Imprimatur: Gilbert Sheldon, D.D. D.Min, Bishop of Steubenville. Imprimatur: Most Rev. Basil Losten, Bishop of Stamford (Ukranian Rite) "The Handbook is outstanding both for its practicality and for its fidelity to the Catholic faith." - Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J., Editor, Homiletic and Pastoral Review "Dr. Marks fills a deep void in the current literature with his brisk but wide-ranging Catholic Handbook. It is a pleasure to read and refreshingly forthright in presenting Church teaching." - Very Rev. Peter M.J. Stravinskas, Editor, The Catholic Answer "There is a great need for such a handbook, and Dr. Marks has done an excellent job of presenting the Church's teachings in an entertaining yet uncompromising style." - Anne W. Carrol, Catholic educator and author of Christ the Kin: Lord of History "I very much applaud what Dr. Marks has done, which is to tackle certain subjects that are often skirted: for example, the effects of living together before marriage, the wisdom of breaking off an engagement at even the last minute if uncertain, and objections to birth control." -  Fr. James Torrens, S.J., Former Associate Editor, America magazine "The best marriage guidebook I've seen in forty-five years as a marriage and family teacher!" - Rev. Paul Marx, O.S.B., Founder, Human Life International Frederick Marks, who holds an undergraduate degree from Holy Cross College and a Ph.D. from the Unversity of Michigan, has lectured widely and taught courses on the fundamentals of the Catholic faith at both the university and parish level. He is the author of numerous articles, as well as five other books, most recently A Brief for Belief: The Case for Catholicism (Queenship, 1999). Currently, he resides in Forest Hills, N.Y., with his wife, Sylvia, to whom he has been happily married for over thirty years, and their daughter, Mary Anne.

Marks gets plus marks for othodoxy and fidelity to Church teaching. He does quite accurately represent Catholic teaching on marriage and sexuality. The questions at the back of the book are also quite well done, I think; this might be the one part of the book that I found really useful.

However, the book suffers from disorganization: it appears to skip around from one idea to an entirely unrelated idea. The writing style is not particularly polished, either, which isn't necessarily bad. But in this case, I also have questions about Marks' qualifications for writing this book. It's clear that he knows Church teaching, but has he done any exhaustive study on the many practical psychological, emotional, or sexual aspects of marriage which he covers? It appears that his only qualification for writing this book is that he himself has been married-- which doesn't exactly make him an expert! In summary, I didn't find this as helpful as other reviewers appear to have found it.

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:


Necessity for Catholic couples  Apr 05, 2010 By Holly Payne
This is a HIGHLY reccommended book for catholic couples. It was reccommended to us by our priest who strongly urged us to both read it during our marriage preparation. This is a lifelong decision, everything should be done to thoroughly prepare for a heaven-bound relationship.

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