Lots and Lots of Books for the Feast of St. Francis

In honor of her birthday, which happens to fall on the Feast of St. Francis, I invited Karoline to read and review a new book Amy Welborn sent to our house. We have an extensive St. Francis library, linked below Karoline's review. This new book is a breath of fresh air. I think you might want to add it to your book basket before the feast on October 4th. But don't just take my word for it; Karoline (who will turn 9 on the big day), chimes in with some persuasive enthusiasm.

“This book just is AMAZING!
It just so happens that the feast of St. Francis is my birthday: October 4th ! Since St. Francis’ feast is my birthday, reading this book when it came in the mail this week was very interesting to me. But it doesn’t have to be your birthday to be interesting for you. Now I’m going to tell you a little bit about the book, but the rest you’ll have to find out on your own.

It’s about two cousins who are named Gianna and Lorenzo and their great uncle , Brother Antonio. Lorenzo and Gianna are not happy because their parents dropped them off early that morning so that they could go visit a winery. This book feels like a true story, because I’ve been left home before so my parents can visit a winery. Brother Antonio tells them about a game where they walk in Assissi and they go where St.Francis did stuff. He asks them what Francis did there. They earn points for getting the answer right. It’s a trivia game, but they walked around. I can’t give away the ending and tell you who wins the contest.

The cousins learn lessons in the book about St. Francis and his kindness and they become friends and learn about kindness and forgiveness. You have to read the book to find out any more.

I like the way my mom’s friend, Amy Welborn, wrote a biography of St. Francis at the end, so that we could get the rest of the story that we didn’t find out in the trivia game.

The illustrations are very nice. They show a lot of details and that’s good because a lot of books leave the corners of pages white and waste space that could have art. I like all the colors that the artist used to show the countryside in Italy.

That’s all I can say without telling you too much. You should buy this book.
”

— Karoline Rose Foss

What follows is a kindness of longtime reader, Chris Scarlett, who generously shares her annotated list of picture books just in time to prepare for the Feast of St. Francis. A few of these are out of print, but please don't be discouraged. They are readily available at the library (St. Francis seems more welcome there than other saints) or used for purchase on Amazon for as little as a penny! Our family has read most of these (though I admit to adding a few new-to-us ones to our library this week), and I heartily concur with Chris' notes.

Many, many thanks to Chris:-)

The feast of St. Francis of Assisi, October 4th, will be here soon. We happen to own and have used about a week's worth of resources, but we have also borrowed some gems from the library in the past. So, I decided to check them out again, and in the process went down a rabbit trail of obtaining and reading a whole bunch of others. Many non-Catholics and other people of good will seem to relate to this holy and creation-loving saint. I am only listing the ones that seem to me to be worth your time; I returned some that just didn't seem serious enough, while retaining a selection that will work across an age span of children.

Each category is arranged from simplest to more complex. 

I strongly recommend reading any authors' notes first to see where they are coming from before sharing these with your family.

* means it is in Chris' personal library

Emphasis on Life of St. Francis:

++ The Good Man of Assisi by Mary Joslin, illustrations by Alison Wisenfeld* (a good place to start)

++  Brother Francis and the Friendly Beasts by Margaret Hodges, pictures by Ted Lewin* (two important people in children's lit)

++  Saint Francis by Brian Wildsmith* (stunning art style)

++  Song of St. Francis by Clyde Robert Bulla, illustrated by Valenti Angelo (retro with very few pictures, more of an early reader)

++  Francis, The Poor Man of Assisi by Tomie dePaola (well-researched, of course)

++  Saint Francis of Assisi by Joyce Denham, illustrated by Elena Temporin (whimsical style, includes a good sampling of episodes)

++  Brother Sun, Sister Moon, The Life and Stories of St. Francis by Margaret Mayoh, illustrated by Peter Malone (lovely biography plus legendary tales)

++  Saint Francis of Assisi, A Life of Joy by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (RFK's adult son), illustrated by Dennis Nolan (contemporary art style)

++  St. Francis by Pelagie Doane* (1960 vintage Catholic, will be harder to locate)

++ Saint Francis Sings To Brother Sun, A Celebration of His Kinship With Nature selected and retold by Karen Pandell, illustrated by Bijou Le Tord ( a lot of material, quirky artwork)

Emphasis on St. Francis' Relationship With Animals (in which you will find a blend of history and legend):

++  Brother Wolf of Gubbio, A Legend of Saint Francis by Colony Elliott Santangelo (inks and colored pencils on bass wood)

++  Saint Francis and the Wolf by Jane Langton, illustrated by Ilse Plume (simple, sweet)

++  Saint Francis and the Animals by Leo Politi (1959 classic)

++  Francis Woke Up Early by Josephine Nobisso, illuminations by Maureen Hyde (fairy tale qualities, but by a beloved Catholic author, numerous awards)

Emphasis on the First Live Nativity Scene (great for Advent)

++  Saint Francis Celebrates Christmas retold by Mary Caswell Walsh, illustrated by Helen Caswell (brief)

++  A Gift From St. Francis, The First Creche by Joanna Cole, illustrated by Michele Lemieux* (our family's favorite in this category, we say, "pazzo, pazzo" when someone is doing something crazy)

++  The Living Nativity, The Story of Saint Francis and the Christmas Manger by David and Helen Haidle (more fictional, includes lesson-extending ideas in the back)

Three Inspired by St. Francis' "Canticle of the Sun":

(your youngest will love these, all are GORGEOUS, would make great gift books)

++ The Circle of Days by Reeve Lindbergh, illustrated by Cathie Felsted* (collage)

++  Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Saint Francis of Assisi's Canticle of the Creatures reimagined by Katherine Paterson, illustrated by Pamela Dalton (amazing scissor cuttings)

++ Be Blest, A Celebration of Seasons by Mary Beth Owens* (12 months, 12 wreaths, 12 poems)

Two That Include His Friend, St. Clare of Assisi:

++ . Clare and Francis by Guido Visconti, illustrated by Bimba Landmann

++  Francis and Clare, Saints of Assisi by Helen Walker Homan, illustrations by John Lawn (190 page Vision chapter book for a read aloud, or for older readers) 

Mom at Home: You are Enough

“Is it not enough,” she asked me earnestly, “to be a woman at home, caring for a family? Everyone around me has a job that enables her to contribute to her family financially. Even within the church, I’m bombarded every day with clarion calls to do more, to give more. And here I am doing my best to feed and clothe and care for these five children, reserving just enough energy for the end of the day and the man that I married. I feel like both the secular world and the faith community are saying it is not nearly enough. ” 

I have an idea. In honor of the World Meeting on Families, let’s stop for a moment and consider the woman at home. Let’s see her, far from Philadelphia, and let’s cup her face in our hands and tell her, “Yes, you are enough.”

You, sweet mama, who can barely hold your head up for the nausea as you valiantly try to play with your toddler and you wonder how in the world your heart will hold two. You are enough. As your belly swells, so too, will your capacity to love. You suspect it never again will be the same. And you’re right. All of you will grow and you will be enough. 

You, in the carpool pickup lane — you hope you don’t have to get out of the car for some reason because you dashed out of the house without your shoes on. You need to get home and supervise homework and listen with your full attention to hear what’s really at the heart of the playground scuffle. You’ll have to do something with the only-half-thawed hamburger, something that will stretch it to fill all these rumbling bellies. 

You, throwing that last load of laundry in the dryer before climbing the stairs and at last relaxing into the arms of your husband — you will notice the crease between his brows. You will reach up to rub it away, and you will ask why it’s there. You will absorb his news and try to ease the ache from his shoulders and from his soul. You will be the soft place to land. 

You will remember the orthodontist, and you will hear bedtime prayers. You will sign permission slips, clean out the refrigerator and gather hair into ponytails to tie with bows. You will make a house into a home. 

And you will make a home into a domestic church.

You will change the world.

You think that in all this talk about family and marriage in the church, you have been forgotten. You have not. 

Your role is essential. The quiet work at home learning to do those things which nurture a family physically, and so minister to your dear ones spiritually, is work done for the glory of God. 

At the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, Pope John Paul II said: 

“No response to women’s issues can ignore women’s role in the family or take lightly the fact that every new life is totally entrusted to the protection and care of the woman carrying it in her womb, (Cf. “Evangelium Vitae,” No. 58). In order to respect this natural order of things, it is necessary to counter the misconception that the role of motherhood is oppressive to women and that a commitment to her family, particularly to her children, prevents a woman from reaching personal fulfillment, and women as a whole from having an influence in society. It is a disservice not only to children, but also to women and society itself, when a woman is made to feel guilty for wanting to remain in the home and nurture and care for her children. A mother’s presence in the family, so critical to the stability and growth of that basic unity of society, should instead be recognized, applauded and supported in every possible way. By the same token, society needs to call husbands and fathers to their family responsibilities and ought to strive for a situation in which they will not be forced by economic circumstances to move away from the home in search of work.”

Your presence, so critical to the stability and growth of your family, is critical to the stability and growth of our culture, of our world. You have been entrusted with shoring up the most basic unit of society. On your shoulders does its foundation rest. Step into that role with your head held high.

Shoes are optional.

On Missing Out on WMOF

It’s happening. All around me, The buzz is about the family. First, there will be the World Meeting of Families. Quickly following, there will be the Extraordinary Synod on the Family.

The world of Catholic media (and even Catholic Facebook, which isn’t really Catholic media, is it?) is nearly frenetic in its activity. People are moving to and fro, jockeying for position and trying to make sense of news as every picture and quote becomes available.

I can’t even. I just can’t.

I’m taking a different approach to the whole thing. I have a family. It’s rather large. Right now, it’s rather needy. I’m the mom in that family and it’s my vocation to meet their needs. I can’t keep up with the swirl around every new “story.”  Indeed, I find they distract me from the task at hand: raising a family.

So, in honor of the World Meeting of Families, I’m stepping away from Facebook and Twitter. Instead, I’m curling up with some well-worn little books in my home. I’m going to hold in my hands some wisdom of the ages. Honestly, I’m going to look to St. John Paul for some reassurance and some gentle encouragement in this daunting task of raising a family in 2015.

Maybe you’re home, too. Maybe the grand expanse of a world meeting of families seems overwhelming and –honestly—a little ridiculous from where you stand there in your pjs throwing in your first load of laundry.

Let’s read together. Here’s some gentle, but powerful, encouragement for your ordinary day, doing ordinary things for the glory of God.  There’s so much glory in this life at home. Here are  thoughts to get you praying as you sweep and rock and scrub and nurse. I’ll be back tomorrow with another hug.

By means of the sacrament of marriage, in which it is rooted and from which it draws its nourishment, the Christian family is continuously vivified by the Lord Jesus and called and engaged by Him in a dialogue with God through the sacraments, through the offering of one’s life and through prayer. In this priestly role, the Christian family is called to be sanctified and to sanctify the ecclesial community and the world (FC 55).

In affirming that the spouses, as parents, cooperate with God the Creator in conceiving and giving birth to a new human being, we are not speaking merely with reference to the laws of biology. Instead, we wish to emphasize that God himself is present in human fatherhood and motherhood quite differently than he is present in all other instances of begetting ‘on earth.’ Indeed, God alone is the source of that ‘image and likeness’ which is proper to the human being, as it was received at Creation. Begetting is the continuation of Creation. (Evangelium Vitae 43; citing Letter to Families, 9).

"By virtue of their ministry of educating, parents are through the witness of their lives the first heralds of the gospel for their children. Furthermore, by praying with their children, by reading the word of God with them and by introducing them...into the Body of Christ—both the Eucharistic and the ecclesial body—they become fully parents, in that they are begetters not only of bodily life, but also of the life that through the Spirit's renewal flows from the cross and resurrection of Christ" (Familiaris Consortio, #39).

“Family prayer has its own characteristic qualities. It is prayer offered in common, husband and wife together, parents and children together…by reason of their dignity and mission, Christian parents have the specific responsibility of educating their children in prayer, introducing them to gradual discovery of the mystery of God and to personal dialogue with Him…”(Familiaris Consortio #59-60).

“The Christian family is called upon like the large-scale Church, to be a sign of unity for the world and in this way exercise its prophetic role by bearing witness to the Kingdom and peace of Christ, towards which the whole world is journeying” (FC 48).

Human beings are not the same thing as the images proposed in advertising and shown by the modern mass media. They are much more, in their physical and psychic unity, as composites of soul and body, as persons. They are much more because of their vocation to love, which introduces them as male and female into the realm of the “great mystery” (LF 20).

“Christ entrusted man to the Church; he entrusted man to her as the way of her mission and ministry. Of all the many paths that man walks, the family is the first and most important. It is a common path to all, yet one which is particular, unique and unrepeatable just like every individual is unrepeatable” (cf. LF 2).

Live at the witching hour

It's long been called the witching hour--that space of time between afternoon naps and a meal on the table. I threw all caution to the wind a couple weeks ago and decided to broadcast live from my kitchen on Periscope for just a few minutes of the witching hour. Nearly every day.

Last summer was a tough one. And when I contemplated all the things I wanted to change or do or hope or pray (because I'm off the chart INFJ), I mostly just wanted to reclaim dinner. I wanted wholesome, thoughtful meals. I wanted everyone in his seat at the table. (They always sit in the same place and it matters to me.) I wanted conversation and laughter and us. Really, I mostly wanted us. 

So I read Dinner: A Love Story and Dinner: The Playbook: A 30-Day plan for Mastering the Art of the Family Meal for inspiration. And I was inspired. I was inspired by the enthusiasm the author has for family meals. I was inspired by her candor when she acknowledges how evasive those dinnertimes can be. And, really, I was inspired by her recipes, even though I consider myself a pretty accomplished family cook. 

I promised my family we'd eat a home cooked meal every night in September. then, I went all crazy and promised an unknown number of people that I'd pop into Periscope while cooking said dinner every day and let you know what we were up to. Further, I'd do with my kids on camera, since they were critical to dinner prep. I'm totally shy. I have no idea why I thought this was a good idea.

But it's been fun. We've had dinner at the table every night that we've been in town. And i've been on periscope several of those nights. I haven't even tried to 'scope with weekend nights and a couple of weeknights, it was either cook dinner and eat or periscope about it. But I couldn't swing both. Usually people Periscope selfie-style. But since I'm cooking on mine, I need a video guy. And he has a life, too, so, sometimes it just didn't happen. 

But mostly it did. And we'll continue at least through Setpember. You can find me on Periscope @elizabethfoss. I'll try to get better about tweeting and posting to Facebook when I know what time we'll be live. I've learned it is ridiculous to commit to a set time every day, because life just happens. But I will try harder to give some advance notice. I'm also going to work on a way to be more interactive. With Nick behind the camera, I'm not responding to questions and comments as much as I'd like. We're working on that. 

If you missed some of the earlier ones, you can catch all but the first few at Katch.me/elizabethfoss . Live ones stay live on Periscope for 24 hours.

As promised, here are notes for the ones that are archived. If you haven't watched any of them yet, I'd actually start with this one.

Watch: Marinara Sauce and Memories

Marinara recipe is in Dinner: The Playbook: A 30-Day plan for Mastering the Art of the Family Meal. (page 64)

My Aunt Lisette's recipe is:

Saute 7-10 cloves of fresh garlic in Extra Virgin Olive Oil until not quite golden. (It's important never to brown the garlic.) Add two cans of imported whole tomatoes or preferably fresh peeled tomatoes (a must in the summer when they are abundant). Just mash them slightly with a fork as this sauce should be chunky. Add seasoning: salt, pepper, and of course lots of fresh chopped basil. Simmer uncovered for only 25 minutes. 

**~**

Watch Little Ones at the Table

Baked Potato Bar Dinner: The Playbook: A 30-Day plan for Mastering the Art of the Family Meal. (page 92)

Minestrone Soup is here on the Dinner: A Love Story blog.

**~**

Watch Grace in the Kitchen

Chicken with Artichokes in Creamy Mustard Sauce Dinner: The Playbook: A 30-Day plan for Mastering the Art of the Family Meal. (pg 90)

Brussels Sprouts in Maple Mustard Sauce (essentially, pour melted butter, maple syrup, and Dijon mustard over trimmed Brussels sprouts and roast them in the oven. My kids seriously eat these like candy.)

**~**

Grace at the Stove

Kale, Sausage, and White Bean Stew from   Dinner: A Love Story (page 250)

**~**

Watch: Dinner Flexibility

Fish Nuggets and Kale here on the Dinner: A Love Story blog

**~**

Watch: Chatting up Dinner

Sweet and Spicy Tofu from Dinner: The Playbook: A 30-Day plan for Mastering the Art of the Family Meal. (pg 198)

Spicy Green Beans: Finely chop 4 cloves of garlic. Trim your fresh green beans (about a pound for 4 cloves garlic). Put some oil in your wok. Turn on the vent. Cook the green beans until some of them are blackened. Add a little sprinkle of chili pepper flakes and the garlic and just heat the garlic until it's soft. Sprinkle with salt to taste. 

On Loneliness and Milkshakes

There is the faintest hint of crispness in the dawn these days, just a little teaser that alludes to autumn’s approach. The seasons are shifting. A previously quick early-morning grocery run took 45 minutes transit time one way yesterday. Back-to-school traffic is a real thing, friends. 

September is a season of gathering. Everywhere we go, it seems we are gathering in groups: in classrooms, on sidelines, in newly formed committees, on crowded planes and subway cars, on Braddock Road at 7:40 a.m. We are always together. And we are increasingly alone. 

Last night, I read the text from a sweet teenaged girl barely into her first week of school: I just feel left out and lonely. My daughter — several years older than the message sender — got up, grabbed her keys and told me she was off to deliver a milkshake. On her way out, she paused a moment and glanced back at me over her shoulder.

“I don’t know why we all think we are the only ones who are lonely,” she said. “Actually, I think we’re all lonely.” 

She’s right. We are.

The go-to cure for loneliness in 2015 is to log-on. Flip open a laptop. Click open a smartphone app. There you go; you’re now surrounded by oh-so-many people. And many, many times they will make you lonelier still. As we scroll through everyone’s edited versions of themselves, it seems like all those faces are close to other faces. They have to be. They huddle together to fit in the frame and freeze the moment for publication, thereby ensuring a perfectly preserved testimony to togetherness. 

Social media can make it seem like everyone has lots of friends and they are all doing spectacularly fabulous things together all the time. The illusion is achingly close to being real, and then it’s not real at all. Those events are happening and there are connections in those moments, but all is not as it seems. 

Away from the moment — away from the filters and the framing — people are lonely. Even in the midst of the crowds of people drinking lattes on stadium seats on Saturday afternoons and gathering on bus stop corners on Monday mornings, we are each in our own bubbles, yearning for connection. Increasingly, studies show that the more time we spend online, the more likely we are to use social media to displace sleep, exercise and face-to-face exchanges, leaving us vulnerable to loneliness, a sense of isolation and true depression. 

If we are going to cure the loneliness epidemic, we have to reach into the personal spaces of the people we care about and offer something better that what the screen holds. Together, we have to engage in authentic opportunities for relationship. Together, we have to commit to face-to-face (or at least voiced and heard) conversations.

Relationships require risk. They ask us to put down the mask and to step out, unfiltered, into the presence of another person. More than hashtags, we are a people who yearn for authentic, honest conversation.

To move beyond loneliness, we need to be the person who sees the need for the real, genuine presence of warmth in the lives of people around us and decides to be that friend. We need to be the girl who shows up with a milkshake in real life at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday night and says, “You feel that way? Me, too.”