I will soon be the proud owner of a signed copy of My Cousin the Saint: A search for Faith, Family and Miracles which is a new book by Justin Catanoso.
I won this prize over at Bleeding Espresso as Michelle randonly chose a comment on her blog. We had to ask a question, and I hope that the author answers mine! I asked him if he thinks the Vatican is a hypocrite. The author's extended cousin was a saint, so I assume lived his life in poverty while trying to help those around him (I'll know soon enough when I read the book.) These days I think the catholic religion is a sham as on one side you have people like this guys saintly cousin doing good for the world, and then on the other side you have the Vatican being one of the richest countries in the world...and the Pope doing nothing but preach to the masses whilst wearing more gold jewellery then I have ever seen.
But anyway, grazie Michelle! And I look forward to reviewing this book once I have read it.
10 comments:
Congratulations!
Hi Scintilla,
Thanks! I have not won anything for so long!
Ciao Leanne,
Congratulations on winning my book. Given you Italian heritage, I do believe you will feel, in some ways and in some parts, as if you are reading your own story not merely mine.
Yours was an intriguing question that I did not address. Your feelings on this may be stronger than mine. There are many problems and incongruities with all religions. The Catholic church surely has its share. There are, in fact, many political stands the church adheres to that I strongly oppose. But church politics and Vatican policy is not the subject of my book, and it was never the focus of my cousin's life. His commitment to faith and service was undiluted and unaffected by the church's problems in his day. I trust you will see that when you read My Cousin the Saint. I hope you enjoy it.
Justin Catanoso
www.justincatanoso.com
Hi Justin,
Thanks for the comments. I really do look forward to reading the book, especially as you said above - with my Italian blood, and the fact that my dad was born in Calabria I think that there may be some parts of the novel that I identify with! I am not going to read it until I am in Calabria in a few weeks! What could be better then reading it in the region that it was partly written!
Leanne -- If you visit Reggio during your time in Calabria, please try to visit the church of Padre Gaetano Catanoso on Via Catanoso in the Santo Spirito section of the city. It's a modest church, but his nuns will welcome you warmly and there's a small museum with artifacts from his life on the first floor. The modern mosaic on the altar wall of the sanctuary is also quite beautiful.
Justin
Congrats Leanne! I look forward to your review.
By the way, I tagged you! See my blog for the rules.
Hi Justin,
If I make it to Reggio I will go and visit the church. It would be interesting, especially once I have read the book.
Hi Piccola,
Hmmm...a tag! Sounds interesting, I'll pop over and check it out!
Congrats girl! Looking forward to seeing you in Calabria :)
Hi Michelle,
Thanks again. I look forward to see you in Calabria too!
My grandmother was born in the Spirito Santo neighborhood in 1881 (villagio Spirito Santo no. 201). I will be visiting the area in a couple of weeks for the first time and wondered:
(1) How long has the Church of St. Gaetano Catanoso been there? He would have been a "contemporary" of my grandmother and I was curious if she may have been christened/baptized there, but would assume it would have had a different name at the time, if it was indeed around in the late 1800's.
(2) Does anyone know if there is an "address" archive of some kind to know where "no. 201" would have been? It was destroyed in the earthquake of 1908, but I'd love to visit the spot if I knew where it was. I understand there were not street names, per se, at the time, those came after the earthquake in the rebuilding.
Thank you for any input.
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