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

by Melissa Musick, Anna Keating

The popular mother-daughter team behind the hit website TheCatholicCatalogue.com helps readers to discover, rediscover, and embrace the holidays and seasons of Catholic life through this collection of prayers, crafts, devotionals and recipes.

This beautifully designed book will help readers celebrate Catholicism throughout the years, across daily practice and milestones. The Catholic Catalogue is a field guide, a list of far ranging topics, that should aid any Catholic, whether steeped in the tradition or just discovering spirituality for the first time, to understand the daily acts that make up a Catholic life. And like the most useful field guides, it is divided into user-friendly sections and covers such topics as the veneration of relics, blessing your house, discovering a vocation, raising teenagers, getting a Catholic tattoo, planting a Mary garden, finding a spiritual director, and exploring your own way in the tradition.

With more than 75 inspiring chapters, this book promises to be a resource that individuals and families will turn to again and again, helping to make room in their busy lives for mystery and meaning, awe and joy.

Genres: Catholic, Nonfiction, Religion, Spirituality, Faith, Parenting, Reference

432 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 2016

Reviews

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-have for any Catholic! Being Catholic is about seasons--seasons of prayer, suffering, faith, hope, penance, joy. The Church and her saints orchestrate these seasons through feasts and traditions. Musick and Keating pack this book with the history of these acts, and give practical ways to celebrate and live them out, even in busy families (or with small children or as single people). This past year we were inspired to add the feast of St. Lucy in our Advent celebrations, and while two older ones were gone, the younger ones dressed up and took sticky buns to the priests in the neighborhood.

I love that this book tells little "whys" of traditions and how to vary them, and not to get caught up in the preparation, but to find joy and meaning in small things--everything leads back to Him, after all! You don't have to read this book all at once. Just grab it and read the chapter for the time of year (or time of life) you are in--it's not only the seasons of the year/church calendar, but has sections on different seasons of life as a Catholic (like children's births, confirmations, consecrated life, deaths, etc.).

I would have loved this book as a newlywed without children, just beginning to form traditions with my husband. And though I got it 19 years into marriage with 4 kids, some almost grown, there's plenty for me to learn and do now. I could also see it making a nice gift to a Catholic college campus coordinator who might arrange activities for students around Church seasons.

[Annelise Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huh! As always, full respect to Catholic traditions

[Amanda Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this so much! So informative!

My Review:
So I know this book isn’t necessarily meant to be read cover-to-cover but that is how I read it. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss any little bit of awesomeness contained in this wonderful book.

Melissa Musick and Anna Keating run a successful website: TheCatholicCatalogue.com. It was that website that lead to this amazing 82 chapter book on various aspects of Catholic life.

The book is divided into three main sections: Smells and Bells, Seasons of the Church Year, and Seasons of Life.

The first main section, Smells and Bells, deals with the things Catholics keep, wear, or use. This includes relics, holy water, vestments, scapulars, candles, and even daily prayer.

The second main section, Seasons of the Church Year, is subdivided according to the liturgical year. The subsections are Ordinary Time, Advent, Christmas, Winter Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter, Summer Ordinary Time, and Autumn Ordinary Time. Each of these subsections has between three to nine chapters on various topics. Some of these topics include the Liturgy of the Hours, feast days, and various traditions.

The third main section is Seasons of Life. The subsections are Childhood to Adolescence, Young Adulthood, and Adulthood. These are the sections that deal with the sacraments. There are also chapters about spiritual direction, pilgrimages, and vocations.

One of the chapters that really caught my attention was the chapter on consecrated virginity. I wasn’t expecting to see this vocation included since it is relatively unknown. As you may remember from some of my previous posts, this is the vocation that I am currently discerning. It made me smile to see it included here.

In all, The Catholic Catalogue is a wonderful resource. I would most definitely recommend it to all Catholics and anyone who it at all interested in knowing more about some of the things that Catholics do.

I received this book for free from the publisher via Blogging for Books for review consideration. This in no way affects my opinion of the title nor the content of this review.

This review first appeared at Orandi et Legendi.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you join the Catholic Church, there is a long instruction process for the rites and procedures you will be expected to participate in. But what about the day-to-day activities of the Church? How can you learn about the saints, the festival days, the ways to celebrate and the ways to mourn that make up a Catholic life?

Now there is this book. This mother-and-daughter team carefully explain all-things-Catholic for the new Catholic or the Catholic who wants to learn more. This is the perfect introduction to Catholicism.

I’ve just become Catholic myself, so it’s the perfect book for me to immerse myself in the rich traditions of the Catholic faith. I know I will be happy to give copies of this wonderful resource to friends and family who want to learn more about the mysteries of the Church.

[Shari Suarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful in depth introduction to being a Catholic. It includes everything from holidays to sacraments to weddings and funerals. It is written so both Catholics and non-Catholics can learn about the religion. I would highly recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about Catholicism.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the format of this book which allowed the reader to choose sections that pertained to them. I feel like this is something I might return to in the future and read again.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book! This is a must-have for Catholics—and I usually don't say anything is a must-have. This book isn't written in a preachy "if you don't do this you're a sinner" type of way, but in real, "I've been there" way; it feels like some friends giving you advice and teaching you how to be a Catholic. It has the history behind traditions you might do without thinking, and offers ways to make holidays and regular days more fun and Christ-centered. It covers all stages of life, including first communion, naming children, getting tattoos, or discerning a vocation. It gives you a run-down on all the seasons of the church year as well, and what that all entails. The whole guide is written in a sensitive, compassionate, and witty style, without an ounce of the "holier than thou" attitude I was afraid of encountering. I urge everyone to give this book a read, even if you're not Catholic, but would like to see what our faith is about.

[Ariel Lovewell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Random grab at a library and was a real treasure and aid in my curiosity lately about Catholicism - garnered SO many wonderful ideas for family traditions that can easily be adopted into our own Anglican flavor, and helped me understand much behind certain Catholic practices I either had never known about, or never got. Will need to pick this back up when Lent gets closer to pick up some ideas for that season. Also funny and special to find out how local these authors were to me.

[Laura Brose · Rating 3 out of 5]

References some older (and previously unknown to me) Catholic publications which encourage some Catholic customs, such as name-day celebrations, which are not very much celebrated by modern American Catholics, but maybe they should be. This book is written by laypeople with a focus on prayers, processions, and practices that are allowed (by the Catholic Church) for laypeople to do. Most are aimed at the children of families with children. Though some of the suggestions are childish, corny, and obscure, it's somewhere to start if you have a Catholic family and are looking to reinforce Catholicism in the home.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great compilation of small traditions to mark time and seasons by. Marvelously written, accessible. And while I'm a Lutheran, I read the book to glean ideas for how to nurture a way of life, not just a collection of ideas. There are some good ideas in here on how to do little things at home, in the span of a year, to attend to the presence of God.

I wonder what a Lutheran book like this would look like. Sure, we'd speak about some things differently.

I'll be resourcing this book for a while.

Thankful

[Dominika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I randomly stumbled upon the Catholic Catalogue website a while ago and it's been a source of inspiration and delight for me ever since.

As someone who just started a family, the book is such a wonderful resource to make our domestic church a concrete thing. I'm buying it for that reason as a gift for all the Catholic couples we know who are getting married this year.

[Suphatra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this after reading Catholic All Year and felt myself constantly comparing the two, since they are both guides on how to live liturgically. Comparatively, this book is more formal and erudite than the other, though still an easy-to-read primer on liturgical living. There are a lot of “the root of this word” intros and historical background, which I found helpful but repetitive. The author never reveals herself, unlike Catholic All Year who shares firsthand trials and advice, which felt like a missed opportunity for helping the reading prioritize and shape the book’s information into practical application. So while I enjoyed the book and will be keeping it on my shelves, I would recommend the other book (Catholic All Year) more.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastically detailed and written explanation and exploration of Catholic practices. This book would be helpful to those new to the faith, just wanting to learn about the faith or as a guide to have in your home if you are a practicing catholic. I found the layout of the book, examples and topics quite encompassing and educational. The personal stories or examples helped me see the exact method or difference in several of the sections. I was raised catholic and attended catholic school, but did not know quite a bit of the details and history behind some Practices.

Thanks NetGalley for the copy and opportunity to review this book.

[Chris Teslak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has meant so much to me. I don’t have any way of connecting with my family’s Catholic heritage, and often feel adrift and alone, even though I’m a member of a really nice parish. All of the information presented in such a personal way has helped me to understand my lineage, and to feel that I can live out parts of it, even in the absence of my family. I’m so grateful I stumbled upon this at the book store the day I went to look for some C.S. Lewis material.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised by how much I learned reading this. There are many traditions that I didn't know about despite growing up, and still being, Catholic. I felt, however, that I wasn't the right audience for this book. Plus, the essay-like nature of the book made parts of it repetitive. I would not recommend reading it cover to cover like I did, but it would still be a useful guide to go back to.

[Faith Elizabeth Hough · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this would be especially useful for Catholic converts or those new to the idea of day-to-day Catholic living, but it's full of enough history and interesting tidbits to engage even a cradle Catholic like myself.

[Paige Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect companion for Advent or Lent!

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Katarzyna Balutowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was super helpful. However it is predominately for Catholic families.

[Fil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great reference book

[Overbooked ✎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book it is very well organised and organically explains the many tenets of the Christian religion in general, and of the Catholic faith in particular. The addition of interesting background history of traditions, the inclusion of family rituals, blessings, simple prayers and even family recipes results in a treasury of ideas for celebrating the seasons of the liturgical year together, useful to the faithful as well as to the merely curious.
The only caveat is that sometimes the author uses on examples that are very USA centric and therefore the info she provides is non relevant to readers outside her country.
Nevertheless this read was a very pleasant surprise for me, especially since I read it during Advent, it’s a book that I intend to refer back in the future.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful reference book to have! I have it on my currently reading shelf because I don't know that I will ever read it cover to cover, per se, but I pick it up at least once a month to refer to it and then I spend more time than I intended to reading it because I find all the information fascinating. Definitely deserving of 5 stars.