Writers and readers will flock together, given the chance. I’ve enjoyed two recent events featuring good books by authors whose work makes my shelves fuller and my horizons broader.
“Evangeline”
This year’s Catholic Literature Conference in New Hampshire (presented annually by the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, NH) featured a presentation on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Evangeline. Based on the 18th-century expulsion by the British of the French-descended Acadians from what is now Atlantic Canada, it’s a haunting and poignant tale of a woman’s lifelong search for her beloved, a man from whom she was suddenly separated by deportation.
I read only a small portion of the poem many years ago. Professor Joseph Pearce’s lecture and reading at the conference brought the story back to life for me. Fortunately, included in my conference packet was a splendid gift: a new edition of Evangeline, published by the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton (ACS Books). Introductory essays by Pearce and Christopher Check place the poem in historical and literary context. Evangeline is presented in a fresh and inviting way in this beautiful little volume. I’m rediscovering an underappreciated classic.
“Pray With Us: a Saint for Every Day”
I caught up with Belinda Terro Mooney at the recent Catholic Writers Guild conference in Chicago. Her latest book is Pray With Us: a Saint for Every Day (published by Our Sunday Visitor). More than another lives-of-the-saints, it’s a calendar-based guide for daily prayer. There’s a page for each day of the year, with a brief biography of a saint or background of a feast day. Each biography is followed with a prayer that refers to the particular ministry or charism of the saint (or Blessed).
This is a convenient volume to keep on hand in the home, but it would also be a good addition to a parish or school library. Belinda writes as a guide, making introductions between readers and their brothers and sisters in faith who have gone before them. Her book is suitable for reading aloud with the family, for personal prayer and study, and for sharing with anyone who wants to learn more about Christian living.
This post is part of the Open Book linkup led by Carolyn Astfalk at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com.
Ellen Kolb 