A digital archive of the Catholic intellectual tradition, freely available.
This repository contains curated, machine-readable datasets exported from the Torch & Lily project — an API-first platform that provides structured access to Scripture, the Summa Theologiae, patristic commentaries, catechisms, the lives of the saints, Catholic prayers, and more.
Whether you are a researcher, developer, educator, or simply curious, these datasets are here for you to explore, build upon, and learn from.
Last updated: 2026-03-25 20:48 UTC
Total records: 88,683
| File | Description | Records |
|---|---|---|
works.json.gz |
Catalog of theological works (Summa, commentaries, catechisms, etc.). | 18 |
bible_books.json.gz |
Books of the Bible with English and Latin names. | 73 |
bible_verses.json.gz |
Bible verses in English and Latin (Douay-Rheims / Vulgate). | 37,639 |
bible_commentaries.json.gz |
Patristic and medieval Bible commentaries keyed by book/chapter/verse. | 12,262 |
summa_parts.json.gz |
Top-level divisions of the Summa Theologiae (Prima Pars, etc.). | 5 |
summa_questions.json.gz |
Questions of the Summa Theologiae grouped by part. | 611 |
summa_articles.json.gz |
Articles of the Summa Theologiae — objections, sed contra, respondeo, replies. | 3,076 |
citations.json.gz |
Cross-references and citations between texts. | 8,093 |
capitula_part1.json.gz |
Chapters and sections from the Summa Theologiae and other Opera. (part 1/2) | 10,362 |
capitula_part2.json.gz |
Chapters and sections from the Summa Theologiae and other Opera. (part 2/2) | 10,360 |
catechism_versions.json.gz |
Catechism editions (e.g. Baltimore Catechism No. 1–3). | 3 |
catechism_lessons.json.gz |
Catechism lessons grouped by version. | 82 |
catechism_questions.json.gz |
Catechism questions and answers. | 1,721 |
| File | Description | Records |
|---|---|---|
saints.json.gz |
Catholic saints — verified (NIHIL_OBSTAT) records only. | 648 |
saint_relationships.json.gz |
Relationships between saints (teacher/student, founder, etc.). | 3,630 |
prayers.json.gz |
Catholic prayers with Latin and English text. | 100 |
All data files are gzipped JSON (.json.gz) in the data/ directory.
Large datasets may be split into numbered parts (_part1, _part2, etc.).
# Decompress a file
gunzip data/saints.json.gz# Read directly in Python
import gzip, json
with gzip.open('data/saints.json.gz', 'rt') as f:
saints = json.load(f)
print(f"Loaded {len(saints)} saints")// Read in Node.js
const { readFileSync } = require('fs');
const { gunzipSync } = require('zlib');
const raw = gunzipSync(readFileSync('data/saints.json.gz'));
const saints = JSON.parse(raw.toString());Torch & Lily is an open, API-first platform dedicated to making the Catholic intellectual tradition accessible to developers, researchers, and AI agents alike.
- The Torch — A REST API serving structured data from the Summa Theologiae, the Douay-Rheims Bible, patristic commentaries, catechisms, saints, prayers, the liturgical calendar, and a sacred sites directory.
- The Lily — A family of frontend experiences built on the Torch API, including a developer portal, documentation, and community tools.
| Resource | URL |
|---|---|
| Website & Docs | torchandlily.com |
| API Base URL | https://api.torchandlily.com/v1 |
| API Documentation | torchandlily.com/docs |
| MCP Server (for AI agents) | torchandlily.com/docs/docs/mcp |
| Get an API Key | torchandlily.com/signup |
The Torch API provides full-text search, cross-references between texts, liturgical calendar lookups, geographic queries, and more — things a flat data dump can't offer. Sign up for a free API key to get started.
For AI agents and LLM-powered applications, Torch also exposes an MCP server for direct tool-use integration.
These datasets are provided freely for educational, research, and devotional use. The underlying source texts (Scripture, the Summa, catechisms, etc.) are in the public domain. Saint biographies and structured metadata were compiled by the Torch & Lily project.
If you use this data in a project, a link back to torchandlily.com is appreciated but not required.
This repository is updated automatically. For questions or feedback, visit torchandlily.com.