Memorize the Faith!: (And Most Anything Else) Using Methods of the Great Catholic Medieval Memory Masters

by Kevin Vost

Overview

"They laughed when I said I could name all 27 books of the New Testament . . . but after I named them all in order, plus the 46 books of the Old Testament, they begged me to show them how I did it."

Yes, I know that memorizing the Faith is no substitute for living a holy life, but even devout people can't live by truths and precepts they don't remember.

That's why, over 700 years ago, St. Thomas Aquinas perfected an easy method for his students to memorize most any information, but especially the truths taught by Christ and His Church.

As the years passed, our need for this ancient art of memorization grew, yet somehow our culture largely forgot it . . . which is why today, when you and I try to remember a list of things, we have to repeat their names over and over. Or, to remember to call the dentist, we tie a string on our finger. And we clutch at any means whatsoever to recall our passwords for ATMs, credit cards, and voicemail, our login names for Yahoo, eBay, and Amazon, and the host of other names and numbers that clog our minds and clutter our days.

Now, thanks to the delightful pages of Memorize the Faith!, you can easily keep all these in mind - and learn the Faith! - by tapping into the power of the classical memory system that helped St. Thomas become the Church's preeminent theologian, and made it easier for him to become one of its greatest saints.

Here, Catholic scholar Kevin Vost makes available again Aquinas's easy-to-learn method - the method Dr. Vost himself has used for decades to recall names, dates, phone numbers, the first dozen digits of pi (3.141592653589) and even whether, when his wife called him at work today, she asked him to bring home ice cream and toffee . . . or was it truffles and coffee?

Indeed, Dr. Vost will teach you to remember virtually anything, but he devotes most of his book to showing you how to improve your memory of Catholic truths so you can live the Faith better.

By the time you finish this book, you will have memorized dozens of key teachings of the Church, along with hundreds of precepts, traditions, theological terms, Scripture verses, and other elements of the Faith that every good Catholic needs to know by heart.

Memory is the foundation of wisdom. It makes holiness easier. To grow wiser in the Faith . . . and holier . . . turn to Memorize the Faith! today.

Note:

Memorize the Faith! will teach you and your children how to remember anything, but it's particularly useful to those involved in religious education: catechists and converts, CCD teachers, RCIA members, and homeschoolers of all ages.

Here, Dr. Vost and St. Thomas Aquinas show you easy ways to memorize the following truths and precepts of our Faith, plus many more:

• The 9 Beatitudes
• The 12 Apostles
• The 7 Virtues
• The 7 Sacraments
• The 4 Last Things
• The 7 Capital Sins
• The 10 Commandments
• The 4 Marks of the Church
• The 14 Stations of the Cross
• The 5 Precepts of the Church
• The 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit
• The 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit
• The 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy
• The 20 Mysteries of the Rosary
• The 7 Corporal Works of Mercy
• The 10 Holy Days of Obligation
• The 6 Sins Against the Holy Spirit
• The 5 Proofs for the Existence of God
• The 27 Books of the New Testament
• The 46 Books of the Old Testament

And anything else you want to remember, from the 14 items on your grocery list to the birthdays of your 7 nephews and nieces!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781933184173
Publisher:	Sophia Institute Press
Publication date:	07/01/2006
Pages:	250
Sales rank:	287,593
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Kevin Vost, Psy.D. (1961–2023), authored twenty books, including Memorize the Faith! and How to Think Like Aquinas. He taught psychology at Aquinas College in Nashville, Tennessee, the University of Illinois at Springfield, Lincoln Land Community College, and MacMurray College. He was a member of the Research Review Committee for American Mensa, which promotes the scientific study of human intelligence.

Table of Contents

Notes to Readers of This Book
A Note to Adult Readers     xiii
A Note to Younger Readers     xvi
A Note to Homeschoolers     xx
Memory Master Tips and Facts     xx
The Stone the Builders Rejected
How to Use This Book     5
The Memory System of St. Thomas Aquinas     21
As for Me and My House
The Ten Commandments     31
The Seven Capital Sins     35
The Seven Virtues     43
The Nine Beatitudes     49
The Seven Sacramerits     55
The Twenty Mysteries of the Rosary     61
In My Father's House Are Many Mansions
The Four Marks of the Church     75
The Four Last Things     81
The Five Precepts of the Church     85
The Six Sins Against the Holy Spirit     89
The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit     95
The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy     101
The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy     105
Ten Holy Days of Obligation in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church     111
The Twelve Apostles     117
The Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit     121
The Fourteen Stations of the Cross     125
Grow in Grace and in Knowledge of Our Lord
Five Proofs of the Existence ofGod     131
The Forty-Six Books of the Old Testament     137
The Twenty-Seven Books of the New Testament     157
Twenty-One Centuries of Church History     171
The Twenty-Five Parts of the Cardinal Virtues     185
The Forty-Four Daughters of the Capital Sins     193
Three More Mnemonic Systems     199
Twelve Red-Letter Sayings of Jesus Christ     211
Remember What I Preach
Applications for All Ages     221
How to Teach This System to Your Children     229
Conclusion: From Memory and Understanding to Faith and Works     241
Afterword: An Ode to Memorization     247
Biographical Note   Kevin Vost     249