Summer Reading with TAN Books: St. Gianna and St. Claude

Yesterday I woke up and went about my day not even thinking about what day it was. This has happened more than once in the past few weeks, and that’s a sure sign that summer has arrived! My days fluctuate between getting random “back burner” projects done and reading a lot more, particularly on scorchingly hot days with 40 mile per hour gusts (it’s a Kansas thing).

And that brings me to the reason for this post. TAN shared a couple of new titles with me and so here are my thoughts on those!

An Exemplary Couple: Saint Gianna and Pietro Molla

by Valentina de Marco

Well known in pro-life circles, Saint Gianna Beretta Molla is a shining example of self-sacrificing motherhood. When a tumor was found on her uterus during pregnancy, Gianna opted to have it removed so that her child’s life would be spared. She turned down the recommended treatments: abortion and hysterectomy, “choices” that would have greatly improved her prognosis. After her daughter, Gianna Emanuela, was born, postpartum infection set in and Saint Gianna died a week later. She was canonized in 2004, at the very twilight of John Paul II’s papacy.

Feeling less like a story and more like a documentary, An Exemplary Couple includes letters, messages, Magisterial documents and eyewitness accounts. From these, you’ll gain insights into the distinctive features of this holy couple’s Christian courtship and marriage. It’s a quick read, but an inspiring one. What were their aspirations? What made their marriage and family life tick? And perhaps most importantly, what formed Gianna into the heroic woman that the Church now universally honors? I especially enjoyed reading Pietro’s reflections, as the husband of a saint. It’s not often we get a glimpse into that perspective!

This new hardback is available for purchase now at TAN books for $24.95; the eBook is about half the cost. And you can always save an extra 15% on regularly priced books like this one when you use my code ZH15.

Seeking the Heart of Christ

by Saint Claude la Colombiere

With June, the month of the Sacred Heart, now in the rear view mirror, you can keep this devotion alive by reading this beautiful classic penned by the confessor of Saint Mary Margaret. Saint Claude was a great champion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and each chapter of this little book is very pithy. I worked through it very slowly and although the end is in sight, I plan to keep it by my bedside table to pull out again from time to time. There are many gems here, like this insight on the human conscience from Chapter 4: “It is the voice of grace, this advice, this good counsel you receive in the depths of your heart…disdain can oblige this friend to be silent, and even to change its friendship into hate and fury. When this friend speaks, it speaks all; when it no longer speaks all it is silent.”

This passage immediately called to mind that dramatic scene from Pinocchio, when the exasperated wooden boy throws a hammer at the embodiment of his conscience, killing the poor Talking Cricket. What a foolish puppet he was to silence that “voice of grace” at the very dawn of his life!

Saint Claude’s poignant reflections will cause you to search your heart more deeply, while enticing you to explore the depths of the heart of Christ, to get to know better the Man who gave His all for us.

TAN’s translation of Seeking the Heart of Christ is hardbound with a beautiful marbled ivory cover, gold-stamped and featuring easy to read typeset inside. It’s on sale right now for just $10.00!

What’s on Sale Now?

Check out TAN’s $5.00 Summer Reading List!

Giveaway: Leave a comment and let me know what you think, or if you have any questions about these two books. I’ll be giving away a copy of each book and choose 2 comments at random on Wednesday, July 9th.

CONGRATULATIONS to the two winners: Andrea won the Saint Gianna Molla book and Angel won Saint Claude!