DAILY CATHOLIC   Monday, December 29, 1997   volume 8, no. 62

      As we seque from the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Year One leading toward Jubilee 2000 to the Year of the Holy Spirit, the site we are reviewing this week is a perfect accompaniment to this theme since it provides all that Christ taught but taken to a level of knowledge that makes our faith come alive that much more. The site, Saint Thomas Aquinas at www.4paragon.net/~/mvorac/aquinas/index.htm" is a compendium of knowledge that every Catholic can use. Last week we focused on a site known for Apologetics with "Catholic Answers". This week we highlight Teachings and Practice which this site provides in succinct order. This site touts itself as the "Catholic Catechetical Supersite" which indeed it is. It provides full texts of the Baltimore Catechism, the Roman Catechism, or Catechism of the Council of Trent, the "Penny catechism:" Catechism of Saint Pius X as well as the Catechesis of the Cure d'Ars and Catechetical Instructions by St. Thomas Aquinas. In fact, the only catechism not here is the new Catechism of the Catholic Church. Many have said the new catechism is too wordy, too nebulous, too confusing for the common lay person. The succinctness of the catechisms listed at this site contain everything that is in the new catechism but much easier to understand. Truths and Doctrines do not change.

     Basically this "Catholic Catechetical Supersite" is a central depot for many of the treasures of the Church available at other sites, many at the New Advent site we reviewed here five weeks ago. The St. Thomas Aquinas site provides direct connection to the entire Douay-Rheims Bible and the Latin Vulgate Bible translated by St. Jerome as well as a plethora of documents from Canon Law, the Catholic Encyclopedia, Summa Theologica, Writings of the Church Fathers, Council documents, and Papal encyclicals and bulls all the way back to Pope Honorius III in 1226 when he approved the Franciscan rule. This and much more is under the Teachings category at this site. In the Catholic Practices and Devotions area, there is again a multitude of categories and sites including the full text of the Missa Romanum for the Tridentine Mass along with listing of all approved churches/chapels offering the traditional Latin Mass world-wide. They even have a special section on indulgences providing a list of many of them. Chances are, if it involves the Roman Catholic Faith, you'll find it at this site, which was formed by the St. Thomas Aquinas Guild, which is a group of clergy and laymen dedicated to preserving and promoting authentic teachings of the Church to combat modernism and the liberal agenda so prevalent in so many parishes today. The Guild's webmaster is Michael Vorac. They offer a number of teachings and documents directed against modernism by the pontiffs, specifically St. Pius X. They also provide everything you ever wanted to know about one of the great doctors of the Church to whom this site is dedicated - St. Thomas Aquinas. In fact, many consider him a scholarly Dominican who was all business, but he found time to relax as well as he states, "Amusement does have an aspect of good inasmuch as it is useful for human living. As man sometimes needs to give his body rest from labors, so also he sometimes needs to rest his soul from mental strain that ensues from his application to serious affairs. This is done by amusement."

     And so, as prepare for the New Year's Eve celebrations remember to enjoy the good, clean amusement afforded us so that we might rest the soul - but not damage it - in preparation for the Second Year leading up to the millennium. To help in this preparation, we highly recommend this Catechetical Supersite and present the Golden Chalice Award to ST. THOMAS AQUINAS SUPERSITE, conferring Three Hail Mary's on this resource site to better strengthen our knowledge of the One, True Faith.

December 1997