Meditations for Advent (Sophia Institute Press)

It is getting VERY close to the end of November, so now is as good a time as any to get your Advent and Christmas books on hand. This Advent and Christmas I will be turning to Bishop Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet's books Meditations for Advent and Meditations on Mary. I have previous experience with Bishop Bossuet's book Meditations for Lent, so it really was a no-brainer on who I would be choosing for these two seasons.

Meditations for Advent is 40 chapters in length. This is an interesting number considering that Advent ranges between 22 and 28 days. Therefore, I can only conclude one of two things. 1. You either start this "devotional" on November 15th so that you finish on December 24th, or 2. You start on the first Sunday of Advent and keep reading it through the Christmas season. The meditations in this book are each about 2-4 pages long and cover topics like Creation, John the Baptist, and Mary. Of the meditations, the first five were my favorite as I love to read interpretations, reflections, and commentary on Creation. In this book, there is talk on the creation of the universe, the angels, and man. It may seem odd to read about those events during Advent, but it is because of these events that God had to become man. Therefore, we have to see Creation and the Fall, and then we get the promise of a Messiah.

As beautiful as the reflections were, my favorite part in this book was actually the sermon for the Feast of Saint Joseph at the end of the book. It is entitled "Guard What Has Been Entrusted to You." In these thirty pages, Bishop Bossuet discusses the three things St. Joseph was entrusted with - 1. the virginity of Mary, 2. the person of his only-begotten Son, and 3. the secret of all his mystery. The "secret of all his mystery" made me scratch my head at first, but it simply means that Joseph knew Jesus was God Incarnate, but since that was not to be revealed until Jesus' hour had come, Joseph had to keep it a secret from the world. Bishop Bossuet does a marvelous job explaining how saintly Joseph was, both as husband and foster father, and whether he meant to or not, he also wrote a sermon that should be an inspiration to all husbands and fathers out there to guard what God has entrusted with us as well, i.e., our wife and children. Excellent sermon and worth the price of the book alone. If you are looking for a beautiful book to carry you through Advent, look no further than Meditations for Advent. After reading Meditations for Advent, I'd recommend turning my attention to Meditations on Mary.

This book was provided to me for free by Sophia Institute Press in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!

Remember Jesus Christ (The Word Among Us Press)

It's almost time for my favorite season of the Church Year...Advent! It's a time to start fresh, a time to make goals/resolutions for the coming year, a time to grow closer to God. For the past couple of years, I have made a book recommendation for the Advent season. Normally, I'll recommend something that provides you with short daily readings for the season to keep your mind and heart focused on the true purpose of preparing for the coming of our Lord. This Advent I decided to try a more difficult book, called Remember Jesus Christ.

I find myself collecting and reading a type of Catholic book I wasn't aware was available until recently. They are books which contain talks/retreats given to the papal household. My logic is that if these priests and their message is good enough for the Pope to hear, then they are good enough for me to read. I own several now, and my most recent one is Remember Jesus Christ by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa. Fr. Cantalamessa was appointed to the papal household in 1980 by Pope John Paul II, and the book Remember Jesus Christ contains meditations that were given in Advent 2005 and Lent 2006 in front of Pope Benedict. It's like getting two books in one!

The book has eight chapter, four for Advent and four for Lent, with the entirety of the book focusing on the question, "What place does Christ have in modern society?" The Advent section's message revolves around the "proclamation of Christ." While the section on Lent has a message of "imitation of Christ, especially Christ in His Passion." Each chapter is broken down into four to six subsections. I recommend using each of these subsections as a daily reflection through Advent and Lent. There aren't enough subsections to get you through every day of either season, but they are interesting and deep enough that you'll want extra days to re-visit deeper parts.

My favorite chapter was Chapter 4: "To You This Day is Born a Savior: How to Proclaim the Salvation of Christ Today." In this chapter, Fr. Cantalamessa discusses what type of savior humanity needs. Though we all need salvation, we all come from different walks of life and therefore need salvation presented to us differently so that we can more easily understand it and accept it. However, the Faith does not just respond to expectations of salvation but creates and expands these expectations as well. He also explains why we still need a savior today and how that Savior is Jesus Christ Himself. Lastly, he discusses how Christ saves us from both space and time. We are saved from space by being freed from living in the vast universe being envious and instead are content with who we are. We are freed from time by Christ defeating death.

This was a very enlightening book that I plan on reading through again at a slower pace during Advent. I will then pick it up again during Lent and visit that section anew as I will have had time to let things marinate in my head. If you are looking for a challenging, but fruitful read for Advent, then I recommend Remember Jesus Christ. I look forward to checking out Fr. Cantalamessa's other two books Contemplating the Trinity and The Fire of Christ's Love.

This book was provided to me for free by The Word Among Us Press in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!

Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing (Franciscan Media)

Welcome back to the Children's Corner here at Stuart's Study. I told myself I was only going to review two products a week, but that's not going to happen this month. I have some season-specific products that I need to review, so for at least the next two weeks I'll be back to 3 posts a week. I received this latest book, Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing, from Catholic Company's reviewer program. Unfortunately, it seems the program has been suspended at the moment, so that's a bit depressing, but hopefully it will be back in the future!

Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing takes places in the month of December in Naples, Italy.  The story centers around a boy named Alessandro who is living with his grandparents temporarily since his parents are away in another country for work. His grandfather has a pretty awesome job (in my opinion). He is a craftsman who makes Nativity figurines. December is an especially busy time for the grandfather both because of his job and because Bambinelli Sunday is quickly approaching. What is Bambinelli Sunday? Bambinelli Sunday occurs on the Third Sunday of Advent, and it involves children bringing their baby Jesus figurines to the Pope (or parish priest) to be blessed before placing them in the manger for Christmas. In this story, Alessandro learns about faith, generosity, love, and the true meaning of Christmas.

This is another wonderful hardcover children's book from Amy Welborn, with beautiful illustrations to boot. The main character, Alessandro, had a very real feel to him. It's easy for Catholic children's authors to portray Catholic children as perfect, angelic beings, but Amy Welborn gives us a character with depth who we see mature and grow in love as the story progresses. She also introduces the tradition of Bambinelli Sunday, which many Americans are unfamiliar with. I spoke with our Director of Religious Education to see if we could get the priests to start doing it in our Church. I recommend you ask your priests as well! I also encourage you to pick up a copy of this book in time to prepare for Bambinelli Sunday with your little ones!

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing. The Catholic Company is the best resource for all your seasonal needs such as First Communion gifts as well as ideas and gifts for the special papal Year of Faith.

The Advent of Christ (Servant Books)

We're quickly approaching my favorite Church Season, Advent. I know I'm unusual, as most people prefer Christmas, but I'm okay with that. Last Friday, I reviewed a wonderful Orthodox book for Advent. Click here in case you missed it. I figured it was only appropriate to review a Catholic book for Advent too, and boy, do I have a good one for you! This book is written by my favorite Catholic author, Dr. Edward Sri, and is entitled The Advent of Christ.

The Advent of Christ is laid out like your standard daily devotional. It spans from the First Sunday of Advent to the Feast of the Epiphany. Each day includes a Scripture reading, a meditation on the Scripture, a reflection question to apply to your daily life, and a closing prayer. The commentary is mostly drawn from one of Dr. Sri's other books, Dawn of the Messiah. If you have never read this book, then you will be in for a treat. Dr. Sri breaks down the story leading up to Jesus' birth into manageable daily bites.

I particularly enjoyed the readings in the First Week of Advent. People always focus solely on Jesus and Mary, and OCCASIONALLY Joseph during Advent, which is very appropriate for the season. However, in focusing on only the Holy Family, one misses out on the story of Zechariah, Elizabeth, and John the Baptist. Apart from just being an interesting story about an aged wife becoming pregnant and a husband who can't speak throughout the whole pregnancy, these people are all key players in Salvation History! It was also interesting to read about Gabriel's appearance in the Old Testament, particularly Daniel 9, compared to Gabriel's appearance to Zechariah.

If all the hustle and bustle in the month leading up to Christmas is making it hard for you to focus on the real reason for the season, then you will want to pick up this book. Each meditation is approximately two pages and takes at most five minutes to read. Surely, we can all give God five minutes a day. In addition to being a short read, it is easily understood and can be read aloud to the whole family. Lastly, the closing questions and prayer put a nice bow on the package and serve a two-fold purpose of preparing us for Christmas and improving our spiritual health. It's a 5-star book that I plan on reading not only this Advent, but future ones as well.

I received this book for free from Franciscan Media in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here, and hit Yes!

Meditations for Advent (Ancient Faith Publishing)

There are a few authors out there who have a special way of writing, a way that touches the reader's heart. They paint a picture with their words and shine new light onto subjects we have been statically observing our whole life. Vassilios Papavassiliou is such a writer. Earlier this year, I had the privilege of reviewing his book Meditations for Great Lent and it deepened my appreciation for the season of Lent. Today, I am again blessed with the opportunity to review one of his books, Meditations for Advent.

In Meditations for Advent, Fr. Papavassiliou begins by distinguishing Catholic Advent from Orthodox "Advent." I put Advent in quotations here because it is a Western term and not widely used in Orthodoxy. The three differences are start date (November 15th for Orthodox vs. 4th Sunday Before Christmas for Catholics), focus (Incarnation/First Coming for Orthodox vs. First and Second Comings of Jesus for Catholics), and the fact that it marks the beginning of the Church Year for Catholics, whereas September 1 is the start date for Orthodox Christians. After Fr. Papavassiliou makes these distinctions, we embark on a four part journey which focuses on Spiritual Preparation, the Scriptures, the Icon of the Nativity, and the Incarnation. The careful reader will notice that Fasting is missing, and that is because it was so thoroughly covered in Meditations for Great Lent that Fr. Papavassiliou didn't want to re-hash the same information in this book.

The first section of the book, Spiritual Preparation, is a quick stroll through the season and important feasts on the calendar. Each chapter in this section is chock full of hymns that will help expand your knowledge and deepen your appreciation of the beauty of Christmas. Section Two, which addresses the Scriptures, references Christological foreshadowing in Old Testament stories such as Jonah and the Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace. We FINALLY arrive at the section I was itching to read, a discussion of the Icon of the Nativity. I would have loved if Fr. Papavassiliou had addressed all aspects of the icon, but instead he focuses on the manger, the animals, and the star. The explanation from St. John Chrysostom on the star was mind-blowing to me and I will never view the star the same way again. The last section deals with Christ as the New Adam and coming into world as the Light that shines in the darkness of the world.

If you are an Orthodox Christian, then this is an essential book for your library. Even if you're not, reading this book will increase your understanding of Advent and, more importantly, increase your appreciation of what Christmas really is about. I would like to close with a quote from the book. "The Feast of the Nativity is a celebration of divine weakness overpowering human strength, of good conquering evil, of the light of divine knowledge dispelling the darkness of ignorance. This is not just a cause for an annual celebration, but is the strength of our Christian faith and the joy of divine Light which the darkness of evil can never extinguish."

I received this book for free from Ancient Faith Publishing in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click the link and hit Yes!