Book Study

A few friends and I are doing a book study. Nothing formal, we all read the same book and whenever we get together (for any reason) we try to discuss it. Sometimes we are even able to get together just to discuss it. Our first book study was on Mother’s Rule of Life and now we are doing one called Holiness for Housewives. HFH is a relatively small book but it’s packed full of gold! As the title suggests, the book is about how to grow in holiness in your vocation as housewife and mother and for some of us that list also includes school teacher.

The author is Hubert van Zeller. I’m not sure if he was a priest or not but he was born in 1905 and spent the majority of his life as a religious in monasteries. Now, the only reason I mention that is to illustrate a point that even though this monk lived and wrote in the early to middle part of the 1900’s, what he has to say about housewives is absolutely spot on even though one would seem to think that he couldn't possibly, by the nature of his vocation, understand the stuggles of being a wife and mother.

Here is a quote:
“Thus the mother of a family will tell you that she would be able to give herself much more to religion if she did not have the children to look after. A factory worker will compare her chances with those of a lay sister. ‘I would be very religious,’ says the girl in the post office, ‘if it were not so impersonal, and if I could serve God in a family.’ Everyone creates an imaginary kingdom of God on earth, and sits outside its walls gazing enviously in its direction….to presume to a service of God that the present framework of life does not allow is sheer pride.”

The rest of what I’ve read so far, is just as good! Also in the back of the book he has prayers specifically written for housewives. The names of some of the prayers are: Prayer when exhausted by housework, prayer in time of exasperation, prayer when in a bad mood.

I’m looking forward to the rest of this book!

Ave Maria!
C.