Found on pages 82-86 of G.K. Chesterton Collected Works Volume XIV, 1993, Ignatius Press, 802 pages, softcover, Catholic perspective

This is a charming and humorous story about the spirit of Christmas through the ages. Good for a chuckle and a little perspective.

The volume in which this story can be found is available from Ignatius Press
You can also read this story online by clicking here

A Year With God is simply THE purchase of the year! Completely original, inspiring, and unique, the abundance of fresh ideas and activities will re-energize your religion class and re-motivate you to make your homeschool a truly Catholic school in every sense of the word. Spanning the liturgical year, A Year With God contains hundreds of carefully detailed and illustrated projects and activities. Nearly all of these can be extended into several other projects, giving you many, many years of exciting projects to work on with your students.

The Table of Contents begins with "Celebrate Advent and Christmas", continues with "Celebrate Lent and Easter", and concludes with "Celebrate Ordinary Time". This overview will provide you with an easy-to-use reference to the book, but even more valuable is the "Index of Activities" in the back of the book. This Index is arranged by the calendar year and provides page and activity references to specific Feast Days of the Church. Have you ever considered celebrating The Feast of St. Nicholas? Or the Annunciation of the Lord? Or the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows? Now you have ready-to-go plans for these and hundreds of other special days.

Plays, craft projects, dramatic readings, games, drawings, hands-on learning, writing projects and much more employ all of the various styles of learning. Also included are the most popular longer-term projects from the CHC Lesson Plans. Many families have purchased the lesson plan sets just to have access to these enriching ideas. The wide range of projects and activities appeal to all age groups as well. I have a sixteen-year age-range between students in my own homeschool, and there are enjoyable activities for everyone, including me! The extensive artwork is professional, orthodox, and pleasing while remaining accessible and comprehensible to everyone. Produced with a variety of easily-read fonts on creamy, thick paper, the book is a joy to read while allowing both durability and excellent reproduction quality. CHC has permitted that activity pages may be copied for immediate family members, further extending the usefulness of the book. Arrangements can also be made for group copyright permissions; this is a terrific way to introduce these activities into homeschool cooperative groups, sacramental preparation classes, and other group situations.

Every other book that we have used as we have celebrated the liturgical year has been tied to the cultural traditions of different countries around the world. While we have enjoyed these experiences, there are plenty of books available to learn about them. A Year With God is different from these books; it does not include such popular and well-known traditions as the Christmas Tree or the baking of Hot Cross Buns. A Year With God is focused on the truly spiritual and universally Catholic in a way that develops and fosters growth in virtue and holiness. The richness and depth of our Faith comes alive in a way that is unforgettable, both to the student and the teacher. Take the time to really read through and use this book. It will be a blessing to your family!

This book is an outgrowth of the authors' longstanding website www.domestic-church.com and is a great companion to the seasons of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. It is divided into four parts: Family Activities, Saints of the Season, Crafts, and Coloring Pages. The purpose is to provide families with activity ideas that foster a spiritual climate in those seasons.

While the book does have activities that other seasonal books contain, such as the Advent Wreath and Jesse Tree, there are some engaging original projects such as patterns for playable manger figures, cross-stitch patterns, instructions for making gift boxes, and a playdough recipe to make tree ornaments. One of my favorites in the book is an explanation of the Feast of the Holy Innocents, which is an often overlooked feast in the Church as it sits in the Octave of Christmas. Another totally unique project is the one entitled "Hidden Life--Forcing Bulbs" in which the family plants bulbs and then forces them in the spring. This provides great metaphors for the connection between Christmas and Easter, the hidden life of the childhood of Jesus, and the coming of his light into the world. The coloring pages include pictures of the saints that are featured in the book, manger scenes, angels, and a decorated alphabet.

Another really nice feature of this book is that the pages have a single line of scriptural text printed around the margins. I didn't notice this the first time I used the book last year. It is a lovely touch.

Recommended for the whole family!

This book contains ideas, history, personal anecdotes, traditional prayers, instructions, etc. for incorporating religious traditions into your family's celebration of Advent and Christmas. Using just one or two of the ideas listed in this book will make this season much more meaningful for you and your family. Some of the traditions which are explained include: the Advent Wreath, the Christ Candle, the Advent Calendar, the Jesse Tree, Advent Paper Chains, Kris Kringle, Letter to the Christ Child, Christmas Wheat, Christmas Creche, Christmas Baking, Advent Songs, Spiritual Reading, Christmas Cards, the Christmas Novena and Advent Feasts. Also includes ideas for celebrating Christmas Day and the feasts immediately following Christmas - St. Stephen's Day, St. John's Day, Holy Innocents Day, St. Thomas Becket, the Feast of the Holy Family, New Year's, the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, the Feast of the Epiphany, the Baptism of Our Lord and Candlemas. The ideas are simple, the layout very easy to follow and the activities are especially for larger families with small children.