The Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living for Real Life

This is a wonderful book, full of wisdom and common sense that teaches creative and practical ways to incorporate liturgical living into your life and the home. Of course you can’t follow every one of her ideas and suggestions (and she is the first to admit that), but the book is comprehensive that you have a wide variety of ideas and traditions to learn from and choose what you want to incorporate into your life. Her ideas about St. Nicholas/Santa shaped the way we presented the concept to our kids and we’ve put her ideas into practice for a more focused Lent and sacred Easter season. The book reads easily, is well organized, and speaks to the beautiful traditions and depth of our Catholic faith. I learned so much about different feasts, saints, traditions, and history of our Church. Even if you don’t plan to actively apply many of her activities (at least right now), this book will help you think about how to shape your life with liturgical living in mind and it will definitely increase your love and understanding of the Church and Her history and traditions. As a mom of young children, it’s been so helpful to start navigating liturgical living with kids and figuring out how we want to (slowly) incorporate liturgical living into our family life. I can see so many ways in which such an approach will bear fruit for all of us and help us to grow in and deepen our faith. I highly recommend this fantastic book, and advise buying a hard copy you can mark up and reference continuously year after year. My only caveat is that sometimes the book can be a bit overwhelming because there is so much here. But, that’s why she recommends taking the ideas you like and leaving those that don’t appeal to you, frequently reminding us that many aspects of liturgical living are optional, while also reminding us of those sacrifices and devotions that are not. Highly recommend!

Where was this book when I was a young mom? So many helpful ways to weave the faith into the day, according to the season and the liturgical year. Not only are the explanations clear and concise, but the writer has a lovely sense of humor that pokes its head now and again, making this book a delightful read.

This book is, at one and the same, time an encyclopedia of creative ideas and an inspiring memoir of one mother's pursuit to help her family authentically live the rhythm of Church's liturgical year in her home. Reading through these pages, we discover (and rediscover!) that by being attentive to the grace-filled unfolding of the Church's celebrations throughout the year, we are bringing God ever deeper into the heart of our families. If you're ever in need of inspiration and ideas for joyfully living out your Catholic life at home, you won't regret having this book nearby. Highly recommended.

I got this book and it's companion book, 'Prayer Companion' and they've been so incredibly helpful in my daily life. I became a Catholic in my 50's and it's been difficult for me to understand how to piece it all together...the Saints, the Feast Days. I've felt like the author is taking me by the hand and clarifying it all by daily readings that delve into the Litergical calendar happenings in a way I can totally get it...with humor and reverence. Reading the daily entries is the first thing I do each day, with a cup of coffee in hand. I'm constantly saying, 'OH! That's why that Saint is important.' I leave each day feeling built up and so so appreciating the Catholic faith.

I love this book. It’s very easy to read and I’m excited to incorporate these traditions.

I am so appreciative of this book, which provides so many great ideas for introducing Catholic traditions to our family's life. It is organized around the liturgical year and has something for about 2-3 days per week. It will explain what saint's feast day it is and give you an idea about how to celebrate that day with your family. I found that this book was a lot easier to use as a guide to liturgical living than any other book out there. Also, check out Kendra's website and blog! Great ideas there too and additional prayers and calendars etc to help live out the liturgical year at home. Catholic traditions are not just for church on Sunday - they are for home life too!

I like this book because it's an easy read. It's laid out perfectly. It has a lot of good history and information, however some of the ideas to do as a family are just plain silly. For example, eat eclairs on Saint Claire Day. Serve "round food" on the passion of St John the Baptist, and a "head of lettuce" some of these ideas I think are kinda silly. There are also some really good ideas though. So if you can overlook some of the silly ones, this book may be for you. I think all in all it's a good start to young families trying to live liturgically

This book is exactly what I needed in my life. It's what I've been searching for and it's finally here. Kendra is INCREDIBLY creative and has such an amazing sense of humor AND such a strong connection to her Catholic faith. I absolutely adore her ideas of engaging her large family in living their lives liturgically with so many recipes and activities to bring the saints and feast days to life. I will be forever grateful for Kendra's creativity and even more so that she shared so much of it in this book! My prayer is that I can follow along in the liturgical year and make some meaningful (and delicious) memories with my daughters who will continue on with these beautiful traditions with their families one day.Just buy this book! And buy another for your best friend!

Kendra brings the liturgical year to life in this book. The pages are filled with practical ways to incorporate the Catholic traditions and celebrations into your home life. Personal anecdotes, historical references, and bite size pieces of catechism shows us the "why" behind the "how." As a mom of four, I appreciate the ease with which Kendra approaches liturgical living. The appendices alone hold a wealth of information at your fingertips. It honestly feels as if a good friend is guiding you through the all planning that needs to be done. I intend to use this as the backbone to planning out our homeschool year! Thank you so much, Kendra for such a wonderful resource.

I was a little nervous that this book would be solely aimed at the US audience but Kendra Kierney makes it clear from the start that she is living in the US and is a stay at home mum but this book is written for everyone who wants to live liturgically. I like Kendra’s writing style and approach to the domestic church and liturgical living and rather than feeling like you can’t possibly do everything you are encouraged to do what works for your family in your situation. I highly recommend!

I have known the catholic all year blog for some years now and am delighted, that there is now a book about it. Kendra Tierney writes in a very personal kind of way about her experience with the liturgical year of the catholic church. She shares many personal stories, ideas, experiences of what worked for them and what did not and witty stories, but also church teaching and biblical basis. It is a must have book for anyone looking to implement the richness of living in the liturgical year of the catholic church.

I love the honest and open writing style. The author does not pretend it will always be easy or perfect with children, but gives some simple and easy to achieve tips and ideas for how we can work on our domestic church.

I’ve had this book for about a year now. I often feel uninspired by the recommendations found in it for ways to celebrate feasts. The author seems to link holy days with a type of food even if there is nothing really linking them (like eating ‘eclairs’ on the Feast of St. Clare, and watching an egg go white on the Transfiguration…) There is very little explanation sometimes about why certain practices exist (no explanation on why there are traditionally herbs blessed on the Feast of the Assumption, for example). Sometimes I find myself a little annoyed with the overly-jocular way the writer describes rather serious things, which is on nearly every page. In all I can say that if you’re looking for random connections between the liturgical calendar and an answer to your question “what can I make for dinner?” then this book might be useful to you. As for anything of real substance, you’re probably better off making up your own traditions for a lot of things.