Where is the largest collection of rosaries? What is the oldest Catholic newspaper in America? Who are the five saintly women inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame? Incredible Catholic America: Smallest, Tallest, Oldest, Oddest by Marion Amberg is a fun and interesting book of stories and facts about American Catholic people and places.  

More Than Just Trivia

While trivia buffs will enjoy the treasure trove of information in these pages, especially the “Extreme Trivia Questions” sprinkled throughout the text, this book is more than a series of random facts. Amberg divides the information into five sections: Incredible Facts, Incredible Churches and Church Art, Incredible People of Faith, Incredible Trivia, and Incredible Legends and Lore. Each entry included within the sections features two or three paragraphs of explanation and context.

A few of the items you will learn about in Incredible Facts include the world’s oldest shrine to St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the country’s largest religious painting, and the first American basilica.

In Incredible Churches and Church Art, you will learn about a triple-decker church, a mystical copy of the Shroud of Turin, and railroad chapel cars.

Incredible People of Faith introduces notable individuals, such as the priest who was tarred and feathered and still celebrated Mass the next day, the first American-born woman to become a Catholic nun, and the first American-born martyr.

Incredible Trivia tells of the place where eating muskrat is allowed on Lenten Fridays, a chapel in California that has a cat door, and a chapel decorated with plaster faces portraying characters from medieval mystery and morality plays.

The final section on Incredible Legends and Lore includes the stories of mysterious food deliveries to a Carmelite monastery in Utah, the unexplained creation of a painting of the Crucifixion, and an infant Jesus statue that cried to help save a Mexican nun during the Mexican persecution of Catholics.  

An Interesting Look at American Catholic History

Incredible Catholic Americais an innovative look at the people and places that have helped shape American Catholic History. It is easy to read and can be appreciated by young people as well as adults. While fascinating in itself, it could easily serve as a jumping-off point to learn more about the topics included in this book. It includes a helpful index by state and people, so that you can easily find something of interest to read about.

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