Mother Mary Salome first wrote The Feasts of Mother Church in 1904, a volume of meditations upon many of the great feasts of the Liturgical Year. In 1913 she returned to the subject for a younger audience with Saints and Festivals: A Cycle of the Year for Young People.
Beginning with the New Year and Epiphany and continuing through Lent, Eastertide, Corpus Christi, Advent and Christmas, Mother Salome leads children through the year in the company of the saints. Alongside such beloved figures as St. Joseph, St. Anthony, St. Francis and St. Francis Xavier, they meet a wonderfully varied company of lesser-known heroes: St. Chad, St. Serapion, St. John the Dwarf, St. Hilda of Whitby—even St. John Cantius finds a home in these pages.
But these saints are never merely names and dates. A gifted storyteller, Mother Salome makes them into real men, women and children whose adventures capture the imagination, and whose virtues invite imitation. The feasts themselves likewise become occasions for children to enter more deeply into the life of the Church, discovering what each mystery or story can mean in their own lives.
Imaginatively illustrated throughout by Gabriel Pippet, Saints and Festivals gives children something new to discover as the Church's year unfolds—and surrounds them with what the original preface charmingly calls the exploits of “God's chivalry.”
5.5" x 8.5" paperback 264 pages
Q. Does this book cover every feast of the Liturgical Year?
A. No. Rather than providing an exhaustive calendar of feast days, Mother Mary Salome selects feasts, saints, and seasonal themes from throughout the year, weaving them into stories and reflections especially suited to young people. The result is a book to accompany children through the Church's year rather than a comprehensive reference book.
