Catechism of the Summa Theologica

Rare is the book that comes with a pope’s endorsement

And rarer still in Pope Benedict XV’s day. Yet the Holy Father even waxed enthusiastic over this title—perhaps because Benedict beheld, for the first time, a book of St. Thomas’ teaching that was arranged for Catholics with no theology or philosophy training. Wrote His Holiness in his Preface:

“It was fitting that the singular wisdom of the Holy Doctor should be made accessible not only to the clergy but to the faithful in general.”

The Pope added that this book, compiled by esteemed Dominican Thomas Pegues, “aptly accommodates the riches of the great genius to the understanding of the less instructed [and] briefly and succinctly expounds the doctrine.” He called Pegues’ knowledge of Aquinas “masterly.”

Fr. Pegues takes two classic works—the Summa and the catechism—and blends them into one of the most remarkable catechetical titles of the 20th century: The basic questions and tenets of the Faith—and after each question, the answers from the great St. Thomas himself. The hundreds of topics include some of the most widely misunderstood or distorted Church teachings today. A tiny sampling:

Miracles: what they are, why they happen

Guardian angels (yes, they’re real, and Scriptural—and logical)

What Heaven and Hell will be like. Why Purgatory is part of God’s plan

Why, and how, devils go about their work of destruction

Happiness, and how we can acquire it

The nature and purpose of each Sacrament

The difference between mortal and venial sin

Grace and the Holy Spirit, and how God works in our souls

At the last judgment, will the lives of both saved and damned be revealed to all?

What are the cardinal virtues and their counterparts; how is each practiced?

Prayer and devotions, and why they are both rational and “necessary”

Explained, line by line: the Credo. Ditto the Ten Commandments

Our Lord: denied by moderns, or twisted into a nice but harmless man. Aquinas plainly outlines who Christ was, explains His incarnation, His knowledge and powers as He walked the earth, and details His relation to God the Father and us.

“A book proclaiming the victory of the Church and the heroism of her priests.”— Vatican Radio, 1960

Hardcover, 314 Pages By Fr. R. P. Pegues $20.00 Buy Here

Related Items: The Catechism of the Council of Trent, Philosophia Perennis, Aquinas’s Shorter Summa, Complete Philosophia Perennis (PT1-PT12), Philosophia Perennis: Vol I – Introduction to Philosophy