Why does Saturday evening count as Sunday?
The Eleventh Hour
Matthew 20:6–9
How the Church keeps time: hours, days, seasons, and the year that lost ten days.
Opens on the First Sunday of Advent, 29 November 2026
The Catholic faith, one small bite at a time, at your fingertips.
Short, self-paced reads on the corners of Catholic history and practice. Every claim comes with a source you can check.
The series
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What did the first Christians actually believe, and how do we know?
One Iota
Matthew 5:18
Meet the people of the early Church, from the Apostles to the great Councils, with a reading plan if you want the original sources.
Start reading -
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Why isn’t fish meat?
Crumbs from the Table
Matthew 15:27
Food and drink: fasting, feasting, and what the monks did and didn’t say about rabbits.
Planned for Lent 2027
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Why does the priest wear rose twice a year?
The Fringe of His Garment
Matthew 9:20
Colour and vesture: what the Church wears, and why.
In planning
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Why do old churches face east?
From the Rising of the Sun
Malachi 1:11
Places and directions: altars, relics, and which way to face.
In planning
About
Bite-size Formation offers short, self-paced reads on less commonly discussed aspects of the Catholic faith: the history, habits and quirks behind what Catholics believe and do.
Each series takes one corner of the faith and works through it a bite at a time. Most bites take a few minutes to read, on a phone or anywhere else.
Can I trust it?
Historical narratives follow current scholarly consensus or the balance of evidence. Catholic beliefs and prayers are presented as the Church professes them. Every claim points to a source you can check for yourself, and you are encouraged to.
Why the odd names?
Each series is named after a short phrase from Scripture about something small or exact. One Iota comes from Matthew 5:18, where not one iota, the smallest letter, will pass from the Law. And yes, the book in the logo has had a bite taken out of it.
Who is behind it?
Bite-size Formation is a personal passion project started by Brian, a church musician in Canberra. It is free to read, and it draws on openly available sources wherever possible, so you can follow them up yourself.
If you find it useful, you can help keep it going.
Get in touch
Suggestions, corrections, questions, or an idea for a future series: We read every message.