Most of the Catholic "Great Books" schools will read the Bible straight through or nearly so, and students have a number of translations, though there might be a preferred one (usually the RSV-CE). But I am not aware of any school that uses the Catena, the Roman Catechism, or the Golden Legend as any part of its curriculum.
Thank you for this article. As a new member of the Catholic Church it is a practical guide on where I should be devoting my reading time. I do have a request, would you be able to comment on the ‘ease of reading’ for each of the editions mentioned? My eyesight is not what it used to be so I tend to tire quickly if the font is small and crammed. Thank you.
Dear Mr. David Thomson, Thank you very much for your comment. Indeed, these books are among the best that any Catholic can have in his library. Regarding the issue of 'ease of reading,' I can add that all of them are well-printed. However, due to the size of these books—often containing thousands of pages—they do not feature a very large font. For the editions from Baronius Press, you can review their samples.
These samples include a ruler in the margins, showing the size of the pages and font in centimeters and millimeters.
The electronic edition of the Catechism (provided at the end of my article) can only be read online, but it is quite user-friendly as the pages can be zoomed in or out on a computer screen.
As for the editions from Angelus Press, I do not know their sizes. However, I hope other reader of my Substack can provide information on this issue in the comments.
P.S. - I have found a comment that says that all the editions from Angelus Press "have about a 12-font print."
Do you know of any colleges that use these in their curriculum?
Personally, no, but I can ask some Catholic friends who can make some recommendations.
Any college that uses them, Carholic or otherwise, would have its head on straight.
Most of the Catholic "Great Books" schools will read the Bible straight through or nearly so, and students have a number of translations, though there might be a preferred one (usually the RSV-CE). But I am not aware of any school that uses the Catena, the Roman Catechism, or the Golden Legend as any part of its curriculum.
Excellent! I am not familiar with any of these and wish that I had all of them for decades. Please keep at it.
Thank you for this article. As a new member of the Catholic Church it is a practical guide on where I should be devoting my reading time. I do have a request, would you be able to comment on the ‘ease of reading’ for each of the editions mentioned? My eyesight is not what it used to be so I tend to tire quickly if the font is small and crammed. Thank you.
Dear Mr. David Thomson, Thank you very much for your comment. Indeed, these books are among the best that any Catholic can have in his library. Regarding the issue of 'ease of reading,' I can add that all of them are well-printed. However, due to the size of these books—often containing thousands of pages—they do not feature a very large font. For the editions from Baronius Press, you can review their samples.
Here is the sample page for Baronius' Bible:
https://www.baronius.com/media/sample_pages/sample_page__3150.pdf
Here is the link to the sample page for Baronius' Catena Aurea:
https://www.baronius.com/media/sample_pages/sample_page__3200.pdf
And here is the sample page for Baronius' Catechism:
https://www.baronius.com/media/sample_pages/sample_page__3007.pdf
These samples include a ruler in the margins, showing the size of the pages and font in centimeters and millimeters.
The electronic edition of the Catechism (provided at the end of my article) can only be read online, but it is quite user-friendly as the pages can be zoomed in or out on a computer screen.
As for the editions from Angelus Press, I do not know their sizes. However, I hope other reader of my Substack can provide information on this issue in the comments.
P.S. - I have found a comment that says that all the editions from Angelus Press "have about a 12-font print."
Many thanks and please call me 'David'.
Thank you, David!