One of my readers, Corey, sent this wonderful guest post in upon the rebinding of his Catechism. Please enjoy the photos and his testimony on why it was important for him to rebind this book.
-Matt
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Matt, thank you for asking me to do a write-up regarding my
recent re-bind of my full-size copy of the
Catechism
of the Catholic Church (hardcover). Note that I have linked the
out-of-print (I think) hardcover version of the CCC. I'll discuss why
shortly.
The specs of this rebind are as follows:
- Leonard's
"18th Century Revivalist Style (Softcover Version)" rebind.
- Genuine Calf-Skin (my prior
Leonard's rebinds were all Goat - a little softer, but the calf feels more
durable)
- Addition of 4, dark-brown,
ribbons - a necessity I think for the CCC.
- Leonard's recommended using
the imitation leather end-pages (versus the antique-paper) for durability.
I think Leonard's may start offering leather end pages (I say that
only because solicited a survey on that topic on Facebook recently - along
with other potential options - leather end pages "won" the
survey I believe).
- I used a somewhat hard to
find hardcover, green CCC because it has a "sewn" binding
(versus the glued binding of the softcover green CCC). That cost me
about $45 on Amazon.com for a "like new" quality.
- Price with shipping:
$210 (excluding cost of the CCC)
I am extremely pleased with this product. I can
not say enough about the craftsmanship of Leonard's. This is real, mom
& pop shop, work done by good Christian people up in Indiana. I have
no idea how much time goes into the product, but I'm sure we're talking a
number of hours. That, combined with the quality of the materials, more
than justifies the price. We gave a few NT/Psalms (Ignatius) rebinds
from my family to some close priest friends over Christmas and they loved them.
As expected, they have nothing like them.
I was asked "why have the CCC re-bound in
not-inexpensive genuine calf-skin by Leonard's?" The reason is
simply this (for me): After the Bible, the CCC is the most important
document in my life. It is arguably the quintessential document
issued by the Catholic Magisterium (the teaching office of the Church).
But as we know well as Catholics, without Sacred Tradition, we (all
Christians) have no way of knowing that the Bible, in all its parts, is
exactly what it purports to be. And it is only through the
Magisterium that we have the necessarily infallible teaching of what is, and
what is not, inspired and actually Sacred Tradition. The Magisterium is the doctrinal glue. (If we only
rely on what "our heart tells us" is inspired and true, I think we
know that the Canon of the New Testament would still be growing today.)
It is true
that the CCC is merely a self-professed "compendium," but what
a compendium it is! Our Blessed John Paul the Great provided us the value
of the document in the Apostolic Constitution Fidei
Depositum (1992) (Deposit of Faith), where the saint explained
(in pertinent part):
The Catechism
of the Catholic Church, which I approved 25 June last and the
publication of which I today order by virtue of my Apostolic Authority, is a
statement of the Church's faith and of Catholic doctrine, attested to or
illumined by Sacred Scripture, Apostolic Tradition and the
Church's Magisterium. I declare it to be a valid and legitimate instrument
for ecclesial communion and a sure norm for teaching the faith. May it serve
the renewal to which the Holy Spirit ceaselessly calls the Church of God, the
Body of Christ, on her pilgrimage to the undiminished light of the kingdom!
...
Therefore, I
ask the Church's Pastors and the Christian faithful to receive this
catechism in a spirit of communion and to use it assiduously in
fulfilling their mission of proclaiming the faith and calling people to the
Gospel life. This catechism is given to them that it may be a sure and
authentic reference text for teaching Catholic doctrine and particularly for
preparing local catechisms. It is also offered to all the faithful who wish
to deepen their knowledge of the unfathomable riches of salvation (cf. Jn
8:32). It is meant to support ecumenical efforts that are moved by the holy
desire for the unity of all Christians, showing carefully the content and
wondrous harmony of the Catholic faith. The Catechism of the
Catholic Church, lastly, is offered to every individual who asks us to
give an account of the hope that is in us (cf. 1 Pt 3:15) and who wants to know
what the Catholic Church believes.
What a wonderful and powerful attestation to the importance of this Magisterial
document in the lives of all Christians!
We have all (hopefully) owned the Catechism for years.
But only recently I acquired a used hardcover copy of the
Companion
to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The book is amazing.
[Matt interjects: the companion IS amazing. Buy one.] Every single Bible verse, Church Document, Writing of the Saints, etc.
that is reference/paraphrased, but not explicitly quoted, in the CCC is found
in the Companion. Merely reading the CCC reflects how soaked in Scripture
is the entirety of Catholic doctrine (contrary to popular belief). But if
the Christian would simply crack open the Companion to the CCC, he or she would
be amazed at the hundreds and hundreds of specific scriptural references there
are in the CCC. The CCC is truly a symphony of Scripture from Genesis to
Revelation. What a blessing for all Christians.
I highlight the intensely Scriptural nature of the CCC (further highlighted by
the Companion) because I think that fact needs to, in turn, be related to our
non-Catholic brethren, who simply believe the Catholic Faith is not scriptural,
when the opposite is true. The Catholic Church is "full(est)
Gospel." When the CCC was published it was labeled by some
left-leaning theologians in the Church as "fundamentalist" because
the Church had the audacity to affirm the historicity of the Gospels,
including all miracles and prophecy. That sort of criticism of the CCC should
actually tend to make many non-Catholics comfortable with picking up the CCC
and reading it knowing that it affirms every letter of the (entire) Bible as
inspired and inerrant.
As a Catechist myself at my parish, I owe much of my recent
"continuing education" to
Dr.
Brant Pitre at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, La. His
seminarian and
graduate level courses on CD (some DVD) are a
gold mine for the
faithful. And they are intensely orthodox. Dr. Pitre is a Catholic
Bible scholar who gets his students to love scripture. But he also bases
all of his classes squarely within the authoritative Magisterial teaching found
in the CCC - while frequently venturing outside of the confines of the CCC to
the very documents referenced in the CCC footnotes. For those of us who
have ample time in the car (or even just a 15-20 minute ride to and from work),
I highly recommend anything by Dr. Pitre. He will lead you to the Bible
every day.
Thank you for your patience reading. The foregoing is
why the Bible and the Catechism both justify such a nice rebind and place of
prominence in our house before our children.
And may God Bless Pope Francis
and you all. Pax Christi.
