Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, which means the start of Lent – my FAVORITE part of the Liturgical year, leading up to my favorite holiday of all time: Easter.

This year I want to focus on deepening my faith as much as I can during this season, and of course that includes a good amount of reading. So I thought for a change of pace it would be cool to write one of my reviews this week on the Didache.

For those who are unfamiliar, the Didache is a historical handbook on Christian living that many historians date to the first century, possibly as early as 35-40 years after Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. It began circulating around the same time as some of the New Testament writings. Its full title is “The Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles by the Twelve Apostles,” and it lines up remarkably closely with how we practice Catholicism today. In 1873, it was rediscovered in a Greek manuscript in Constantinople.

From a historical standpoint, it’s fascinating because it shows us what the earliest Christians believed and practiced long before major schisms or later theological systems developed. It provides a glimpse into what Christianity looked like in its earliest, most foundational form. Reading it makes it very clear how certain denominations have diverged over time from what the apostles originally handed on about Christ and His teachings.

The Didache covers moral teaching (the “Way of Life” and the “Way of Death,” grave sin, corruption, and virtue), the Trinitarian formula of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in baptism, fasting, prayer, the Eucharist, Church leadership, and even the end times. While it was never included in the canon of the New Testament, it has long been considered a highly reliable and valuable witness to early Christian life.

It contains 16 short chapters, so it’s more like a concise manual than a full systematic theology. When read side by side with the Catechism, the continuity is striking. The Didache feels like Catholicism in seed form, while the Catechism is that same seed grown into a full, mature tree.

If you’ve never heard of it and you practice any form of Christianity – or even if you simply have an interest in early Church history (since I know several atheist friends of mine do) – this is a powerful and worthwhile text to study. It’s short enough to read in under an hour, yet packed with insight into how the earliest followers of Christ understood prayer, morality, sacramental life, and community.

In a time when there’s so much misinformation floating around about what Christianity “originally” believed, the Didache is a reminder that the roots of the faith are far older and far more structured than many assume.