I was wondering if I could have a quick bit of advice. I am a new
wife and mother who is interested in creating a vibrant Catholic home
in tune with the rhythms of the liturgical year, but I am a complete
neophyte when it comes to all of this. I was recently given a gift
certificate to Borders and would like to use it to purchase a
guidebook for cultivating a Catholic home. I came across the
following list, and I wondered whether you might quickly indicate if
any of these is worth purchasing (or, if you know of an even better
alternative, I would appreciate knowing the title).
The Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions (Ronda Chervin, et al.)
The Catholic Home: Celebrations and Traditions for Holidays, Feast
Days, and Every Day (Meredith Gould)
The Catholic Parent Book of Feasts: Celebrating the Church Year with
Your Family) (Michaelann Martin, et al.)
Catholic Traditions in the Home and Classroom (365 Days to Celebrate a
Catholic Year) (Ann Ball)
I am drawn to the last entry on account of it's scope, but I have no
idea as to its quality.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Book Suggestions for a Friend of JM's
Here is the message, please comment if you have experience with these books or others that have been helpful:
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6 comments:
Ann Ball's books are solid, but in my opinion the best book of this kind is Mary Reed Newland's The Year and Our Children, which is available from Borders online.
Hi there,
I am, of course, very fond of my book, THE CATHOLIC HOME!
I used the liturgical calendar to organize it and draw a lot on my Jewish upbringing to make connections wherever possible. I also pulled together and put in one volume an abundance of ethnic-based traditions for holy days and holidays.
It's in a tips format, so easy to flip through and readers tell me it's fun to read. You can "look in the book" at Amazon.com.
The paperback edition is updated, expanded, errors on some liturgical colors corrected, and includes an index. Published by Doubleday.
Ann Ball's work is very solid but I'm more amusing! Buy both?
God bless you.
Meredith Gould
Hi Meredith!
Thank you for your comment. I happen to own your book, and think it is great. I own the hardback edition, it was given to us after the birth of our daughter. Merideth's book is the perfect length, and it is very easy to use/flip through for each liturgical season.
And I will add that Meredith is very amusing ;-)
You'll have to look for this one used as it is out of print, but totally worth it:
Around the Year with the Trapp Family
It's written by Maria Von Trapp (real Sound of Music family) and it is fabulous! I love this book! In fact I've been meaning to pull it back out all Advent and read about their traditions again...
I'm back, sorry. I just remembered this is a blog dedicated to this book. Here is the table of contents from the blog, where I believe you can read script straight from the book for free (since it IS out of print and hard to get)!
http://vontrapp.wordpress.com/table-of-contents/
I don't know any of these books, but I have also heard good things about A Continual Feast by Evelyn Vitz, it is a cookbook for the liturgical year.
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