Meditations on Mary (Sophia Institute Press)

If it feels like you went to Mass a lot these past two weeks, you're not alone. Christmas was on a Friday and then Sunday Mass. January 1 was a holy day of obligation (Mary, Mother of God), and then Sunday Mass again. Four times in two weeks may seem like a lot to non-daily Mass goers like myself, but it was a good way to end and start the new year. Ash Wednesday and Lent are a little over a month away, so what are you going to be reading until it gets here? Allow me to recommend to you Meditations on Mary.

Meditations on Mary is a 150 page book by Bishop Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, author of Meditations for Advent and Meditations for Lent. The first meditation in this book is appropriately entitled "The True Eve." I say appropriately, because the Bible begins with Adam and Eve. In this opening meditation, Bossuet quotes several Church Fathers who compare Eve and Mary. "St. Irenaeus: 'Condemned to death by a virgin, the human race was saved by a Virgin.' Tertullian: ' What was led astray into perdition by this sex was restored to salvation by this sex.' And the incomparable Augustine: 'By a woman, death; by a woman, life. By Eve, ruin; By Mary, salvation.' " Bossuet is quick to point out that Mary's honor does not put her on equal ground with God, but instead she played an important role in salvation history.

In other meditations, we get different glimpses of Mary. For example, in one meditation we see that Jesus created Mary for Himself. Jesus is responsible for all of Creation, and He created other people to teach us and instruct us, but Mary was made for Him and she was made pure and innocent because of His love for her. In the meditation "Pierced by a Sword," we learn of Mary's deep sorrow she experienced at Jesus' death. Bossuet poetically explains that, "Only one Cross was required for both her beloved son and herself." This is not to diminish what Christ experienced on the Cross, but to explain the depth of love that a mother feels for her son, that Mary felt for Jesus. As a father, I know what it is to love a child, but I believe there is a special love between mothers and their children.

There are twenty-four meditations in all, each around five pages or less. This makes this book the perfect companion for that short span of Ordinary Time between Christmas and Lent. The meditations are poignant and beautiful and serve as a good introduction to the many facets of Mary's life. After reading through this work, you might want to read other great books on Mary, including Behold Your Mother, Little Book of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or Meet Mary. All are great books that will surely not disappoint!

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!

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!

Meditations for Lent (Sophia Institute Press)

When it comes to Church seasons, Lent is my 2nd least favorite season of the year, with Ordinary Time being the first. Sadly, there is no rhyme or reason for my dislike. Sometimes, I feel like I try and give up too much. Other times, I feel like I don't give up enough. Sometimes, I feel like the season is dragging on forever. Other times, I can't believe how quickly Easter approaches. I'm going to try and do better this Lent though and not dislike it so much. In order to do that though, I'll need to get my thoughts right. One of the best ways for me to do that is through reading. So this Lent, I'll be reading Meditations for Lent.

Meditations for Lent by Bishop Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet is the companion book to Meditations for Advent. I was not familiar with this author's name, so I did some research and found out that he was a French bishop who lived from 1627 to 1704. He was known for his sermons, and some say that he was a better orator than St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom. Reading that statement blew my mind. These are two of the most well-known and influential saints of Western and Eastern Christendom, respectively, and some people think he was a better orator than him. WOW!

In this book, you will find a daily meditation starting with Ash Wednesday and ending with Easter. At the end of the book, you will also find two extra meditations, one for the Solemnity of the Annunciation and one for the Solemnity of St. Joseph. I appreciate that as these are two very important Feast Days in the Church, which should be Holy Days of Obligation. I admit that I did not read every meditation in this book before writing this review. I didn't want to rush through the meditations, and I also wanted them to be fresh for Lent this year. The ones I did read though were very thought-provoking, and it made me anxious for Lent to start so I could read them all.

I would like to provide you with a sample from one day, so you can see how great these meditations are. Here is a quote from Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent, which won't be read this year as St. Joseph's Solemnity has a higher rank in feast day hierarchy. Referring to James and John's mother asking for her sons to sit next to Jesus in Heaven, Jesus rebukes them and says, "Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?" Bishop Bossuet elaborates, "You speak of glory, and you are not thinking about what must be suffered to gain it. Then he explains these sufferings to them by two metaphors, by that of the bitter cup that must be drunk and by the bloody baptism that must be accepted. To swallow every sort of bitterness, to be suffering to the point of having one's body submerged, as in baptism: this is the price of glory." This really made me stop, think, and reflect on my spiritual life. How willing am I to suffer?

For other thought-provoking meditations like this, you must pick up Meditations for Lent. It will definitely help provide you with a deeper and more-fruitful Lenten season. I can't wait to finish the whole book! 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 the link and hit Yes!