Volumes 1–3 (Set)

Complete Set of the reprint of the 1945 book by Msgr. M.A. Schumacher. Based on the 1941 Revised Baltimore Catechism. 

Purchase as a set to receive a discount: 

Volumes 1–3 ($65 USD) | Paperback 

Volumes 1–3 ($85 USD) | Hardcover 

Total page count: 1490 pp. 

“Motivation may be a concomitant step in the teaching procedure, or it may be an independent effort at the conclusion. All through the teaching procedure the teacher will find story and example occurring frequently, in order to motivate the will. Again, at the conclusion of each section she will find a paragraph presenting a particular idea for motivation as if she would say to the class, ‘You have learned something about God; now do something about it.’ The Master dogmatized little, seldom gave catechetical form to His pronouncements. If the seventy-two parables and other exhortations, which are just motivations, were removed from the Gospels, only a booklet would be left. These manuals do provide numerous appeals that should make the knowing Catholic also a doing Catholic. The pious teacher will readily discover other motivations, in answer to the question, how useful is this knowledge or practice, how necessary, how pleasant, how noble. If the Master gave such prominence to motivation, then it is surely proper to emphasize its importance in ‘I Teach Catechism’ and in fact to assign the very place to this important feature.” — From the Preface

Review of the set: 

"There is no better evidence of the vigor and scope of the catechetical movement in this country at the present time than these three volumes of Msgr. Schumacher which are appropriately titled I Teach Catechism. The work of catechizing by trained teachers using sound methods and scientifically prepared texts has been repeatedly urged by the Church, especially through the directives of Pope Pius X in his Encyclical Acerbo nimis, "On the Teaching of Christian Doctrine" (1905), and in the Encyclical Divini illius Magistri, "On Christian Education of Youth" (1929) of Pope Pius XI, together with the Decree of the Sacred Congregration of the Council Provido sane Consilio, "On the Better Care and Promotion of Catechetical Education" (1935). A renewed interest in the great work of catechetical instruction on the part of priests and teachers has been the result...

The three volumes of this work make up a complete explanation of all the questions and answers in the Revised Baltimore Catechism Nos. 1 and 2, as well as of the First Communion Catechism based on these texts. I Teach Catechism is planned as a set of manuals of instruction for the use of teachers of religion in the elementary grades of Catholic schools, and the material is organized by grades with explanations of selected questions and answers for essential learning suited to the capabilities of students in each respective grades...Msgr. Schumacher intends that I Teach Catechism be used as a teacher's daily classbook with the text of the Catechism or a similar book in the hands of the pupils." — Joseph Collins, S.S. (American Ecclesiastical Review, January 1947)

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