Symbolon: The Catholic Faith Explained - PART 1 - Participant Guide

This guide for Part 1 of Symbolon: The Catholic Faith Explained is the key for helping participants apply what they learn about their faith to their daily lives.   

Click here for a sample of the Study Guide.

Full-color sacred art draws people into the beauty of the Catholic Faith. Quotes from Scripture, the saints and recent popes deepen their understanding of the Church’s teachings. Engaging discussion topics and reflections inspire participants to give their lives more to Christ and provide practical life application.

The Search Parish Participant Guide

The Search is a seven-part video series for those looking for meaning in life and for the answers to life’s deepest questions.

This Parish Participant Guide is a multi-purpose guide specifically designed to enhance the experience of the individual as well as help a leader facilitate a group. This guide helps a small group to get to know one another on a deeper level, recall key points from the videos, jot down thoughts, and discuss within the group. Its aim is evangelization. Sample here.

"About The Search" 

Why are we here? What is life all about? What happens when we die? These are some of life’s deepest questions, rooted in the human heart’s deepest desires: happiness, love, beauty, meaning. Where can we find the answers to these questions and these desires? Until satisfied, we are left questioning, longing, and searching.

The Search video series guides viewers through an arc of seven episodes, examining the great big story of everything—life and death, sorrow and happiness, science and faith—as astrophysicists, psychologists, astronauts, neuroscientists, professors, athletes, artists, and the beauty of the cosmos all point to one big (and perhaps surprising) conclusion: that Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church have the best and most satisfying answers to every one of the questions and desires of the human heart.

Embark on the adventure, discover the purpose, and begin The Search.

Symbolon: The Catholic Faith Explained - PART 2 - Leader Guide

This comprehensive guide makes it easy for any faithful Catholic to lead an effective study of Part 2 of Symbolon: The Catholic Faith Explained, whether at home or in the parish. 

Click here for a sample of the Leader Guide.

Walking leaders step-by-step through each Symbolon session, this guide equips leaders to facilitate with confidence and clarity. The Leader Guide provides opening and closing prayers, discussion questions, reflections for participants, and important background to help facilitators lead a session that is both engaging and theologically sound. Beautiful sacred art and quotes from the saints and the Scriptures help leaders make the Faith come alive for the people in their study. 

You Are Forgiven - Student Guide

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Each session of this full-color Student Guide includes a story from Scripture as well as a story of a saint relevant to the lesson, key word definitions, a fun activity, a story featuring fictional characters children can relate to, and a session recap.

About You Are Forgiven

Signs of Grace: You Are Forgiven prepares children to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time by revealing that God is indeed “rich in mercy.” It is most effective when used with The Augustine Institute’s Forgiven: The Transforming Power of Confession to catechise the parent’s and help meet the crucial need for ongoing formation and catechesis for the entire family.

You Are Forgiven includes seven sessions, each presenting the good news of salvation offered to us in Jesus Christ, with a focus on helping children understand that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a real encounter with him, and that he desires to forgive and heal us at the deepest levels of our humanity.

And while the curriculum is focused on the child, it also recognizes that it is in the Christian family that the Faith is first learned and is most effectively understood and lived out. A Family Take Home Page is provided with each session in English and Spanish to engage parents and the entire family in this journey of Faith.

You Are Forgiven - Student Activity Book

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Each session of this full color Student Activity Book includes sticker pages and engaging, lively activities including family take home pages in English and Spanish, word searches, songs, crossword puzzles, and flash cards.

About You Are Forgiven

Signs of Grace: You Are Forgiven prepares children to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time by revealing that God is indeed “rich in mercy.” It is most effective when used with The Augustine Institute’s Forgiven: The Transforming Power of Confession to catechise the parent’s and help meet the crucial need for ongoing formation and catechesis for the entire family.

You Are Forgiven includes seven sessions, each presenting the good news of salvation offered to us in Jesus Christ, with a focus on helping children understand that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a real encounter with him, and that he desires to forgive and heal us at the deepest levels of our humanity.

And while the curriculum is focused on the child, it also recognizes that it is in the Christian family that the Faith is first learned and is most effectively understood and lived out. A Family Take Home Page is provided with each session in English and Spanish to engage parents and the entire family in this journey of Faith.

You Are Loved - Student Activity Book

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Each session of this full color Student Activity Book includes sticker pages and engaging, lively activities including family take home pages in English and Spanish, word searches, songs, crossword puzzles, and flash cards.

About You Are Loved

Signs of Grace: You Are Loved prepares children to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion for the first time by revealing the intimate love that God has for us. It is most effective when used with The Augustine Institute’s Presence: The Mystery of the Eucharist to catechise the parent’s and help meet the crucial need for ongoing formation and catechesis for the entire family.

You Are Loved includes eight sessions, each presenting the teachings of the Church on the Sacrament of the Eucharist with a focus on helping the children understand that the Sacrament of First Holy Communion is a real encounter with Jesus Christ who desires to unite himself to us at the deepest levels of our humanity.

And while the curriculum is focused on the child, it also recognizes that it is in the Christian family that the Faith is first learned and is most effectively understood and lived out. A Family Take Home Page is provided with each session in English and Spanish to engage parents and the entire family in this journey of Faith.

Beloved Couple's Guide - Marriage Preparation

You’re in love. You’re reasonably compatible. There’s a thrill and romance you enjoy. You want to spend the rest of your lives together. Getting married seems straightforward enough. But . . .

What if the Sacrament of Marriage is more than that? What if God has woven into the very design of your humanity a purposeful need and desire to unite you with another, creating something mysterious and holy? What if your marriage is designed to be a vital part of God’s work in the world?

Click here for a sample of the Study Guide.

Presence - Participant Guide

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This Participant Guide for Presence: The Mystery of the Eucharist is the key for helping participants apply what they learn about their faith to their daily lives.

About Presence

Although the Eucharist appears to be simple bread and wine, it is actually the “source and summit” of the Christian life. Presence: The Mystery of the Eucharist explores the truth and beauty of Jesus Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, from its origins in Sacred Scripture, to its profound role in the life of the Church and its members.

It is the crescendo of the entire story of salvation. Click here to watch the trailer and learn more.

“We live in an age that does not orient the heart toward mystery. As a consequence, too many Catholics approach the Holy Eucharist with—let's be honest—indifference. The Augustine Institute has provided a much-needed tonic. Presence is a perfect blend of storytelling to fire the imagination, personal testimony to stir the soul, and theological instruction to inform the intellect. This lively and compelling series on the central reality of the Catholic religion is ideal for catechists, teachers, parents of children preparing for First Communion, and anyone who finds himself longing to love Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament more but not knowing where to begin.”

Chris Check
President of Catholic Answers