Old Testament Scripture citations in this work are taken from the Douay-Rheims, 1899 American Edition. New Testament Scripture citations in this work are taken from New American Catholic Edition of the Holy Bible 1961, Confraternity Version.

Note: citations of the Psalms and the book of Kings, many of which are numbered differently in modern-day Catholic Bibles, have the contemporary number in brackets next to the Douay-Rheims number.

Every reasonable effort has been made to determine copyright holders of excerpted materials and to secure permissions as needed. If any copyrighted materials have been inadvertently used in this work without proper credit being given in one form or another, please notify Our Sunday Visitor in writing so that future printings of this work may be corrected accordingly.

Preface and Archbishop John Francis Noll biography written by Michael R. Heinlen.

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All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without permission from the publisher. For more information, visit: www.osv.com/permissions.

Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division

Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.

200 Noll Plaza

Huntington, IN 46750

1-800-348-2440

ISBN: 2019939587 (Inventory No. T2331)

LCCN: 2019939587

Cover and interior design: Lindsey Riesen

Interior art: Illustration of Archbishop Noll by Caroline Baker Mazure

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A contemporary selection of Catholic classics, curated for the modern reader by Our Sunday Visitor in the spirit of our founder, Archbishop John Francis Noll.

Dedication

To the pupils in the higher grades of our schools; to the thousands, who never enjoyed the advantages of daily religious instruction at school; to the many, who have received their (mis)information about the Catholic Church from those who know her not, this little book is respectfully dedicated.

Contents

Preface by Michael R. Heinlein

Introduction by Scott P. Richert

Introduction by Archbishop John Francis Noll

Part I

God’s Church and her teachings

Getting acquainted

Instruction 1

The fundamentals of the Christian Faith

Instruction 2

The Fall of Man and original sin

Instruction 3