St. Patrick's Summer: A Children's Adventure Catechism

Sophia Institute Press is to be commended for bringing this wonderful "adventure catechism" back into print. "St. Patrick's Summer" is the story of Michael and Cecilia, two elementary school-aged children in England who are taken on a guided tour of the Catholic faith by various figures from salvation history, e.g., St. Patrick, Eve, Abraham.

Doctrinal points are woven into the story's narrative and presented in a clear, orthodox fashion. Especially useful are the many asides and explanations. How our eternal God sees time, for example, is likened to how an airplane pilot sees an entire river from thousands of feet above the ground. Our vantage point is correspondingly narrower since we, unlike God, exist in the "river" of time.

The book was written in the 1950s, so the chapters on the Mass describe the Roman rite as it existed before Vatican II. This is especially useful to us, as we intend to participate in the "extraordinary form" on occasion. That said, the theology of the liturgy presented here would benefit any Catholic Mass-goer.

We've gone through Baltimore Catechism I as a family several times, and are using "St. Patrick's Summer" as something of a refresher for family reading hour. Our children range in ages from 2 to 12, and this book seems to be ideal for those 8 and up. If you are interested in supplementing a standard catechism or "mixing things up" with a new resource, this is your book. Highly recommended.