAYER AND CHRISTIAN MEDITATION– AK
12. TABLE PRAYERS—AK
Part Two: SEASONS OF THE CHURCH YEAR
Ordering Time
13. THE DAY: MORNING, NOON, EVENING, AND NIGHT PRAYER—MM
14. THE WEEK: KEEPING FRIDAY, SATURDAY, AND SUNDAY—MM
15. THE MONTH: TIME PUNCTUATED BY HOLY DAYS—MM
Advent
16. THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE—MM
17. THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF MARY—MM
18. MAKING AND PRAYING THE ADVENT WREATH—AK
19. THE CRÈCHE—MM
20. DECORATING THE CHRISTMAS TREE—MM
21. THE FEAST OF ST. NICHOLAS—MM
22. ST. LUCY’S DAY—MM
23. KRISTKINDLS—MM
Christmas
24. CHRISTMAS LEGENDS—MM
25. ST. STEPHEN AND THE COMPANIONS OF CHRIST—MM
26. CELEBRATING THE NEW YEAR—MM
27. BLESSING A HOME, MAKING WINDOW STARS, AND KEEPING THE FEAST OF EPIPHANY—AK
AND MM
Winter Ordinary Time
28. ORDINARY TIME—MM
29. THE FEAST OF THE CHAIR OF ST. PETER—MM
30. FEBRUARY HOLY DAYS AND CELEBRATIONS: CANDLEMAS, ST. BLAISE, AND VALENTINE’S
DAY—MM
31. HOW TO CARNIVAL—MM
Lent
32. KEEPING LENT—AK
33. PALM SUNDAY AND MAKING PALM SUNDAY CROSSES—MM
34. HOLY WEEK: KEEPING TRIDUUM—MM
35. HOW TO MAKE A CONFESSION—MM
36. STATIONS OF THE CROSS—MM
Easter
37. CELEBRATING EASTER—MM
38. EASTER EGGS, CRAFTS, AND LEGENDS—AK
39. EASTER SUNDAY—MM
40. DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY—AK
41. WALPURGIS NIGHT—MM
42. PRAYING WITH MARY AND INTERCESSORY PRAYER—AK
43. THE FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH AND ST. JOSEPH THE WORKER—AK
44. PENTECOST—MM
Summer Ordinary Time
45. HOW TO PLANT A MARY GARDEN—MM
46. ST. JOHN’S DAY FIRES—MM
47. THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI—AK
48. THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY—MM
49. THE FEAST OF STS. PETER AND PAUL—MM
50. PRAYING WITH ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA—AK
51. THE MEMORIAL OF ST. ELIZABETH OF PORTUGAL AND THE FOURTH OF JULY—MM
Autumn Ordinary Time
52. THE FEAST OF THE ARCHANGELS—MM
53. THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS—MM
54. THE FEAST OF ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX—AK
55. DIA DE LOS MUERTOS AND ALL SOULS’ DAY—AK
56. MARTINMAS AND LANTERN WALKS—AK
57. THE FEAST OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI—AK
58. THE FEAST OF MARY’S PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE—MM
59. THE FEAST OF THE CONCEPTION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST—MM
60. TWO MARIAN FEASTS IN SEPTEMBER—MM
Part Three: SEASONS OF LIFE
Childhood to Adolescence
61. HOW TO NAME A CHILD—MM
62. BAPTISM, GODPARENTS, AND CELEBRATIONS—MM
63. DAILY BREAD RECIPE AND LEARNING ABOUT THE BREAD OF LIFE—AK
64. HOW TO BLESS A CHILD—AK
65. HOW TO CELEBRATE A NAME DAY—MM
66. FIRST COMMUNION AND FIRST COMMUNION GIFTS—MM
67. FIRST RECONCILIATION—MM
68. THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION AND CONFIRMATION GIFTS—MM AND AK
Young Adulthood
69. FINDING A PARISH—AK
70. HOW TO MAKE A RETREAT—MM
71. FINDING A SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR AND DISCERNING A VOCATION—AK
72. SANT’EGIDIO, LAY GROUPS, SERVICE, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE—AK
73. CATHOLIC TATTOOS—AK
Adulthood
74. THE SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE—AK
75. CONSECRATED VIRGINITY—AK
76. MAKING A HOME ALTAR, SHRINE, OR PRAYER CORNER—AK
77. CATHOLIC ROAD TRIPS AND PILGRIMAGES—AK AND MM
78. DOMESTIC, PRIESTLY, AND APOSTOLIC BLESSINGS—MM
79. CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING—AK
80. SICKNESS AND SUFFERING—MM
81. THE SACRAMENT OF THE SICK AND VIATICUM—MM
82. THE FUNERAL LITURGY: WAKE, FUNERAL, AND COMMITTAL—MM
CODA
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PERMISSION CREDITS
Introduction
B
irds aren’t known by what they feel or think. They’re known by habits and
habitats, by diet and coloration. Tree-clinging birds do just that; they cling to trees.
So field guides to birds are arranged by areas of identification that might help you
find, say, a Bohemian Waxwing or a Western Tanager.
We’ve written a field guide to the daily acts that make up a Catholic life, for
Catholics, like birds, can be identified by habits and habitat, by diet and
coloration. Like bird life, our life can be identified by its practices. Some of ours
are going to Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation; saying certain prayers at
certain times of the day; making our confessions; fasting during Lent and feasting
during Easter; and wearing the white baptismal garment, the religious medal, the
alb, or the clerical collar.
Before all else Catholicism is a life, a life that moves through cycles and seasons.
That’s why this book, this field guide, is divided into sections organized around
these times and seasons—of the Church year, of human life—and the elements—
smells and bells, religious signs and symbols, fasting and feasting, gathering and
processing, baptizing and burying—that mark us as Catholics.
Some of us grew up celebrating St. Lucy’s Day with breakfast in bed, or cooking
minestrone soup on the Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker, but many of us did
not. Many of these cultural practices have been lost. Perhaps you grew up Catholic
but you’re not sure what it means to be Catholic. Maybe you want to know more
about your faith and its practices. Perhaps you are considering joining the Church,
or you just joined and you’re unsure of how to keep track of feast days and name
days and maybe wondering why they even matter. Maybe you’d like to know what
a wake is and how it differs from a funeral. Maybe you’re curious about what it