Holy Family Institute review

Holy Family Institute
May 30, 2011

Framing Faith
by Marlicia Fernandez

When I first decided to read FRAMING FAITH:A pictorial History of Communities of Faith, by: Sarah Piccini (Photos by: Ivan Pavelka and ARTS! Engage), I thought it would be a rather dry listing of a number of Catholic parishes in northeastern Pennsylvania that had been forced to close. While it is indeed a listing of parishes, it is anything but dry. Each parish has its own section and is described in such as wa as to have a distinct personality. The place of these parishes in the lives of those they served is clearly apparent. I’m always saddened when a Catholic Church is forced to close its doors. After reading about these parishes, I was even sadder.

This book will appeal not only to those interested in Catholicism and Catholic Churches in general, but also to those who love history, especially the history of the northeastern region of Pennsylvania. The author is not content to tick off parishes and give the bare facts, but delves into the reasons the parishes came into being, often at great personal sacrifice to the immigrant communities they served. She gives an informative and interesting overview of just how important the church, priests and sisters were to the community and how integrated the parish was in everyday life.

An added bonus for readers is the Catholic tidbits spread throughout the book. There are explanations of devotions, prayers and citations from Catholic documents and the Bible. Other, more secular tidbits include excerpts from local newspapers that really make the information come alive.

As if the well researched material (footnoted in the back of the book) were not enough to hold the reader’s interest, there are dozens of beautiful photographs taken by Ivan Pavelka and ARTS! Engage. These images really drive home how much love went into the building of the various parishes and what pride of place the church held in the hearts and minds of the people.

Framing Faith is historically and religiously accurate and well foot-noted. It held my interest from start to finish. The pictures and textual inserts put what is being read in context for even greater understanding and appreciation. I believe lovers of history in general, and of north-eastern Pennsylvania and Catholic history in particular will enjoy this book immensely. The forward alone, holds a wealth of information that whets the appetite for what is to follow. The book does not fail to deliver on that promise.

I learned so much from reading this Framing Faith, but feel sure I’ll have to revisit its pages if I am to absorb everything that I read the first time around. If you love history or have an interest in the role of Catholicism in the settling of northeastern Pennsylvania, this is a must read. In my humble opinion this book is definitely a keeper.

Buy link:

http://tribute-books.com/shop.html#religion3

Tidbit: St. Joseph (Scranton, PA)

For his role in the formation of the Catherine McAuley House, a refuge for homeless women and children, St. Joseph's Father Ozalas was named a prelate of honor and elevated to Monsignor by Pope John Paul II.

Whimsically Plucky review

Whimsically Plucky
May 25, 2011

Framing Faith: a review
by Amanda Luckey

Tribute Books invited me to be a stop on their blog tour of the book Framing Faith: A Pictorial History of Communities of Faith. I am doing this without monetary compensation. I received a PDF copy of the book for my review.

Framing Faith: A Pictorial History of Communities of Faith is a collaboration of author Sarah Piccini, photographer Ivana Pavekla, and students of ARTS Engage.

As you know if you've read even one of my blog posts, I am not here to write reviews. However, when Tribute Books gave me the synopsis of this particular book, I couldn't say no. Having both Czech and Italian heritage, I was particularly interested in reading about the rich heritage of the churches built when European immigrants came to the area. It was humbling to read of the sacrifices they made: It may be hard to tithe sometimes, particularly when the economy is poor, but these families made so little and still gave so much in order to contribute to the building of these churches.

The book is short (the 96 page PDF included the index, acknowledgements, and title pages) but packed full of full-color photographs. My understanding is that the author recruited students to assist with the photography, which I think is a great concept - it's neat to see different photographers' idea of which pieces of the church should be immortalized.

Quite honestly, many of the architectural styles of the churches photographed didn't "do it" for me. In some cases, the statuary and grounds of the church were lovely, but the altar itself was very plain. This isn't the fault of the book, of course, but my preference is to see a beautiful church with an even more beautiful and ornate altar. Most of the churches, though, are beautiful, and the photographs highlight both the vast sanctuaries and the intricate details of the churches. I was particularly struck by Immaculate Conception, which has an unassuming exterior but gorgeous woodwork inside the sanctuary.

Photography is not my field of expertise by any stretch, but I did find that a few of the photos had awkward composition. Most of the photography is amazing; only a scant few photos had me turning my head and trying to figure out what, exactly, I was looking at.

My favorite highlighted church was St. Mary of Czestochowa in Scranton, Pennsylvania. How sad that the church literally rose from the ashes when the original building was destroyed by fire, only to be closed (presumably permanently) in 2009.

I loved reading the stories of how these churches were founded. I would have liked to know why they closed, but I'm assuming that the goal of the author was to bring these churches to light and focus on their heritage rather than to go into detail on their closing. I'd also love some more information on some of the more ambiguous photographs (why is there an old red phone booth outside Our Lady of Czestochowa?! Maybe it just ended up there somehow, but I imagine a fascinating background story!).

Overall, this book would be a welcome addition to my coffee table, if said table were not already occupied by a half-dozen My Little Pony toys and yesterday's forgotten sippy cup. It was both inspiring and sad to read about the churches that were built with so much love and sacrifice but have since closed. I appreciate the opportunity to review this book and thank Tribute Books for their consideration.

Day by Day in Our World review

Day by Day in Our World
May 25, 2011

Framing Faith, a review
by Laura O'Neill

Today I have a different type of book to share about with my readers. It isn’t fictional and it is not from the realm of homeschooling material, either.

No, today I am sharing about a book titled Framing Faith by Sarah Piccini with photography by Ivana Pavelka & the ARTS engage students. My best description of this non-fiction work is that of a historical reference. The author and photographers have captured the stories and photos of ten parishes now closed in the Scranton Diocese located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Their efforts have led to the preservation of this rich history where for many people the church was the hub of their community.

For someone who did not grow up in an older community with strong cultural delineations, I found the numerous Catholic churches in some areas around the Northeastern US to seem strange. Even after I discovered that you might find 2 Catholic churches on the same block because they represented 2 different cultural communities (say Irish and Italian!), I still found it boggled my mind. It is often those types of situations that ultimately end in the ethnic parishes being closed during restructurings from lack of financial or pastoral support (aka no priest to be assigned.)

Before even delving into the specific churches chronicled for this piece, there are introductions by both the photographer Ivana Pavelka who shares about bringing students into the project as well as some background on the church as the center point of immigrant communities as share by the author. She includes a bit about key features of all churches, so that one might see how even a building deemed shabby by one has the same underlying features of the most grandiose churches. This is then rounded out with a history of Scranton and how the community grew.

Then, the reader is treated to a chapter per parish being preserved in this text. Within each chapter is the story of how the specific church came into being along with other stories of its history. Interspersed throughout the text are gorgeous photos of the church itself, including images of the statues or stained glass windows gracing it.

I have to admit a bit of sadness welling up inside as I read through each chapter. Hearing the rich history of each parish and seeing the beauty of each structure made it challenging for me to accept that they are no more. However, it is some comfort to know that someone saw the need to document the history of the ten parishes so they may not be forgotten. And, I will admit it has me yearning to visit older churches again. Sadly, that is not something that can really happen up here in the Anchorage, Alaska area as most structures are not much older than I am. But, I can savor my memories of visiting similar churches while living in Maryland and visiting up in to Delaware.

While this book is preserving the history of the Diocese of Scranton, the stories told and images shared can resonate with any lover of history or architecture. Maybe other dioceses will be inspired to do similar works to preserve their history for future generations. The immigrants who built these churches did so with great sacrifice and deserve to have the fruit of their labor remembered.

Framing Faith retails for $24.95 in paperback and is published by Tribute Books. You can also purchase in different electronic formats for $2.99 to $4.99 depending upon the format.

Sober Catholic review

Sober Catholic
May 25, 2011

Framing Faith
by Paul S.

Tribute Books has asked me to review another book they are publishing, this time it is “Framing Faith” written by Sarah Piccini with photography by Ivana Pavelka and “ARTS Engage!”

To quote from the synopsis:

“Framing Faith tells the story of the faith of immigrants and their descendants, spotlighting ten Catholic churches in the Diocese of Scranton that were closed due to restructuring. The churches … have rich ethnic heritages. They are Polish, Slovak, Italian, German, and Lithuanian parishes with long traditions and deep roots. Each church was founded by immigrant groups who came to the coal fields of the Lackawanna Valley with little more than their faith in God. Their churches served as the center of the community and touchstones of the Old Country. “Framing Faith” traces their histories from small beginnings through baptisms, weddings and funerals to their final celebrations. Throughout the text are images from each church, visual reminders of what was for many an important part of their lives.

I was originally going to post this review on Mother’s Day, as that was my personal tie-in to reviewing the book. I usually only review books that may have something to do with the scope of this blog. However, I was unable to meet the deadline due to some things going on in my “real life” away from blogging and other online activity. Why Mother’s Day? Because my Mom and Dad grew up in the Scranton, Pennsylvania area and although none of the churches I recall them ever mentioning are among those closing, this still hits home a bit.

The Catholic Church in the United States is restructuring. Churches are closing due to declining membership as people move away from the cities and out to other areas. The churches never recognized the need to evangelize the urban populations surrounding them, and as a result, Catholic parishes close and are boarded up, or are turned into non-Catholic churches. Anyway, the nature of the Church changes.

This is important in some manner to this blog as an authentic Catholic identity is critical one’s spiritual development. Membership in a parish is basic to the practice of the Faith, it provides a home and a framework for a person’s relationship to the greater Church as a whole.

The Introduction to “Framing Faith” provides an excellent glimpse into this idea, as it details the history of the Diocese of Scranton and the creation, growth, and development of the immigrant ethnic Catholic parishes. We see how important to the lives of Catholics these parishes were, how they were a means of social support in the decades before government charity. In addition, they were a means of maintaining a cultural identity in the times before “diversity” became an abused ideology.

Which makes it sad that certain parishes are closing. And why “Framing Faith” is an important book documenting by words and pictures the history and architectural styles of these parishes. Architecture is a means of creative expression, and how members of a Catholic parish or Christian denomination build their house of worship gives a very good indication of their concept of God and their own relationship to Him.

Generations of hard, faithful work by people long ago is now passing away. Who knows what will become of these closed churches. This is a shame, and makes us wonder at the survival of our our patrimony. Will our parishes be around 100 years from now. Will they be mourned? Will current parish members learn from the closure of churches and seek to instill an evangelical vitality so that in the event of demographic and geographic change, the parishes will survive and not be forgotten?

We must not fail in learning from the failures of the past. Get a copy of “Framing Faith”, marvel at the beauty of these churches and wonder just how could they be closing?

The book’s website: Framing Faith

Facebook: Framing Faith

To buy it: Shop Tribute Books Online

Tidbit: Holy Family (Scranton, PA)

In a letter to the parish marking Holy Family's centennial, Bishop James C. Timlin wrote: "From the dedication 10 decades ago to the present, its families have worshiped, received the sacraments and lived their baptismal promises in that parish."

The Garden Gate review

The Garden Gate
May 23, 2011

Book Review: Framing Faith
by Georgiann

Framing Faith is a wonderful book! This book is bittersweet but needed to be written and photos taken! As a Catholic it is sad to see an era of traditional style churches being torn down!
This book Framing Faith is a true treasure and did a awesome job to preserve forever, history of early Catholic immigrants with beautiful photos. This book is a must have for all Catholics and non Catholics alike! Well done!!!