Online texts: The original schemas (drafts) of Vatican II

See the following texts of the original schemata for the Second Vatican Council, translated and published online by Fr. Joseph A. Komonchak:

• Draft of a Dogmatic Constitution on the Sources of Revelation, by the Preparatory Theological Commission for the Second Vatican Council, translated by Fr. Joseph A. Komonchak (2012). Available in PDF format (on this page) at In Verbo Veritatis
• Draft of a Dogmatic Constitution [on] Defending Intact the Deposit of Faith, by the Preparatory Theological Commission for the Second Vatican Council, translated by Fr. Joseph A. Komonchak (2012). Available in pdf format (on this page) at In Verbo Veritatis.
• Draft of a Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, by the Preparatory Theological Commission for the Second Vatican Council, translated by Fr. Joseph A. Komonchak (2012). Available as a single pdf file (on this page) at In Verbo Veritatis. The individual chapters are also available in pdf format: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, and Chapter 11.
• Draft of a Dogmatic Constitution on the Christian Moral Order, by the Preparatory Theological Commission for the Second Vatican Council, translated by Fr. Joseph A. Komonchak (2012). Available in pdf format (on this page) at In Verbo Veritatis.
• Draft of a Dogmatic Constitution on Chastity, Marriage, the Family, and Virginity, by the Preparatory Theological Commission for the Second Vatican Council, translated by Fr. Joseph A. Komonchak (2012). Available in pdf format (on this page) at In Verbo Veritatis.
• Draft of a Dogmatic Constitution on the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of God and Mother of Men, by the Preparatory Theological Commission for the Second Vatican Council, translated by Fr. Joseph A. Komonchak (2012). Available in pdf format (on this page) at In Verbo Veritatis.

See also the following related documents:

• An Outline for the Ecumenical Council, by the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, translated by Fr. Joseph A. Komonchak (2012). Available in pdf format (on this page) at In Verbo Veritatis.
• The “Brief Outlines” of Dogmatic Constitutions, prepared by the Preparatory Theological Commission for the Second Vatican Council (Summer 1960), translated by Fr. Joseph A. Komonchak (2012). Available in pdf format (on this page) at In Verbo Veritatis.

Posted on the Feast of Pope St. John XXIII, and on the anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council; with thanks to Unam Sanctam Catholicam and A Blog for Dallas Area Catholics for providing links to and brief commentaries on the schemata. One may also look at “Original Discarded Schemata for Vatican II“, a forum discussion on Catholic Answers. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject). 

Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God, committed to the Church. Holding fast to this deposit the entire holy people united with their shepherds remain always steadfast in the teaching of the Apostles, in the common life, in the breaking of the bread and in prayers (see Acts 2, 42, Greek text), so that holding to, practicing and professing the heritage of the faith, it becomes on the part of the bishops and faithful a single common effort. 

But the task of authentically interpreting the word of God, whether written or handed on, has been entrusted exclusively to the living teaching office of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ. This teaching office is not above the word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed on, listening to it devoutly, guarding it scrupulously and explaining it faithfully in accord with a divine commission and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it draws from this one deposit of faith everything which it presents for belief as divinely revealed.

It is clear, therefore, that sacred tradition, Sacred Scripture and the teaching authority of the Church, in accord with God’s most wise design, are so linked and joined together that one cannot stand without the others, and that all together and each in its own way under the action of the one Holy Spirit contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.

(Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation “Dei Verbum”, Par. 10)

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Online text: “John Henry Newman, Cardinal: Poems”

See this online text:

• John Henry Newman, Cardinal: Poems (Poem Hunter.com, 2004). May be read online, and available in PDF format at PoemHunter.com.

On the Feast of Blessed John Henry Newman. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject). The text includes this beautiful expression of Christian faith and hope:

Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home —
Lead Thou me on!
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene,–one step enough for me.

Free ebook: “Considerations on the Litany of the Blessed Virgin”, by Cardinal Lepicier

See this legally free ebook:

• The Fairest Flower of Paradise: Considerations on the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, Enriched with Examples Drawn from the Lives of the Saints, by Very Rev. Alexis M. Lépicier, O.S.M. (London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow: Burns, Oates & Washbourne, 1922). With Imprimatur. Available in pdf format (on this page) at Saints’ Books. May be read online, and available in various formats (pdf, epub, kindle/mobi, text, etc.) at Internet Archive and Internet Archive (2nd copy).

On the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Roman Rite. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee… Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb…” (Luke 1:28,42 D-R)

Texto en linea: “Encíclica sobre el Apostolado Misionero”, del Papa Juan XXIII

Ver este texto en linea:

• Princeps Pastorum: Encíclica sobre el Apostolado Misionero, del Papa San Juan XXIII (28 de noviembre de 1959). Disponible en la Santa Sede, el Archidiocesis de Madrid, y la Congregación para el Clero.

Por la Fiesta de Santa Teresa del Niño Jesús en la forma extraordinaria del rito romano. Para más libros, por favor ingrese a la lista de los libros electrónicos gratis (Ordenados por título) y la lista de los libros gratis (Agrupados por tema).

‘La difusión de la verdad y de la caridad de Cristo es la verdadera misión de la Iglesia… El celo apostólico pertenece esencialmente a la profesión de la fe cristiana: en verdad que «cada uno está obligado a difundir su fe entre los demás, ya para instruir y confirmar a los otros fieles, ya también para rechazar los ataques de los infieles»’ (Papa San Juan XXIII)

(And if the grammar is wrong, please correct me. Gracias!)

Online ebook: “Unleash the Gospel: Post-Synod Pastoral Letter”, by Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron

See this online ebook:

• Unleash the Gospel: Post-Synod Pastoral Letter, by Most Rev. Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit (June 3, 2017). 45 pages. May be read online or downloaded in English y Espanol, through Unleash the Gospel; and available in PDF format (on this page) at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish. One may also read the summary and news report, “Archbishop Vigneron releases post-synod pastoral letter, ‘Unleash the Gospel’” at Michigan Catholic.

For the observance of Catechetical Sunday in the United States. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject). 

“The proclamation of the Word of God has Christian conversion as its aim: a complete and sincere adherence to Christ and his Gospel through faith… Conversion means accepting, by a personal decision, the saving sovereignty of Christ and becoming his disciple… The Church calls all people to this conversion, following the example of John the Baptist… as well as the example of Christ himself…

“Nowadays the call to conversion which missionaries address to non-Christians is put into question or passed over in silence. It is seen as an act of “proselytizing”; it is claimed that it is enough to help people to become more human or more faithful to their own religion, that it is enough to build communities capable of working for justice, freedom, peace and solidarity. What is overlooked is that every person has the right to hear the “Good News” of the God who reveals and gives himself in Christ, so that each one can live out in its fullness his or her proper calling…

“Conversion to Christ is joined to Baptism not only because of the Church’s practice, but also by the will of Christ himself, who sent the apostles to make disciples of all nations and to baptize them… In Baptism, in fact, we are born anew to the life of God’s children, united to Jesus Christ and anointed in the Holy Spirit. Baptism is… the sacrament which signifies and effects rebirth from the Spirit, establishes real and unbreakable bonds with the Blessed Trinity, and makes us members of the Body of Christ, which is the Church…

“Certainly, every convert is a gift to the Church and represents a serious responsibility for her, not only because converts have to be prepared for Baptism through the catechumenate and then be guided by religious instruction, but also because—especially in the case of adults—such converts bring with them a kind of new energy, an enthusiasm for the faith, and a desire to see the Gospel lived out in the Church…

“Conversion and Baptism give entry into a Church already in existence or require the establishment of new communities which confess Jesus as Savior and Lord. This is part of God’s plan, for it pleases him ‘to call human beings to share in his own life not merely as individuals, without any unifying bond between them, but rather to make them into a people in which his children, who had been widely scattered, might be gathered together in unity.'”

(Pope St. John Paul the Great, Redemptoris Missio, 46-48)

Free ebook: “Handbook of the Christian Religion, for the Use of Advanced Students and the Educated Laity”, by Rev. W. Wilmers, S.J.

See this legally free ebook:

• Handbook of the Christian Religion, for the Use of Advanced Students and the Educated Laity, 3^rd edition, enlarged by a supplement, from the German, by Rev. W. Wilmers, S.J.; edited by Rev. James Conway, S.J. (New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: Benziger Brothers, 1891). With Imprimatur. Available in various formats (pdf, mobi/kindle, epub, etc.) at Internet Archive (whose index page has a complete Table of Contents) with a second copy at Internet Archive. What might be an earlier edition is available at Internet Archive.

On the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary in the Roman Rite; and in remembrance of the Battle and Second Siege of Vienna (14 July-12 September 1683), in which Christian soldiers of many nations defeated the last great attempt of the Muslim world to conquer Christendom. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

“‘[N]ot acting reasonably (σὺν λόγω) is contrary to God’s nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats…’

“[T]he faith of the Church has always insisted that between God and us, between his eternal Creator Spirit and our created reason there exists a real analogy, in which… unlikeness remains infinitely greater than likeness, yet not to the point of abolishing analogy and its language…

“[T]he truly divine God is the God who has revealed himself as logos and, as logos, has acted and continues to act lovingly on our behalf… Consequently, Christian worship is, again to quote Paul – “λογικη λατρεία”, worship in harmony with the eternal Word and with our reason.”

(Pope Benedict XVI, Regensburg Address on “Faith, Reason and the University“, 12 September 2006)

Online ebook: “The Book of Armaments: Defending Your Catholic Faith”, by Gary Michuta

See this online text:

• The Book of Armaments: Defending Your Catholic Faith, by Gary Michuta (Eastern Catholic Re-Evangelization Center). 284 pages. Available in PDF format (on this page) at the Saint Thomas Chaldean Catholic Church, and at Scribd.com.
  • N.B., This text is a contemporary manual for Catholic Christian apologists who must explain the one true Faith to our lost brethren who follow the Protestant heresies. Among other matters, it shows how Protestants twist Scripture for their purpose, how they manipulate arguments to escape Catholic conclusions, and how Catholic Christians may respond in proposing divine truth. It is, for that reason, a text that requires serious reading. For a somewhat easier text, one may read Catholic Apologetics Guide 101: Scriptural Reference for Catholic Apologetics, by Godwin Delali Adadzie (GADEL).

On the Feast of Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen in the Roman Rite. For more texts on Catholic Christian apologetics, please see the ebooks on our page Apologetics. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

O God, our refuge and our strength, look down with mercy upon the people who cry to Thee; and by the intercession of the glorious and immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Saint Joseph her spouse, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and of all the saints, in Thy mercy and goodness hear our prayers for the conversion of sinners, and for the liberty and exaltation of the Holy Mother the Church. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen. (From Sancta Missa)

Free ebook: “Directorium Asceticum; or Guide to the Spiritual Life”, by Giovanni Battista Scaramelli

See this legally free ebook:

• The Directorium Asceticum; or, Guide to the Spiritual Life, 5^thedition, by Giovanni Battista Scaramelli, translated and edited at St. Beuno’s College, North Wales, with a Preface by Cardinal Manning (London: R. & T. Washbourne; New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: Benziger Brothers, 1902).
  • Volume 1 is available in various formats (pdf, epub, kindle/mobi, etc.) at Internet Archive.
  • Volume 2 is available in various formats at Internet Archive. The 7^th edition of Volume 2 (London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow: R. & T. Washbourne, 1917) is available at Internet Archive and Open Library [labeled as Volume 1 on the OL index page].
  • Volume 3 is available in various formats at Internet Archive.
  • Volume 4 is available in various formats at Internet Archive.

On the Feast of St. John Climacos in the Maronite Rite. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

O God, our refuge and our strength, look down with mercy upon the people who cry to Thee; and by the intercession of the glorious and immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Saint Joseph her spouse, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and of all the saints, in Thy mercy and goodness hear our prayers for the conversion of sinners, and for the liberty and exaltation of the Holy Mother the Church. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen. (From Sancta Missa)

Online text: “The Risk of Faith”, by Father Dwight Longenecker

See this online text:

• The Risk of Faith, by Father Dwight Longenecker (New Haven, CT: Knights of Columbus Supreme Council, 2008). With Imprimi Potest. Part of the Veritas Series “Proclaiming the Faith in the Third Millennium” (general editor, Father Juan-Diego Brunetta, O.P.).  Available in PDF format (here) at the Catholic Information Service of the Knights of Columbus Supreme Council.

On the Memorial of St. Polycarp in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite; and in belated remembrance of Monsignor Luigi Giussani, founder of Communion and Liberation (+22 February 2005).   For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

Online text: “Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians Oppressed for their Faith 2013–15”

See this online text:

• Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians Oppressed for their Faith 2013–15, compiled by John Pontifex, John Newton, and Clare Creegan, with additional research by Michael J. Robinson and assistance from Tony Smith, Tony Cotton, etc. (Surrey: Aid to the Church in Need, 2015). With a Foreword by Melkite Archbishop Jean-Clement Jeanbart of Aleppo, Syria. Available in PDF format on this page of Aid to the Church in Need Australia.
  • The Executive Summary is available at Issuu (linked from this page of Aid to the Church in Need), and the Principal Findings of the report are available on this page of Aid to the Church in Need United Kindom, which has highlights of the report on this page. A summary may be found at Vatican Radio.
  • The earlier report is indexed on this page of the Catholic eBooks Project: Online text: “Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians Oppressed for Their Faith 2011-2013”.

On the Feast of Saint Josephine Bakhita (in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite) and of Saint John Matha (in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite). For other ebooks on the oppression of Christians, particularly Christians of the one true Church, see our page “Anti-Catholic Persecution“. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject). 

“Of the 23 countries that showed high levels of persecution… In 16 countries the persecution was linked to extremist Islam… In 6 of the remaining countries the persecution was attributed to authoritarian regimes… And in 1 country – India – the persecution was linked to Hindu extremists. In addition, faith groups in the West have experienced increasing hostility and pressure in a society where secularism and atheism have gained prominence. In this region of the world, there has been a growth in acts of hatred and institutional intolerance towards religious groups and the values they uphold.” (From the home page of Religious Freedom in the World Report – 2016)