Catholic Exchange

As the mother of five children for the past thirty years, and as a personal friend of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Donna Marie Cooper O’Boyle has plenty of advice “from the trenches” to share with Catholic mothers, with all Christian mothers. In Grace Café: Serving up Recipes for Faithful Mothering, she offers mothers a method by which they can find a deep, enriching spiritual life, while remaining attentive to their families.

In Grace Café, Donna passes along the blessings and lessons of love which she has learned in her life on her spiritual and maternal journey, weaving it with much wisdom and love, offering encouragement, praise, camaraderie, and guidance. In her usual gentle and gracious manner, Donna speaks to women heart-to-heart and captures their full attention by dishing up delicious recipes for the mothers’ souls. She begins by inviting her readers to make themselves “a cozy cup of tea” and take a little time to refresh their souls.

And, refresh them she does!  From the moment I opened Grace Café to the moment I closed it, I felt as if I had been bathed in an abundance of graces which lifted up my heart and soul. Donna’s recipes are delectable and power-packed! Each chapter consists of various combinations of the following: enlightening excerpts from papal encyclicals on love and the family, brief passages from the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as the Holy Bible, penetrating quotes from some of my favorite saints (St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Augustine, St. John of the Cross, and many more), personal anecdotes, practical tips, spiritual poems on motherhood, mother’s miracle stories, prayers and so much more. This was truly a work of love that will lift up mothers in their vocations, help them see what their true role is according to God’s will, and encourage them in the challenging role they face in society today.

Some of the inspiring topics which Donna discusses in the book include: a mother’s call to holiness, self donation, making time for prayer, the grace of the present moment, the blessings involved in this beautiful vocation of love, discovering grace within suffering, saintly inspirations, and evangelizing the household and the world.

Grace Café was primarily written for mothers, but I believe that it is appropriate reading material for all those who plan to be mothers one day — both Catholic and non-Catholic Christian women — and would be a wonderful supplement for: pre-Cana classes, marriage encounter groups, adult education, NFP groups/classes, Christian/Catholic women’s groups, and book discussion groups. For anyone who is planning to be a mother, this is an excellent gift. I highly recommend Grace Café: Serving up Recipes for Faithful Mothering; it is a delectable dish that mothers will delight in and want to savor for years to come.