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The Little Oratory: A Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home Paperback – April 25, 2014
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Includes 8 full-color icons!
Keeping a faithful prayer life with your family isn't easy. From herding distracted children to managing the seemingly endless litany of prayers and devotions, our spiritual life all too often feels frantic and burdensome.
This isn't the way it should be. Our prayer life, our family life, and our work life should--and can!--be in harmony. When they are, our family is a powerhouse of grace, and Our Lord transforms our home into a little Eden--a little bit of heaven on earth.
With simplicity and holy wisdom, authors David Clayton and Leila Marie Lawler show you how to bring peace to your home by integrating your family into the calm, truly joyful way of Mother Church. Her feasts and seasons, prayers and devotions are gifts that draw us closer to God and unfold before us His marvelous plan of salvation.
To help you live the Liturgical Life of the Church more fully, David and Leila reclaim here an almost lost tradition that families used for centuries to build a beautiful bridge between home and church: the little oratory.
Consisting of a modest table and icons, the little oratory is a visible sign of spiritual awareness and devotion. It extends the Eucharistic worship of the Mass into the heart of your home, spiritually nourishing your family and preparing them to transform the world through prayer and charity.
Building your own little oratory is simple, and in these pages you'll discover just how easy it is. In fact, you likely have most of the pieces in your home already except, perhaps, the sacred art. That s why we've included here seven full-colored icons that are ready for framing, enabling you to get started right away!
By following the wise advice in this book, you'll discover the peace and love that flows from a home that is focused on Christ. You'll also learn . . .
- How to use sacred art to strengthen your prayer life.
- How to extend Catholic beliefs and devotions into every room of the house.
- Why the Liturgy of the Hours is important and how it can make your family holy.
- How to pray the Rosary with children and keep the rowdiest of them calm and reverent.
- The active role children can and should play in the prayer life of the family.
- What to do when only one parent takes the spiritual life seriously.
- How to overcome the feeling that you're too busy to pray.
- Practical ways to extend the liturgical life into your workplace.
- And countless other tips to help you practice your faith in the heart of your home.
- Length
224
Pages
- Language
EN
English
- PublisherSophia Institute Press
- Publication date
2014
April 25
- Dimensions
8.0 x 0.7 x 9.1
inches
- ISBN-101622821769
- ISBN-13978-1622821761
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever seen. How I wish I had it when I first became a Catholic, not just for myself, as a husband and father, but for my family, too. If one book has the potential to transform the Catholic family (and society), this is it." - Scott Hahn
"This book is a rare treasure." - Thomas Howard
"The Little Oratory will help you discover a pattern of daily prayer that truly fits your family life while creating a place of beauty in the heart of your home." - Daria Sockey, author of The Everyday Catholic s Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours
"An indispensable resource for anyone seeking to make their home a breeding ground for holiness." - Andreas Widmer, author of The Pope and the CEO
"A superb guide to making that encounter of thirsts a lived experience in the home." - Christopher West
"Leila Lawler and David Clayton offer wisdom and grace to Catholics seeking to make their homes a holy shelter." - Elizabeth Foss, Founder of In the Heart of My Home
"Wonderful, inspiring, and deeply practical." - Joseph Pearce, Editor of The Saint Austin Review
"A great blessing to Catholic families." - Stratford Caldecott, an editor of Magnificat UK
"A perfect guide for any family striving to make their home a place to experience the majesty and beauty of the Divine." - Father Robert Reed, CatholicTV Network --Personal Endorsements
About the Author
David Clayton is an internationally known artist, teacher, writer and broadcaster. He serves as Artist-in-Residence at the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts. His artistic training is both in the sacred art traditions of Byzantine iconography and as a portrait painter in the style of Western classical naturalism, which he studied in Florence, Italy.
Leila M. Lawler is a wife of one, mother of seven, and grandmother of five (and counting), living in central Massachusetts. Leila practices "kitchen-sink philosophy" at Like Mother, Like Daughter, a website offering practical and theoretical insight into all aspects of daily life.
Deirdre Folley contributed the illustrations for this book from her home in the Washington, DC, metro area. Primarily instructed in art by her grandmother, Elizabeth Edwards, Deirdre also studied art under John Schmitt, son of artist Carl Schmitt, as well as at the Catholic University of America, where she majored in philosophy.
Product details
- Publisher : Sophia Institute Press (April 25, 2014)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 224 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1622821769
- ISBN-13 : 978-1622821761
- Item Weight : 1.28 pounds
- Dimensions : 8 x 0.67 x 9.11 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #126,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #68 in Ritual Religious Practices
- #114 in Adult Christian Education (Books)
- #452 in Christian Family & Relationships
- Customer Reviews:
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About the authors

David Clayton is an internationally known artist, teacher, writer, and broadcaster. He moved to the US from his native England in 2009 and has been working here ever since. He is currently Provost of Pontifex University, an online Catholic education platform where he has designed their unique, inaugural program, a Masters in Sacred Arts which is a traditional formation in beauty for artists, patrons of the arts and anyone who wants to contribute creatively to the transformation of the culture in the modern world. He is also Visiting Fellow at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts.
He is published in many Catholic publications and journals and writes for his weekly blog thewayofbeauty.org, and for www.newliturgicalmovement.org. He wrote, co-produced and presented the 13-part TV series about traditional art and culture The Way of Beauty, shown by Catholic TV in 2010 and 2011.
His artistic training is in both the sacred art tradition of Byzantine iconography; and as a portrait painter in the style of Western classical naturalism, which he studied in Florence, Italy. He has had prominent commissions in the UK and the United States and his work has been featured in many publications in both countries.
He has also composed over 80 tones for the psalms in English, with four-part arrangements. These have been featured in Chant Cafe, Monastic Musicians magazine, and the website of the school of liturgical music at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
On top of that, he plays the banjo in the Appalachian clawhammer style. He is available to play on those occasions when rustic old-timey banjo might be entertaining or useful (although he is rarely asked to do so).

I am wife of one, mother of seven, and grandmother of a growing number of little ones, living in Central Massachusetts.
I encountered Christianity as a high school student (but really from my earliest memories through fairy tales and The Chronicles of Narnia) and entered the Catholic Church in 1979, the year I was married to Philip Lawler, noted Catholic journalist, author of The Faithful Departed.
My own journey of learning the faith has given me an appreciation for the difficulties and excitement today's family faces in living its Christian calling. I try to encourage all kinds of audiences, online and in person, to commit to the renewal of family life.
I practice "kitchen sink philosophy" at Like Mother, Like Daughter, a website for practical and theoretical insight into in all aspects of daily life. I write on everything from cooking and knitting to education and recovering what I and my daughters call "the collective memory" -- things we like to share about our creative life and also things we don't want to forget that were passed down from family to family in a more generous era.
I am co-author with David Clayton of The Little Oratory: A Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home and author of God Has No Grandchildren: A Guided Reading of Pius XI's encyclical Casti Connubii, On Chaste Marriage (2nd Edition), and The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life, a 3-volume set.
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With that out of the way--
I liked this book. I do not like the icons in the back, which saddens me a bit as Mr. Clayton seems a lovely man in all other respects, but I personally do not like that art. For icons, I prefer things like the Theotokos of Vladmir or the Jesus icon from St. Catherine's Monastery. Deidre Folley's illustrations are talented and homey though, and I liked those very much, and I thought they added a wonderful touch to the book. Further, even though I personally do not like the icons in the back for my own home, I own a lot of icons and very much like the charitable and practical idea that the authors had to put some icons in there that people can immediately use to get started on their own in-home practice. After all, as they say, there is no accounting for taste, and I am sure there will be many who will love those icons. Perhaps I am not a fan of the more Catholic/Western style of icon?
I bought this book for two main reasons: 1) I read "Like Mother, Like Daughter" which is the blog Mrs. Fowler refers to and I pretty much want Leila to be MY Auntie Leila. :) 2) I am a sucker for any book that might help me implement the beauty of prayer and the liturgy in my own home with my own family.
Some of my favorite aspects of this book were the specifics. They go through considerations that my husband would find tiresome, but that I always like in these matters. What sorts of fabric? Where to get it? etc. Far from being too strict or fussy in attention to detail, the book seeks to calm the reader's anxieties and questions and to eliminate aspects of practicality that could keep one from implementing these ideas. These are areas the book really shines, but then I also liked the "theory" parts as well! I greatly benefited from the discussion in the book about seven as the number of completion, eight the number of the new covenant, etc. The thought about time and how it is marked was one that I am still mulling over in my spiritual thoughts.
As a non-Catholic, but as an Orthodox Christian, I found it refreshing how that there was not any hint of animosity toward other groups, like Orthodox or Protestants, even though this seems to be a book focused on a largely Catholic audience. The acknowledgment of different iconographic styles and preferences, and the mention of the Jesus Prayer was something I appreciated. There is a lot that carries back and forth between the two traditions, and I found I could make helpful connections with my own faith by translating some of this into Orthodoxy.
Again, as a non-Catholic, I learned a lot about some basic Catholic practices such as saying the rosary, which I found very interesting to get a good explanation of this. In my hometown, there were not many Catholics, and the ones who were, I found did not know a lot about such things and did not practice them at home.
I liked this book a lot. If you are looking for a book that will help you to continue your life as a Christian into your home, this is an excellent addition to your library. I would go get your own icons, but otherwise, I loved this book.
So imagine how thrilled I was when I heard that Auntie Leila had written a book? On prayer? In the home? Of course I pre-ordered it as soon as I could and the day I received it in the mail turned out to be a pretty awesome day.
Just as I suspected the book is just like having Leila here to chat with. Now I don't have to stalk her blog waiting for a new post! I can just open the book! (That doesn't mean I'm not still stalking the blog, or going back and reading the archives, I totally am). I'm not even all the way through the book, but I have read enough to know that this book is a treasure. The Little Oratory is centered around making a prayer corner in the home and then practical ways to pray with the family, especially the Liturgy of the Hours. But, true to Auntie Leila's style, it is really so much more. There is a little section about stain removal (for the cloth for the prayer table of course) that I am going to copy and hang in my laundry room for reference. There are pearls of wisdom throughout the book and I could go on and on. Including what to do with spent matches! How clever!
The Little Oratory was co-written by David Clayton and it includes icons he created that you can pull out and frame for your prayer table. They are beautiful and as soon as I could go to the store and pick up some frames (I found a few 3-packs of 5x7's at Target for $5) I got to work. I hung two of the icons at the foot of our bed (we already had a little shelf and crucifix up), and I love how finished they seem to make this spot.
We already had a little "altar" of sorts set up in our front room, but after reading all the possibilities and ideas, I realized that I really could do better than that. With just a little thought, I moved a few tables around and voila we have a beautiful and functional prayer table.
And there you have it. If you haven't picked up your own copy of The Little Oratory, maybe because...well, I can't think of a reason why you wouldn't have it! But if you don't have one, I can only tell you that this book is one that should be on every Catholic family's book shelf.












