| Foreword | xi |
| Editor's Preface | xvii |
| 1. | What Christians Believe | |
| I. | I believe in God | 5 |
| A. | Faith | 5 |
| B. | The nature and work of God | 10 |
| II. | And in Jesus Christ | 23 |
| A. | Christ is the Son of God | 23 |
| B. | Christ is the World of God | 26 |
| III. | He was conceived by the Holy Spirit | 31 |
| A. | Analogies by which to understand the Incarnation | 31 |
| B. | Errors regarding the Incarnation | 32 |
| C. | Benefits of belief in the Incarnation | 35 |
| IV. | He suffered under Pontius Pilate | 39 |
| A. | Christ's death is difficult to conceive | 39 |
| B. | Why Christ suffered for us | 40 |
| V. | He descended into Hell | 47 |
| A. | Reasons for Christ's descent into Hell | 47 |
| B. | What we may learn from Christ's descent into Hell | 50 |
| VI. | On the third day He rose again | 53 |
| A. | Christ rose from the dead in order to teach us | 53 |
| B. | Christ's Resurrection differs from that of others | 54 |
| C. | What Christ's Resurrection teaches us | 56 |
| VII. | He ascended into Heaven | 59 |
| A. | Christ's Ascension was sublime | 59 |
| B. | Christ's Ascension was reasonable | 60 |
| C. | Christ's Ascension was profitable | 62 |
| VIII. | He will come again to judge | 63 |
| A. | Judgment belongs to Christ | 63 |
| B. | The form of the judgment | 63 |
| C. | Why the judgment is to be feared | 67 |
| D. | How we are to prepare for the judgment | 68 |
| IX. | I believe in the Holy Spirit | 71 |
| A. | Characteristics of the Holy Spirit | 72 |
| B. | Fruits of the Holy Spirit | 73 |
| X. | The holy Catholic Church | 77 |
| A. | The Church is one | 77 |
| B. | The Church is holy | 79 |
| C. | The Church is catholic ("universal") | 80 |
| D. | The Church is firmly established | 81 |
| XI. | The communion of saints | 83 |
| A. | Christ's good is communicated to all members | 83 |
| B. | The Sacraments communicate Christ's good | 83 |
| C. | The forgiveness of sins | 87 |
| D. | Benefits of the communion of saints | 88 |
| XII. | The resurrection of the body | 89 |
| A. | Faith in the resurrection benefits us | 89 |
| B. | The characteristics of all risen bodies | 91 |
| C. | Qualities of the glorified bodies of the blessed | 92 |
| D. | Qualities of the bodies of the damned | 93 |
| XIII. | And life everlasting | 95 |
| A. | The nature of the eternal life of the blessed | 95 |
| B. | The nature of the eternal death of the wicked | 98 |
| 2. | How Christians Should Pray | |
| I. | The Lord's Prayer | 103 |
| A. | Conditions required for prayer | 103 |
| B. | Benefits of prayer | 106 |
| II. | Our Father | 109 |
| A. | Why we call God Father | 109 |
| B. | What we owe God as our Father | 110 |
| C. | What we owe our neighbor (our Father) | 112 |
| III. | Who art in Heaven | 113 |
| A. | Confidence in prayer | 113 |
| B. | Meaning of who art in Heaven | 113 |
| C. | These words give us confidence in prayer | 116 |
| IV. | Hallowed be Thy name | 119 |
| A. | Characteristics of God's name | 119 |
| B. | The meaning of hallowed | 120 |
| V. | Thy kingdom come | 123 |
| A. | The gift of piety | 123 |
| B. | Reasons for this petition | 123 |
| C. | This fulfills the beatitude: "Blessed are the meek" | 127 |
| VI. | Thy will be done | 129 |
| A. | The gift of knowledge | 129 |
| B. | God's will for us | 130 |
| C. | This fulfills the beatitude: "Blessed are they who mourn" | 134 |
| VII. | Give us this day our daily bread | 137 |
| A. | The gift of fortitude | 137 |
| B. | Sins that arise from desiring temporal goods | 138 |
| C. | The twofold meaning of bread | 141 |
| VIII. | And forgive us our trespasses | 143 |
| A. | The gift of counsel | 143 |
| B. | Reasons for asking forgiveness | 144 |
| C. | When is this petition fulfilled? | 145 |
| D. | What is required of us? | 146 |
| IX. | And lead us not into temptation | 149 |
| A. | The nature of temptation | 149 |
| B. | The sources of temptation | 150 |
| C. | Release from temptation | 153 |
| X. | But deliver us from evil | 155 |
| A. | God prevents evils | 155 |
| B. | God comforts the suffering | 156 |
| C. | God rewards the afflicted | 156 |
| D. | God strengthens men through trials | 156 |
| XI. | A short exposition of the Lord's Prayer | 159 |
| A. | What men should desire | 159 |
| B. | What men should avoid | 160 |
| XII. | The Hail Mary | 161 |
| A. | The superiority of angels over men | 161 |
| B. | The superiority of the Blessed Virgin over the angels | 163 |
| C. | Only the Virgin's Fruit affords what Eve sought in her fruit | 169 |
| 3 | How Christians Should Live | |
| I. | Thou shalt not have strange gods before me | 173 |
| A. | How the First Commandment was violated | 173 |
| B. | Reasons we should adore one God | 175 |
| II. | Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain | 179 |
| A. | The meanings of in vain | 179 |
| B. | Taking God's name in vain | 182 |
| C. | Taking God's name justly | 182 |
| III. | Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day | 187 |
| A. | Reasons for this commandment | 187 |
| B. | How to keep the Sabbath holy | 191 |
| IV. | Honor thy father and thy mother | 199 |
| A. | Reasons we should honor our parents | 199 |
| B. | Obligations to parents that arise from these benefits | 201 |
| C. | Rewards for honoring our parents | 202 |
| D. | Others who deserve the reverence due to fathers | 205 |
| V. | Thou shalt not kill | 209 |
| A. | Killing | 209 |
| B. | Anger | 213 |
| VI. | Thou shalt not commit adultery | 221 |
| A. | Adultery | 221 |
| B. | Fornication and impurity | 224 |
| C. | Married intercourse | 225 |
| D. | The prohibition of adultery and fornication | 226 |
| VII. | Thou shalt not steal | 229 |
| A. | Ways of stealing | 229 |
| B. | Reasons stealing is forbidden | 231 |
| VIII. | Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor | 235 |
| A. | Ways of bearing false witness | 235 |
| B. | Reasons lying is forbidden | 238 |
| C. | Reasons people lie | 239 |
| IX. | Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods | 241 |
| A. | Commandments that concern thoughts | 241 |
| B. | Reasons for this commandment | 242 |
| X. | Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife | 245 |
| A. | Occasions when sin rules in the flesh | 245 |
| B. | How concupiscence can be overcome | 246 |
| XI. | Summary of the Commandments | 249 |
| A. | Love of God | 249 |
| B. | Love of neighbor | 249 |
| 4. | How the Church Nourishes Christians | |
| I. | The Sacraments in general | 253 |
| A. | The nature of a sacrament | 253 |
| B. | The number of the Sacraments | 254 |
| C. | The effects of the Sacraments | 254 |
| D. | Characteristics of all the Sacraments | 256 |
| E. | Unique characteristics of particular sacraments | 257 |
| II. | The Sacraments in particular | 259 |
| A. | Baptism | 259 |
| B. | Confirmation | 261 |
| C. | The Holy Eucharist | 262 |
| D. | Penance | 265 |
| E. | The Anointing of the Sick | 266 |
| F. | Holy Orders | 267 |
| G. | Matrimony | 267 |
| III. | The gifts of the Sacraments | 269 |
| A. | The three gifts of the soul | 269 |
| B. | The four gifts of the body | 270 |
| Appendix | 271 |
| Biographical note | 297 |
