EDITOR’S NOTE TO
THE 2022 EDITION

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To make this nineteenth-century text more accessible to the twenty-first-century reader, only miniscule changes have been made, most having to do with style: the titles of the books of Scripture have been updated to reflect current usage (e.g., 1 Chronicles in place of 1 Paralipomenon) and the spelling of common biblical names were revised to their more familiar Hebrew versions (e.g., Noah in place of Noe; Joshua in place of Josue). The most important editorial addition to Fr. Spirago’s text is the inclusion of footnotes directing readers to the appropriate paragraphs of the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church, where readers will find the most recent, magisterial articulation of the Church’s faith. Additional footnotes have also been provided to indicate where, since Fr. Spirago’s writing in 1899, the Church has further clarified elements of Divine Revelation, such as the solemn definition of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Assumption into Heaven, or made changes to Church discipline such as the necessity to fast from midnight before receiving Holy Communion or the absolute prohibition of cremation. At all times the editor has sought to maintain the integrity of Fr. Spirago’s original text. In a handful of instances, however, substitutions for antiquated terminology were necessary to successfully convey his meaning to today’s reader.