52 in 25: #52 - Finishing the Year

To finish off the year, I have two books I’m basically finished with, or at least will be by the end of the year.

The first is something that has been part of my daily holy hour for the year: A Year with the Mystics, compiled by Kathyrn Jean Lopez.  This is basically 365 days worth of reflections from various saints with a prompt for further consideration and a closing prayer.  On the one hand, there are some really good reflections in here.  On the other hand, it was frustrating at points because, by the author’s words, this was not necessarily meant to be read starting on January 1, so it’s kind of random where reflections fell.  It really took me out of it when, for instance, there was something about Christmas in the middle of Lent.  Very mixed bag for me.

 

The other is The Life of St. Francis of Assisi by Saint Bonaventure.  This the TAN Classics reprint of a translation from 1867.  Certainly, this is a classic.  I do have some struggles with it.  The first is that it is not a chronological biography, but rather a thematic reflection on his life.  The second is (and this is somewhat common for some saint biographies) he is presented as so perfect that it can become frustratingly impossible to relate with him.  This is a similar reason why I stopped reading the classic biography of St. John Vianney.  Another difficult is just the language.  I’m not sure if this is due to the original by Bonaventure, or the translation from the 19^th century.  These are long (long) paragraphs with sentences composed in ways that would never be done today.  Sometimes it makes it difficult to follow.  Again, I don’t know if that’s an artifact from the original or a (now) old translation.  That being said, it does not get more classic than this.

 

So, there you have it.  At least 52 books in 2025.  Would I do this again?  Probably not.  It did push me to read more, which was the objective.  It also encouraged me to read more classics that I have been wanting to get to.  That being said, it also discouraged me from reading certain books because I knew that I could not finish them in a timely manner.  My year experiment is done, but I may revisit this.  Perhaps a monthly update and some things I have read?

52 in 25: #51 - Love Does Such Things

There is a tradition in Advent to prepare for Christmas started by my parents years ago, and now I continue it on.  Every year, I read this beautiful little book called Love Does Such Things by Reverand Mary Raymond, O.C.S.O, published in Milwaukee in 1955.  It is a real treasure, and a book I highly recommend picking up if you can find it.

 

Fr. Raymond walks through the Christmas story, from the Annunciation through the return to Nazareth after Egypt.  Each chapter represents a different letter, to spell out the ultimate word of Christmas: “SAVIOUR.”  So the chapters are: Shepherds and Sheep, Angels, a Virgin, Nativity and Name (J=I), Offerings, Urgency, and Return and Retirement.  In the end, he sums it all up that God does all of this for you, for whom Love Does Such Things.

 

I love this book.  Each time I read it, something else jumps out at me.  I can’t tell you how many times little tidbits have made their way into my homilies during the Christmas season.  It also has beautiful paintings recreated in it.  I think it would be awesome if someone like TAN reprinted it to make it more available, because right now the only way to get it is to find it second hand (apparently there was a recent reprint, but it also is not available and it looks like it’s missing the original images).  Again, if you can, get a copy and enjoy it for years.

52 in 25: #35 - Spiritual Works

Next I am combining two shorter works for one, part of my recent spiritual reading.

First is On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius.  St. Athanasius is one of the great Eastern Church Fathers who died in 373.  This is, as you might expect, an argument for the reality that God became man in Jesus Christ.  He includes a brief summary of creation and the fall, the need for salvation, and the saving, loving act of God to come and die for us.  He also makes arguments specifically for Jews and Gentiles.  While some of these arguments may be “dated,” as in refuting ancient gods that no longer have any baring, the overall sentiment is timeless.  Christians, in particulars Catholics, need to keep going back to the Church Fathers to bolster our faith.

The second was Matthew Manint’s With Glory and Honor You Crowned Them: The Female Martyrs of the Roman Canon.  As a priest who uses the Roman Canon often, I wanted to read up a little more on those saints who are named, especially those I am less knowledgeable about.  And, quite frankly, sometimes the virgin martyrs run together.  This is much more modern, published in 2019, but I like how the author highlights different aspects of the saints so that they stand out.  It’s concise, but there’s enough there to gain a better devotion to these inspirational women.

Two short works, similar in that they reach back to the early Church, and both can help enliven our faith.  It is important for us to read as much about the saints as possible, for inspiration and for a greater love for God.

52 in 25: #3 - Into Your Hands, Father

 

For spiritual reading, a friend recently gave me the book Into Your Hands, Father: Abandoning Ourselves to the God Who Loves Us by Fr. Wilfrid Stinissen.  I have been slowly working through this during my Holy Hour, and it is beautiful.  It was published by Ignatius Press in 2011, but originally published in Swedish in 1986.

 

The purpose of the book is to help the reader to get to a place of complete abandonment to God’s Will.  As such, it is broken up into three sections: “Accepting God’s Will,” “Obeying God’s Will,” and “Being God’s Instrument.”  Essentially, the first part is understanding that God has a perfect Will for you, that He loves you, and it has a great meditation on surrendering your past and your memories.  The second part is becoming an active agent of God’s Will, seeing how it effects every aspect of our lives and discerning it everywhere and every time.  Finally, and he acknowledges that not everyone can get here, is to complete surrender to God; rather than actively discerning His Will, it is getting out of the way and allowing God to work through you.

 

It is a great little book (only 105 pages).  It’s well worth a read, and I’ve already recommended it to a few people.  Anything we can do to grow closer to God and allow Him to work more effectively is always a positive.