St. Peter Canisius and the Secret of Great Catechists

What does it take to be a great catechist?

You might say intimate knowledge of the Catechism, the ability to whip up craft projects for any feast day at the drop of a hat, or a command of the classroom environment that rivals a Marine Corps drill instructor.

While these are obviously impressive skills, there’s something else that turns up consistently in the lives of great catechetical Saints…devotion to prayer.

St. Peter Canisius: Catechetical Saint

In his Wednesday Audience of Feb. 9, Benedict XVI highlighted the life and work of the Jesuit St. Peter Canisius. A leader in the Catholic Reformation, he was instrumental in renewing the Catholic Faith in Germanic speaking countries just after the rise of Protestantism.

Canisius wrote three catechisms based on the Catechism of the Council of Trent between 1555 and 1558; all for different audiences. These catechisms were so popular, they were used in Germany until the 1900’s.

The Pope recalled that “still in my father’s generation, people called the catechism simply the Canisius: He is really the catechist of the centuries; he formed people’s faith for centuries” (emphasis added). Now that’s a catechetical legacy!

Fruitful Instrument United to Jesus and the Church

However, accompanying all this, there was prayer! Benedict said, “Characteristic of St. Canisius’ spirituality was a profound personal friendship with Jesus.”

Along with devotion to the Scriptures, the Eucharist and the Church Fathers, the Pope said “this friendship was clearly united to the awareness of being a continuer of the mission of the Apostles in the Church. And this reminds us that every genuine evangelizer is always a united instrument with Jesus and the Church and, because of this, fruitful.”

Canisius had a “profound conviction” that “there is no soul solicitous of its own perfection that does not practice mental prayer every day, an ordinary means that permits the disciple of Jesus to live in intimacy with the divine Master,” the Pope said (emphasis added).

Where Real Greatness Comes From

What does it take to be a great catechist? For all my writing about technique and strategy, I have to remind myself the most successful and deeply penetrating catechists in history were all great lovers of God first. Their fruitfulness flowed from their union and intimacy with Christ!

Of course, he was no slouch; he had a doctorate in theology. We have to do as much as we humanly can to prepare ourselves to be great catechists. However, our greatness and impact will not lay primarily in technique, but in devotion.

St. Peter Canisius, pray for us!