"Students of Faith" Video
Written by Arthur Stansbury for the Use of Schools - Copyright 1828
A catechism is defined as a text giving the basic principles of a religion or of a specific subject, usually by using a question and answer format. For Catholics learning the truths of our faith , the Baltimore Catechism was the standard text used from 1885 to the late 1960s. Fifty or sixty years later many Catholics can recite, word-for-word, much of what they learned by memorizing answers from the Baltimore Catechism.
Arthur Stansbury, a Presbyterian minister, wrote basic lessons on the Constitution as a catechism, with chronological questions and answers to teach students the facts of the Constitution along with a moral patriotism imbued in this “highly favored” ‘birthright.”
As we approach the annual Constitution Week of Sept. 17-23 and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2025, each of us would benefit from a review of the Constitution which protects our religious freedom and the other rights from our Creator. Stansbury’s introduction to the book urges “…the Constitution’s principles are simple, its features plain and obvious, and its brevity surpassing all example…It is certainly a most reprehensible negligence to remain in ignorance of it.”
“In the first place, consider how happy and how highly favored is our country, in having a system of government so wisely calculated to secure the life, liberty and happiness of all its citizens.” “In the next place, remember that this precious Constitution, thus wise, thus just, is your birthright. It has been earned for you by your fathers, who counselled much, labored long, and shed their dearest blood, to win it for their children.”
“To them it was the fruit of toil and danger. To you, it is a gift. Do not slight it on that account, but prize it as you ought. To undervalue it is one of the surest ways to lose it. Take pains to know what the Constitution is - the more you study, the higher you will esteem it. The better you understand your own rights, the more likely you will be to preserve and guard them.” Arthur J. Stansbury, Elementary Catechism on the Constitution of the United States: Copyright 1828
Learn more: Stansbury’s book available from Amazon.com for $8.00
Follow this link to take the free online course from Hillsdale College.
Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution https://online.hillsdale.edu/courses/promo/constitution-101
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of the Rosary for America
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A PATRIOT'S PRAYER
I am one American.
I strive to be an American patriot.
Sometimes, Lord, I feel alone and discouraged.
Sometimes the work of defending my country is too hard
and I am not adequate to the task.
I pray that you, Lord, who inspired America’s Founding Fathers,
who strengthen our soldier sons and daughters,
who bless this country to the good of its citizens and the world,
would open my eyes to the light of your truth.
That You ask nothing of me without giving me the way.
That You put nothing before me without giving me the strength.
That I need only open my heart to Your love and Your will.
America trusts in God and on You I can rely.
I am strong enough.
You have made me so.
I am wise enough.
You have made me so.
If You are with me, who can prevail against me?
I will stand as the American Patriot You guide me to be.
Amen.
©2024 by Barbara Samuells
STUDENTS MAY PRAY IN SCHOOL
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
ARE NOT “GOD-FREE ZONES”
America’s children need not leave their faith outside the school house door.
For students to be silenced or disciplined by a school authority for appropriate religious expression should never happen. Sadly, young students may well conclude…
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Educational resources for parish members who work to support Religious Freedoms.
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AT WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES: DEFENDING FREEDOM OF RELIGION
Barbara Samuells, president of Catholics for Freedom of Religion and a parishioner at St. Matthew’s, Dix Hills, shares her experience at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM RALLY 2018
IN SERVICE TO THE CHURCH
Click here to watch Barbara on TeleCare TV.
Pope Francis has observed that “religion [cannot] be relegated to the inner sanctum of personal life, without influence on societal and national life.” Evangelii Gaudium. . . , no. 183. In insisting that our liberties as Americans be respected, Pope Benedict XVI said that this work belongs to “an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture.” Therefore, catechesis on religious liberty is not the work of priests alone. If religious liberty is not properly understood, all people suffer and are deprived of the essential contribution to the common good, be it in education, health care, feeding the hungry, civil rights, and social services that individuals make every day, both here at home and overseas.
CATHOLICS FOR FREEDOM OF RELIGION
MISSION STATEMENT
America’s First Amendment guarantees its citizens five freedoms, the first of which is Freedom of Religion. Freedom of Religion includes the freedom to worship according to one’s beliefs as well as the freedom to practice that faith in everyday life according to one’s conscience.
So that this First Amendment freedom may be practiced and preserved for generations yet unborn it is essential that Americans understand this freedom and the circumstances from which it came. A fitting place for the development of this understanding and protection of Religious Freedom is inside all faith communities.
Catholics for Freedom of Religion offers resources to parish members who work to support Religious Freedom by initiating parish laity groups with these suggested goals:
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To educate and inspire for Freedom of Religion
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To remain non-partisan, advocating for no candidate or party
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To invite and include other faith communities
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To become a permanent group within each parish to educate every generation of Catholics about our Freedom of Religion…how rare it is, how dearly it was purchased for us and how certainly it is being lost.
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To recognize and oppose attacks on Freedom of Religion from any source
“We hold it for a fundamental and undeniable truth, that religion, or the duty we owe our Creator and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence. The religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable right.” James Madison
“While Americans presume that the Constitution guarantees their rights, in practice our rights survive or disappear based on how firmly we defend them.” Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
