The Faith of Our Fathers

The Faith of Our Fathers by Cardinal James Gibbons is about the basic tenets of the Catholic faith throughout history. It was published in Baltimore in 1876 and became a best-selling conversion manual in the United States and by 1980 was in its 111th printing. Excerpt: "My Dear Reader:—Perhaps this is the first time in your life that you have handled a book in which the doctrines of the Catholic Church are expounded by one of her sons. You have, no doubt, heard and read many things regarding our Church; but has not your information come from teachers justly liable to suspicion? You asked for bread, and they gave you a stone. You asked for fish, and they reached you a serpent. Instead of the bread of truth, they extended to you the serpent of falsehood."