Month: May 2021

Breathe: A Child’s Guide to Ascension, Pentecost, and the Growing Time

Happy Rogation Sunday and Mother’s Day! While each of those occasions deserve their own posts, instead I’m squeezing in a review about a book for Ascension and Pentecost (because this is the first opportunity I’ve been able to post it and so that you can have enough time to buy it for yourself, if you are so inclined). I’ve written here on the Homely Hours about how much I have appreciated Laura Alary’s “Child Guides” to both Lent and Advent. So, I was delighted to receive a copy of her new book Breathe: A Child’s Guide to Ascension, Pentecost, and the Growing Time from Paraclete Press. Just like her other books, Breathe is an example of poetic theologizing for children — weaving together the Scriptures and church year traditions as she explores the liturgical themes. As you would expect from the title, Alary chooses the theme of breathing in order to illuminate a biblical theology of the Holy Spirit as wind and breath. The book is divided into four sections: 1) “Breathless” (Christ leaving in …