The Catholic Home: Celebrations and Traditions for Holidays, Feast Days, and Every Day Paperback – September 19, 2006

What a treasure "The Catholic Home" is! I'm a devout Catholic, and my children are 1 and 2. I've always wanted to make sure my children grew up focussed more on Christ than the secular world, and this book is perfect for implementing faith-filled traditions and activities into our life. The only thing I have a hard time wrapping my mind around is not putting up a Christmas tree (or all-out decorating) until Christmas Eve. December is my favorite month, because for me it's filled with joyful anticipation of our Lord's birth, the first snowfall, andhappy memories. For me, decorating early in December adds to that anticipation. But I am also looking forward to using some "new" ideas to make our own traditions--the Jesse Tree, for example. There is so much more to this book than Christmas, though....lovely ideas for commemorating holy days, Lent & Easter, and celebrating God's love every day of the year. I can't give enough praise for this wonderful resource--I've recommended it to all of my friends, and I can't wait to start implementing some of these ideas!

I am a convert and was baptized this last Easter. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I found this book at my library and wanted to reference it so much I decided to buy it. Since I was not raised in a practicing Catholic family (except Christmas and Easter), I loved how comprehensive this book is. Starting my own family, I wanted to incorporate new traditions that would make Catholicism part of our lives outside of the church. I've integrated simple ideas like a prayer alter, advent wreath, and Jesse tree, that helps make the seasons come alive in our home. I also love how she gives ideas from different cultures, which is also a fun way to get in touch with your ancestral traditions.The author writes in a very easy to read, approachable format. Her humor and good nature are evident and make this an enjoyable book to read. Its physically a short and small book, making it easy to travel. Great book.

I think this book would make a wonderful gift for someone who is either new to Catholicism, say entering RCIA or returning to the Church after many years absence, or for someone who is just easing into the celebration of seasonal rituals for the home, for the first time, and who does not want to be overwhelmed.It might help to point out that this is a book which makes some pretty basic distinctions: that Catholics pray with the saints in icons, not to the saints in icons. It explains the Jesse Tree for Christmas, but strangely, has little information on the Advent wreath (though, to be fair, the author suggests that you can find lots of information, including the daily readings, online). It includes a few paragraphs on keeping a prayer journal, lists the station of the cross for Lent and explains the Rosary in a fairly minimal and introductory fashion.The whole book runs to roughly 200 pages, not including appendices, but including non-seasonal information, daily devotions and honoring the sacraments, so that each seasonal celebration merits just a few pages. Today's solemnity, Mary, Mother of God, runs to a page and a half, a third of which is taken up by the entry heading. As the saying goes, this is not a fount of information that would drown an elephant, though it is a good, resourceful introduction for those individuals who are just beginning a deepening personal, sacramental life in the Church.I, personally, would have loved to have discovered, in this book, more information on all the seasons: crafts for adults and children; information on home altars not just in the back of the book, but within every seasonal entry; more historical information, prayers and novenas and lots and lots of pictures! The Roman Catholic Church has been around for 2,000 years and Holy Mother Church's intense emotional and spiritual impact on art, culture and the home have produced profound artifacts of tradition, lore and devotion. This book barely skims the top of such an immense wealth.Sadly, I have yet to find such a book. For those who are searching for such a tome, a good resource can be with fisheaters: fisheaters.com/beingcatholic.html as well as within Flickr, by searching for catholic altars, etc.

A lot of nice ideas for seasons and feast days, with straightforward writing.

I read this book, or parts of it, multiple times a year. It’s my favorite book on the subject of the liturgical year/domestic church, mainly because of the author’s voice. She has a dry sense of humor that comes through and she thoroughly dives into the church year systematically in an engaging and intelligent way. It’s chock-full of wisdom. Its cover and layout are also aesthetically pleasing, which some people may not care about, but I do.

This is a charming book. Easy to read and full of great info on Catholic traditions. We're a young family so it's really exciting to be able to start our own traditions and prepare our Catholic home. It's ideal for newlyweds or as a confirmation present. Most importantly this book has an imprimatur- which is something i've been burned on before when searching for "Catholic" reading.

I really like how this goes from the beginning of the Christian year - Advent and goes throughout all of the Holy Days and celebrations. It is nice to be able to jump in where in the year we are, and plan ahead.