Month: April 2022

On my Bookshelf: How They Love Mary

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There are as many ways to show your love for the Blessed Mother as there are depictions of Mary in art. In his new book, How They Love Mary: 28 Life-Changing Stories of Devotion to Our Lady (Sophia Institute Press), Fr. Edward Looney explains how 28 saints and saints-in-progress express their love for the Mother of God.

Fr. Looney, host of the How They Love Mary podcast, begins by sharing the story of his own devotion to Mary, which was fostered by his grandmother and later grew into a passion for visiting Marian shrines, reading about Our Lady, and writing devotional books. In the Introduction, he observes, “I always ask Mary to help me love Jesus.”

If you would like to learn to love Jesus more, start by reaching out to Mary—after all, no one on earth loved Jesus more than she did! In How They Love Mary, Fr. Looney details concrete ways you (and your family) can do this, and all of these ways are inspired by the 28 holy men and women whose stories he highlights. Well-known saints such as St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and St. Kateri Tekakwitha are featured, along with Venerable Patrick Peyton, Blessed Solanus Casey, Servant of God Chiara Lubich, and Sr. Clare Crockett.

Each chapter concludes with two or more things you can do to deepen your relationship with Our Lady. Here are a few, along with the saint or holy person whose devotion inspires them:

  • Learn more about Our Lady, Undoer of Knots. Pray a novena asking Mary to untie whatever knots you face in your life. You may even ask her to untie the knots of which you are unaware! (Pope Francis, p. 115)
  • Whatever request or petition you have, don’t be afraid simply to say, “Mary, please pray for this need of mine.” (Mother Mary Francis, p. 66)
  • Make a daily visit to a statue of Our Lady and pray the Memorare. Is there an outdoor statue nearby your home or do you have one in your yard or home? (St. Francis de Sales, p. 152)
  • When you next attend Mass, ask for her help in remaining attentive throughout. (Bl. Columna Marmion, p. 97)

Chapters in How They Love Mary are brief—only a few pages each—which makes this book an excellent choice for daily spiritual reading. Consider reading a chapter each day during May (Mary’s month), and try some of the many saint-inspired suggestions for growing closer to the Blessed Mother—and through her, to Jesus.

Copyright 2022 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Image: Stencil

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. I was given a free review copy of this book by the publisher, but no other compensation. Opinions expressed here are mine alone.

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An Open Book: April 2022

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The first Wednesday of each month, Carolyn Astfalk hosts #OpenBook, where bloggers link posts about books they’ve read recently. Here’s a taste of what I’ve been reading:

Fiction

The Roommate Situation (Only in Atlanta, Book 1) by Katie Bailey. An enjoyable clean romance, but I liked the second in the series more. This one featured a young woman who just broke up with her cheating boyfriend, showed up unannounced at her older brother’s house, and found that only his roommate would be there for a few weeks. They try to hide their developing relationship from everyone, to no avail and to hilarious effect. (4 stars)

 

Neighbor WarThe Neighbor War: A Romantic Comedy (Only in Atlanta Book 2) by Katie Bailey. A fun, light read about neighbors who have longtime crushes on each other but don’t know the other one likes them—and one of them thinks she hates the other, based on an erroneous first impression. Witty banter (so much witty banter!), fun characters. (5 stars)

 

Bluebird by Genevieve Graham. Historical fiction set in Canada during/just after World War I. In this second-chance love story, a military nurse falls for a patient who, along with his brother, had been seriously injured doing dangerous work. After the war, the former soldier and his family make their living as bootleggers and smugglers across the Canada-US border, and the nurse unwittingly begins dating the brothers’ biggest competition, a gangster who is out to ruin his enemies. I’ll definitely look for more by this author. (5 stars; Netgalley review.)

 

YA/Children’s

Finding Junie KimFinding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh. Dual timeline fiction, set during Korean War and present-day, with both story lines from the view of adolescents. The story itself is a lovely family saga, even as it recounts the brutalities of war. The book takes on racism and bigotry but openly supports the BLM movement, and there was definitely an undercurrent of anti-white-privilege going on, which is its own form of racism. Because of this and because of some disturbing content (war violence), I would recommend a critical read before giving it to a child because the book definitely does endorse a party line. (4 stars)

Nonfiction

No Such Thing as OrdinaryNo Such Thing as Ordinary by Rachel Balducci. Rachel’s upbringing in the faith is different from most, because she was raised in an intentional Christian community, where she still lives. Don’t let her unique experience stop you from reading this encouraging look at being your best for God, structured around the story of the woman at the well. (4 stars; Netgalley review. Releases May 6.)
Synopsis: Are you looking for freedom and fulfillment in the life you are already living, or do you feel trapped because your everyday reality doesn’t match your dreams? No Such Thing as Ordinary will help you discover the passion and adventure in your life while empowering you to see how God uses daily, here-and-now moments to draw you to him in an extraordinary way. Drawing from Jesus’s conversation with the woman at the well in the Gospel of John, Rachel Balducci—Catholic writer and cohost of CatholicTV’s The Gist—shares how a deep unrest in her life launched her on a journey to discover the secret that true joy is found in a deeper relationship with Jesus.

Dust Bowl Girls coverThe Dust Bowl Girls: The Inspiring Story of the Team that Barnstormed Its Way to Basketball Glory by Lydia Reeder. The true story of a Depression-era women’s basketball team in Oklahoma. A fascinating premise: women recuited to attend a junior college in Oklahoma face challenges ranging from poverty to sexism as they work to qualify for a championship tournament against some of the region’s best female basketball players. The book got bogged down in some unnecessary detail that didn’t keep the story moving and maybe could have been included as a supplement rather than incorporated into the story line. (4 stars.)

Links to books in this post are Amazon affiliate links. Your purchases made through these links support Franciscanmom.com. Thank you!

Where noted, books are review copies. If that is not indicated, I either purchased the book myself or borrowed it from the library.

Visit this month’s #OpenBook post to join the linkup or just get some great ideas about what to read! You’ll find it at Carolyn Astfalk’s A Scribbler’s Heart and at CatholicMom.com!