Literature's New Evangelists
Along with the papacy’s radical new image come stirrings in the wider Catholic world—and, certainly, within independent Catholic presses. Some of the most interesting movement can be noted from a press whose books we’ve featured often in the past, Ave Maria Press, whose mission is both educational and ministerial.
Intrigued by Ave Maria’s involvement with new trends both in publishing and in theology—the publication of the adult coloring book The Mysteries of the Rosary caught our eye—we decided to ask Ave Maria’s Stephanie Sibal about how their trends align with the Church’s evolution.
Can you tell us a little bit about Ave Maria’s mission, and how your recent titles reflect that?
Stephanie Sibal: 'Our mission is to serve [those] seeking spiritual nourishment.'
Ave Maria Press is a leader in publishing Catholic high school textbooks, parish resources, and books on prayer and spirituality. Our mission is to serve the spiritual and formative needs of the Church and its schools, institutions, and ministers, Christian individuals and families, and others seeking spiritual nourishment. We are an apostolate of the Congregation of Holy Cross, United States Conference of Priests and Brothers, and we share the vision that we are educators in the faith, helping people to know, love, and serve God by spreading the gospel through our books and other resources.
Every one of our books—from our forthcoming textbook, Jesus Christ: His Mission and Ministry, and our new marriage preparation program, Joined by Grace, to our two new Catholicmom.com series books, The Catholic Mom’s Prayer Companion and Mary’s Way—fulfill that mission and vision by providing valuable spiritual resources to people of the Church.
How, if at all, have Pope Francis’s very popular new foci impacted Ave Maria’s titles/selection process?
Many of our books fit themes that Pope Francis has addressed during his pontificate—the New Evangelization and the connection between marriage and the sacraments, for example. He also has mentioned the Lord of the World as a book worth reading–we republished that classic work this spring.*
And at the end of the year, we are releasing a compilation of all of Pope Francis’s major writings—The Complete Encyclicals, Bulls, and Apostolic Exhortations, Volume One. It’s the first time all of his major writings have been released as a single source.
You have a rosary coloring book coming out. Is there something about the intricacy of adult coloring books that makes them uniquely suited to a practice like saying the rosary?
Repetition of the prayers that make up the rosary helps to create a contemplative awareness of its mysteries…coloring Daniel Mitsui’s stunning and detailed images will also help readers to concentrate on and open their hearts to the truths behind the beautiful Catholic tradition of the rosary.
One of your upcoming titles, Witness, is about sharing one’s spirituality with others; several others focus specifically on women’s spirituality. How would Ave Maria respond to those who might be surprised to find these emphases coming from a Catholic press?
Pope Francis has emphasized the importance of women to the Church throughout his pontificate. In addition, women are more often the nurturers of faith formation in the family. It’s also no surprise that statistics show women read more often than men.
It’s important for Ave Maria Press to provide women the resources they need to be active members in the Church community and to foster the faith within themselves and their families. And all of us are called to participate in the new evangelization…effectively sharing your faith story with others is one small part of that.
How does Ave Maria connect with new or prospective authors?
In a variety of ways. Like all publishers, we receive unsolicited manuscripts, but mainly our editors look for writers who are engaged in their faith, have a strong platform, and address timely or important issues. Editors sometimes come up with an idea for a book and approach authors who would best address those ideas. They also attend various conferences throughout the year to connect with authors, teachers, catechists, parish staff, and religious.
What upcoming titles are you particularly excited about?
We are really excited about the two adult coloring books by Daniel Mitsui: The Mysteries of the Rosary, as well as The Saints, which will be released in November.
We are also releasing a new marriage preparation program called Joined by Grace. What makes this program unique is that it is a marriage prep based on all seven sacraments—coincidentally something that Pope Francis has advocated. It’s a joint effort with authors John and Teri Bosio and Spirit Juice Studios, which produced the supplemental video for the project using real Catholic couples as well as experts.
Michelle Anne Schingler is associate editor at Foreword Reviews. You can follow her on Twitter @mschingler or e-mail her at mschingler@forewordreviews.com.
Michelle Anne Schingler
