When I present this particular talk I am sure to share lots of examples of ways our family celebrates throughout the liturgical year, along with examples of what our friends do. I also stress what a beautiful, easy tool liturgical living can be for parents and grandparents who are trying to evangelize and form their children, especially when it's done in a way that makes sense for each particular family's home culture, interests, strengths, and season of life. Finally, I make sure everyone knows that because this work of building up the Kingdom of God is vitally important satan will attack it, because he's a jerk like that, so be ready.
In my life books have been so helpful in sharing the faith with my kids and so when I gave this talk I brought some of my favorites to share with the audience. There was lots of note-taking and photo-snapping so people would remember the titles I had shared. But there were also so many books and DVDs I had to leave at home and I thought those should be shared, too, especially as my kids kept saying, "Oh I love this one! And this one! And this one!"
So below is a fairly extensive list of books and other resources we use throughout the year. The seasonal books are stored with their corresponding decorations and then placed in our family book basket for the duration of the season. Some books are read on a daily or weekly basis throughout the year. Some books stay on the bookshelf in our living room for easy access. We have a ton of other books, too, but I don't need to include How the Grinch Stole Christmas here.
I've divided the groups into books for kids, resources for parents / grandparents / teachers, Bibles, and DVDs. All the Amazon and Blessed Is She links are affiliate links, which means I receive a small payment at no cost to you when you purchase through my specific link. I have also built an Amazon page filled with these items so you can check them all out there, if you'd like. You can find that here.
Take It to the Queen by Josephine Nobisso
The Weight of the Mass by Josephine Nobisso
Saint Clare of Assisi: Runaway Rich Girl by Kim Hee-Ju
Paddy and the Wolves by Steve Nagel
St. Nicholas - the Real Story of the Christmas Legend by Julie Stiegemeyer
Lady of Guadalupe by Tome dePaola
The Miracle of St. Nicholas by Gloria Whelan and Judith Brown
On Easter Day in the Morning by Vickie Howie
My Happy Pumpkin by Crystal Bowman
A is for Altar B is for Bible by Judith Lang Main
An Alphabet of Catholic Saints by Brenda and George Nippert
Angel in the Waters by Regina Doman and Ben Hatke
My Superhero / Princess / Woodland Prayer Book by Kendra Tierney
The Catholic Field Guide to the Liturgy by Michelle Chronister
The Story of St. John Paul II: The Boy Who Would Be Pope by Fabiola Garza
Saintly Rhymes for Modern Times by Meghan Bausch
The Chime Travelers by Lisa Hendey
I'm Bernadette by Emily Grace Ortega
A Little Book About Confession for Children by Kendra Tierney
I Walk with Jesus by Michelle Chronister
The Way of the Cross from Magnificat and Ignatius Press
Stations of the Cross box tutorial
The Little Oratory: A Beginners Guide to Praying in the Home by David Clayton and Leila Lawler
The Lazy Liturgical by Jenna Hines
The Catholic All Year Compendium by Kendra Tierney
Around the Year with the von Trapp Family by Maria von Trapp
Feast! by Haley and Daniel Stewart
Blessed Is She liturgical planner
Jesus Calling Bible Storybook by Sarah Young
The Action Bible by Doug Mauss and Sergio Cariello
Catechism of the Seven Sacraments - Building Blocks of Faith Series
Catholic Journaling Bible
Nicholas: the Boy Who Became Santa dvd
Veggie Tales St. Nicholas - a Story of Joyful Giving dvd
The Day the Sun Danced dvd
Bernadette - The Princess of Lourdes dvd
Juan Diego - Messenger of Guadalupe dvd
The Prince of Egypt dvd
Also, if you'd like to bring me to your parish or event to speak I would love to! You can check out my speaking page and shoot me an email!
My husband and I joined the church in 2017 (we were Protestants before), and have found liturgical living so, so wonderful... but also a bit overwhelming! Which of these many resources would you recommend for someone getting started?
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the Church!
DeleteI would suggest that you first get a copy of a liturgical calendar - something your parish may have passed out at the beginning of the year or you can buy one from Blessed Is She or Catholic Planner. That way you'll know what's coming your way and you can incorporate it into your meal plans, etc. Then at the beginning of the month you can look at the calendar and see which obligatory or optional feasts (or fasts) you'll need / want to celebrate. I would suggest to start by doing the big and obligatory ones (Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, holy days of obligation, etc) then add in one feast a month if it means something to your family (your confirmation saint's feast day, etc) Then, I'd suggest starting with Feast! (if you like to cook for feast days) and The Catholic All Year Compendium for lots of info and options on how to actually celebrate those days.
The children's books and DVDs I listed you can slowly add to your collection if you want or need to as gifts for the holidays. Some of the books are great for little kids and some are easy chapter books and some are graphic novels, so there's a wide range of options - but I don't even know if you have kids! :)
I hope that helps!
Thanks so much, Bonnie, for your kind and thoughtful reply! That sounds really doable - I have a Catholic calendar on the way from Amazon, and will look into the Catholic All Year Compendium. And I do have kids! Four - so this is perfect. :) Thank you!
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