The prayers of Bakhita, the hope and help of a book

(Photo/ Voyage Comics and Publishing)

By Elizabeth Scalia | OSV News

When she was canonized by Pope St. John Paul in 2000, Josephine Bakhita immediately became the patron saint of survivors of human trafficking.

Even a quick read of her story more than explains why. Kidnapped from the Sudanese village where her father was a chieftain and ironically renamed “Bakhita” (Arabic for the “lucky” or “fortunate” one) by her captors, Josephine endured such sustained trauma that she forgot her own name. 

She was bought and sold five times, the last being to an Italian vice consul, Callisto Legnani, who apparently treated Josphine humanely enough that when he was required to return to Italy she begged to be taken, too. 

Graphic novel style, Catholic topics

(Photo provided)

By Amanda Hudson | The Observer

Kevin and Mary O’Neill are lifelong Catholics and parents of nine children. Kevin was part of St. Margaret Mary Parish in Algonquin, while Mary grew up at Holy Family Parish in Rockford. They met through her brother when he was youth minister at St. Margaret Mary Parish.

Nowadays, they live in Harvard and attend St. Peter Church in Volo, which is staffed by the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius.

The couple has written two longer books, which Kevin calls a “labor of love” for his children. The O’Neills chose a graphic novel style for their books using photos of settings they designed and built out of Legos®, adding in dialogue balloons, all of which provides a comic book look for serious, faith filled topics. “We illustrate our graphic-novels by building, designing, and photographing intricate sets — built with your child’s favorite building block toys,” they say.

Book presents Advent in past, present and future

(Photos provided)

By Megan Peterson | The Observer

Mike Pacer, a member of Holy Cross Parish in Batavia, knows a little something about looking for different perspectives. The father of four, including diocesan priest Father Nathan Pacer, spent 14 years as a successful trial lawyer in Chicago — and then left.

He had heard a call from God to “just leave.”

So he and his wife Lori stepped out in trust to look at life through God’s lens and led their family in faith and service to the Church. As they taught their children, they saw a need for instilling faith-filled traditions like those their parents had taught them during Advent. 

Female Doctors of the Church lead retreat in new book

(CNS photo/courtesy Ave Maria Press)

By Kathleen Finley | Catholic News Service

Because we have limited options for retreats, Vinita Wright offers the reader an opportunity to listen to and reflect with the four female doctors of the Church. She does so in a clear and articulate way, beginning with explaining what a saint is:

"Although each person in the [heavenly] family of God is considered a saint with a small “s,” some people live in such a way that their imitation of Christ's love has great impact on others. …

“Such a saint relates to others in a truly Christlike way:  with humility, wisdom, passion and a certain spiritual confidence that allows them to act on what they sense God is asking them to do. 

Renaissance woman: Study of Michelangelo leads retired psychologist back to her faith

(CNS photo/ Handout via Detroit Catholic)

By Gigi De La Torre | Catholic News Service

For centuries, Renaissance art has captivated hearts and souls. Christine Panyard, a retired psychologist of 43 years and a parishioner at the Church of the Divine Child in Dearborn, Mich., is no stranger to the transformative effects of religious art. 

You never know what you’ll find in new ‘Christian Miscellany’

(CNS photo/ courtesy Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing) 

By Daniel S. Mulhall | Catholic News Service

As the word suggests, a “miscellany” is a book compiled from an assortment of writers and writings, loosely organized around a common theme.

More like a randomly organized almanac than an anthology, a miscellany can touch upon a number of subject areas without any attempt at organization or progression. On any page the reader might find a story recounting the death of a martyr followed by a joke. You never know what you might find.

Tim Dowley’s “A Christian Miscellany” is true to its title. This is a book the reader will thumb through when searching for an interesting quotation about dying or a listing of titles for the Holy Spirit. You will find both in this small book.

Debut novel paints journeys to forgiveness, wholeness

(CNS photo/courtesy Katy Carl)

By Lindsey Weishar | Catholic News Service

Of her first novel, writer and editor-in-chief of the literary journal “Dappled Things,” Katy Carl says:

“The task of art is to represent, at some depth, reality as we find it and as it might be. This includes the front line of the battle between good and evil as Solzhenitsyn writes about it, a line that — too true — runs through every human heart without exception. … On this line only will we be able, if we really wish it, to find ourselves.”