How to run a religious household

My recommended resources and routines

A Problem for the Patriarch

How should a father do his highest duty of leading his family to virtue? If he didn’t have a religious upbringing himself, where does he start? And if he had a religious upbringing but it didn’t impart traditionally masculine doctrine, how can he undo the damage?

My recommended resources

Catechism

• Start with Cogan’s A Catechism for Adults. This will give you an overview of the essentials.

• For the next level up, use Baltimore Catechism 4. If you have children, take them through numbers 1, 2 and 3 while studying 4 yourself.

• Finally, read The Catechism of the Council of Trent.

Scripture

• Use the Douay-Rheims edition. The edition with the Haydock commentary is best.

• For teaching the Bible to children, you can’t beat Knecht’s A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture.

• Pray all the Psalms weekly using this edition.

• If you want to understand the Psalms better, use Bellarmine’s Commentary.

Church History

• Fr. John Laux wrote an excellent history of the Church for high-school students back when standards were actually high.

Apologetics

• Msgr. Paul Glenn’s Apologetics is a clear and concise philosophical defence of Catholicism.

• For more accessible answers to common questions, use Radio Replies.

My recommended routines

Knowing what to teach solves a lot of problems. But the problem of what to prioritise and how to do it remains. My approach is to be consistent on the most important things. As in the gym, it’s important not to major in the minors.