Paula Huston, highly acclaimed writer and Benedictine Oblate, will begin a blog tour on Wednesday, February 15th (just in time for Lent!) as part of the launch of her newest book, Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit.
Huston's fans and friends are invited to follow her virtual travels as she is interviewed, reviewed, and offers guest posts on several popular blogs.
Her schedule will be updated as posts are added and currently includes:
February 15th: Green for God by Laura Nelson, review
February 16th: Peter Menkin Blog by Peter Menkin, review and Q&A with the author
February 18th: SaraZarr.com by Sara Zarr, Q&A with the author
February 20th: Holy Ordinary by Brent Bill, excerpt
February 21st: OSV Daily Take by Mary DeTurris Poust, excerpt and book giveaway
February 22nd: Green for God by Laura Nelson, Q&A with the author, book giveaway
February 23rd: CatholicMom.com by Lisa Hendey
Ave Maria Press author Lisa Hendey departed Wednesday, January 25, for an eight-day tour of Israel with the Catholic Press Association. Stops on the itinerary include the Dead Sea, Qumran, Jerusalem, the Via Dolorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall, and much, much more.
Hendey invites her online community to send her their prayer intentions and to follow her tour via postings on her Facebook and Twitter profiles. For more information, listen to her Audio Boo posted while packing the day before departure:
Packing for Israel (mp3)
New for Lent 2012, Paula Huston, a Benedictine oblate, critically acclaimed author, and professor of creative writing, provides readers with the tools to de-clutter minds, hearts, and lives in her newest book, Simplifying the Soul, which is a Patheos Book Club selection for January 2012.
“What are you giving up for Lent this year?” It’s the expected question amongst Christian friends each spring. In Simplifying the Soul, Huston asks her readers a deeper, alternative sort of question: “How will you rid your life of excess this Lent?”
Huston encourages readers to see Lent as a time to seek out silence and free themselves of “stuff,” and to acknowledge the connections between what they pray about and what they do.
Huston focuses on seven categories in need of simplification, with a number of helpful
practices for each:
Space – give away something you are not using, clear out a junk drawer or closet
The use of money - avoid looking at advertisements, cut up one credit card
The care of the body - cover your mirrors for a whole morning, sleep on the floor for a night
The mind - turn off your cell phone for a day, learn how to do an examen of conscience
The schedule - pray the divine office, invite a lonely person in for tea and conversation
Relationships - sit in silence with a friend, seek out someone who is angry with you and apologize
Prayer - go to confession, pray for strangers you see throughout the day
In each chapter dedicated to a single week of Lent, Huston provides:
A short introduction to the theme of the week
A meditation offered for each day of the week
A simple practice to promote acting on the meditation
An encouraging passage from scripture in conclusion
With honesty, vulnerability, and grace, Huston challenges readers to move outward and act, showing them how such everyday actions can be surprisingly powerful ways of experiencing a more meaningful Lent and a simpler life. Readers experience, under Huston’s gentle and expert care, how such practices lead to a more authentic Christian faith.
Spirituality & Practice, an online magazine edited by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, has released its list of The Best Spiritual Books of 2011, and three Ave Maria Press titles are included: Joyce Rupp's 2011 release, Fragments of Your Ancient Name, Streams of Contentment by Robert J. Wicks, and The Artist's Rule by Christine Valters Paintner.
This list is created from the 300+ books reviewed each year on Spirituality & Practice. According to the editors, "These are the titles that have most impressed and inspired us, and since we only review books that we want to recommend to you for your spiritual journey, this selection actually represents the best of the best."
Starting today, October 21, 2011, we at Ave Maria Press are hosting a saints costume photo contest on the AMP Facebook page. Leading up to All Saints Day 2011, dress up as your favorite saint, post a photo on our page, and encourage your friends to vote for your photo. Winners will receive prizes! Guidelines and rules are below.
Prizes:
• First 20 people to submit a photo will receive an Ave Maria Press $15 gift certificate.
• Three finalists will receive an autographed copy of A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms by Lisa Hendey.
• Winner will receive a Saint André Bessette, C.S.C. medal in addition to an autographed copy of A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms.
To enter:
You must “like” the Ave Maria Press page on Facebook.
Please upload a picture of yourself dressed as your favorite saint.
The description MUST include:
a. Name of the saint you are dressed as.
b. A couple of sentences describing why you chose this saint or what this saint means to you.
Your photo will become eligible once all of these steps have been taken and the photo has been moved to the folder for the All Saints Day 2011 Photo Contest.
Once it is in the folder, encourage your friends to vote for your photo by “liking” it. No “likes” on the photo on the wall will be counted.
The three photos with the most votes will be moved to a finalist folder for the final round of voting.
Rules:
Only one entry may be made per person, but anyone is eligible to submit a picture.
All photos are eligible. If you are submitting a photo that someone else took, make sure that you have rights to use their photo before submitting, especially if taken by a professional photographer.
All photo entries must be received between 8 a.m. eastern on Tuesday, October 18, 2011 and 11:59 p.m. eastern on Wednesday, October 26, 2011.
Voting for the final round will take place between 8 a.m. eastern on Thursday, October 27, 2011 and 11:59 p.m. on Monday, October 31, 2011.
The winner will be announced via Facebook on Tuesday, November 1, 2011 (All Saints Day).
To be eligible to win, you must have completed the above steps properly for entry. If all of those steps are not completed, your photo will be removed from the competition.
All photos submitted become the property of Ave Maria Press. By submitting a photo, you are giving Ave Maria Press the rights to use that photo for promotional purposes in the future. You may be asked to submit a higher resolution photo directly to a staff member.
Please tag people in the photos.
Please encourage your friends to “like” your photo.
Employees of Ave Maria Press and their immediate family members are not eligible to win.
To win:
The winning photo will be the photo with the most “likes”. Only the “likes” made in the photo contest folder will be counted.
The winner will be announced on Wednesday, November 1, 2011, which is All Saints Day.
If you win, you will be notified by a Facebook message. It will also be announced on the Ave Maria Press Facebook page.
*Photo credit: Jessica Gordon at Shower of Roses
Lisa Hendey, entrepreneur, founder of CatholicMom.com, and sought-after new media expert, will begin her blog tour on Tuesday, October 18, as part of the launch of her newest book, A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms.
While this book tour exists in the blogosphere, Hendey's family owns a real-life Volkswagen bus, and we wanted to include him in the festivities. He is named Arnold, after his original owner.
Hendey's fans and friends are invited to follow her virtual travels as she is interviewed, reviewed, and offers guest posts on several popular blogs. Her schedule, which can also be viewed on CatholicMom.com, will be updated as posts are confirmed, and currently includes:
Upcoming Stops:
Previous Stops:
Spiritual Woman Thoughts by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur
The Crescat by Katrina Fernandez
Among Women by Pat Gohn
Snoring Scholar by Sarah Reinhard
Christian Mompreneur by Theresa Ceniccola
Happy Catholic by Julie Davis
The Anchoress by Elizabeth Scalia
The Catholic Post Book Group with Nancy Piccione
The Thin Veil by Brandon Vogt
The Practicing Catholic by Lisa Schmidt
Catholic Writers Guild blog with Larissa Hoffman and other CWG members
Random Acts of Momness by Ginny Moyer
There Will Be Bread, Parish Blog of St. Edward the Confessor, and Parish Blog of the Church of the Immaculate Conception by Fran Rossi Szpylczyn
Sound Mind and Spirit by Shelly Kelly and Lisa Jones
Catholic Weekend podcast on SQPN with Fr. Roderick Vonhogen, Maria Johnson, and Jeff Nielsen
Faith Filled Mom by Lori Hadorn-Disselkamp
Call to Holiness by John Clem
View from the Domestic Church by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle
KateWicker.com by Kate Wicker
Simplemama by Erika Higgins
Blossoming Joy by Melody Lyons
On October 17, 2010, the Congregation of Holy Cross celebrated the canonization of Brother André Bessette, C.S.C., by Pope Benedict XVI. Known popularly as the "miracle man of Montreal," Brother André Bessette, C.S.C.—an unassuming, uneducated porter—was known to millions for his humble ministry to the sick and needy and is the first Holy Cross religious to be canonized.
Commencing on the first anniversary of St. André’s canonization, Holy Cross invites all people to celebrate both the Congregation’s first saint and the inauguration of Year of the Brother. According to the Congregation, the Year of the Brother is "a recognition of the integral role brothers have in the life and ministry of Holy Cross and will serve as an opportunity to celebrate the brother’s vocation, work to increase awareness of this vocation, and pray for an increase to vocations."
To build awareness and to encourage prayer for vocations, a wealth of free materials is available here.
To learn more about Holy Cross brothers, please visit this page on the Congregation's website.
Lisa M. Hendey, founder of CatholicMom.com and bestselling author of The Handbook for Catholic Moms, again offers her guidance for mothers in the nourishing of heart, mind, body, and soul. In her new book, A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms, Hendey presents fifty-two saints to act as companions in the many joys—and trials—of motherhood. With charisma and conviction, she applies the wisdom of the saints to a mother’s unique role, highlighting that these individuals “led ordinary lives and yet accomplished extraordinary things.” Hendey chooses men and women whose stories have influenced her personal perspective on motherhood and encourages fellow moms to welcome these Catholic leaders as both role models and long-time friends.
In each of the fifty-two short chapters, one per saint, Hendey provides:
• A short biography of the saint
• Reflection on the guidance offered by the saint
• Traditions and family activities inspired by the saint
• Daily scripture passages
• A prayer for families to say together
Hendey’s companions include familiar intercessors such as Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, and Mother Teresa, as well as lesser-known figures like Josephine Bakhita and Mother Théodore Guerin. Hendey marks each chapter with a symbol to signify which dimension—heart, mind, body, or soul—the saint is best known to influence and concludes each chapter with a discussion prompt or journaling question to ponder during the week.
