Christmas with the Holy Fathers [Hardcover]

Peter Celano (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2008

Spend this Christmas in the good company of the Holy Fathers - the Popes through the Ages “I am an old Christmas person and cannot imagine a more spiritual and impressive way than spending the Christmas season with the popes. This is a marvelous book to give anyone who has a real sense of the Church and of the significance of the teachings of the bishops of Rome. I highly recommend it.” —Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R. Author & TV host on EWTN There is nothing more beautiful than the Christmas season as it is celebrated at St. Peter’s Basilica and throughout Vatican City. The dark nights, glowing candles, incense and music infuse the season with the spirit of God. This book will help you mark the events of the season. Guided by the Holy Fathers, you will hear the meaning of Advent, honor the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, adore with the shepherds on Christmas Eve, experience the morning of the Nativity itself, listen to a call to holiness on Christmas Night, understand the mystery of suffering on St. Stephen’s Day, crown the Virgin as the Mother of God, and with the Magi, worship the Christ Child. Compiled by Peter Celano, with a Foreward by Thomas Howard. “The yearly return of Advent offers to us a sequence of days in which we may turn our thoughts to a particularly rich series of events touching on the drama of our Redemption. Each event discloses a mystery, since in each case we find that what is played out on the stage of our own history reaches through the scrim that veils eternity from time, and presents to us mortals, in effect, the Love of God at work. The whole season bids us reflect on the coming of God’s Love to us in the person of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord….” —Thomas Howard, from the Foreword

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter Celano is a writer and editor at Paraclete Press in Massachusetts.

Thomas Howard is one of the most popular and eloquent Catholic authors today, writing in the tradition of C.S.Lewis. Formerly and English professor at Gordon college, Dr. Howard was raised in a prominent evangelical Christian family. In 1985 at the age of  50, he was received into the Catholic Church after what he calls a "20 year pilgrimage." Howard is the author of many books including Lead, Kindly Light: My Journey to Rome, On Being Catholic, and most recently, The Night Is Far Spent: A Treasury of Thomas Howard.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 121 pages
• Publisher: Paraclete Press (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557256039
• ISBN-13: 978-1557256034
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,614,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book to cherish, March 15, 2009

By 

Jeri Nevermind "loves to read" (Idaho) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Christmas with the Holy Fathers (Hardcover)

You will love this small book. It's a collection of various short comments written by the popes. These are all arranged depending on what the pope is talking about, what day it is of the nativity cycle.

For example, some are to be read on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, some on Christmas eve, some on the Nativity, and some on the Solemnity of Mary and the feast of the Nativity.

You could read these short comments aloud to your family at dinner. Imagine how magical it would be to hear how Pope John Paul said, "Advent helps us to understand the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas" (p 22).

It could certainly create memories your children will cherish forever. A wonderful way to hold onto the true meaning of Christmas.