AMERICA: CANADA: NEW BOOK HELPS CHILDREN UNDERSTAND LITURGICAL YEAR

TOFC REPORT: Lift Up Your Hearts, is authored by Lakefield’s Alex Duketow: Catholic, husband, father, builder, former teacher, liturgical musician and, now, writer and founder of Treasures of the Church Press. (PICTURED WITH HIS FAMILY)
Judged on externals alone this work is a winner. The sewn hardcover, red matte finish, ribbon marker, and book dimensions (7.5 in. x 9 in.) ensure that it is a pleasure to hold and will survive years of thumb-turning and soul-nourishing. Duketow introduces his work with a clear “Table of Contents,” a helpful “How to Use This Book” page, and an informative pie-graph illustrating “The Liturgical Year.” At end, he includes 13 Catholic prayers which have sustained the Faithful for centuries, from the “Morning Offering” and “Angel of God” prayers to the “Mysteries of the Rosary”. Bearing the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur one is assured of the book’s doctrinal and moral soundness.
Of course, the title originates from the phrase, Lift up your hearts, which is part of the prayer immediately preceding the Preface to the great Eucharist Prayer. The aim of the book is to open up the mystery of the Holy Eucharist and help everyone live the Mass through the turning of the seasons (Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time) and those feasts which accent its rhythms (e.g. the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the Baptism of our Lord, Ash Wednesday, Laetare Sunday, Good Friday, the Ascension, Pentecost, The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity etc.).

Lift Up Your Hearts seamlessly weaves an explanation of the parts, prayers, postures and ceremonials of the Mass into its illumination of the central feasts, weeks and seasons of the Liturgical Year. Thoughtful book design makes the message readily accessible. Every feast, week and part of the Mass is identically set forth: on the left hand page three, fulsome paragraphs describe and clarify; on the right hand page a colourful, eye-catching piece of religious art communicates the self-same Mystery by touching the senses. Everyday stories, episodes from the lives of the saints, citation of Sacred Scripture, insights, and questions that linger, enliven Duketow’s prose. By teaching the mind truth and touching the imagination with beauty, Lift Up Your Hearts gently schools the entire person in the Divine Liturgy and permits the reader, young or old, to enter into the Sacred Mystery from many directions and, ultimately, fall more deeply in love with Jesus in the Eucharist.
Catholic saints, popes and councils, and our Lord Himself, have emphasized how vital the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is in order to live the life of the Kingdom and to plant seeds of immortality in the soul. By its capacity to touch theologian and first communicant alike, to support personal prayer and Catholic family spirituality, and to constitute a catechetical resource with diverse applications in such contexts as RCIA programs, study groups, and elementary and secondary schools (by students, teachers, principals, pastoral care workers, and chaplains), Lift Up Your Hearts contributes valuably to the mission of the Church. Hopefully this is the first of many such works by the author.






TO ORDER:



orders@tofcpress.com
1-877-652-0590 (toll-free in North America)
(705) 652-0590 (in the Peterborough area)
(705) 652-1669 (fax)
Treasures of the Church Press
1551 Douro 2nd Line,
RR#2 Lakefield, ON, Canada K0L 2H0

Comments