Sunday, January 11, 2009

Review: The Beauty of Grace Calendar


I think I've said before that I'm hazy on the whole concept of indulgences. Oh, I get the big picture but applying it to my life and circumstances is something that I have a tenuous hold on at best.

This 2009 Calendar of Indulgences logically lays out the foundation and understanding of indulgences and then follows that up with monthly information about opportunities. As well, they continue with education by featuring quote from saints, defenses of Catholic concepts such as veneration of Mary, and prayers. Calendar days are marked with saints days and handy reminders about regular practices like confession. It is all excellent information and would be welcome in any Catholic home.

At this point it is only fair to mention that I have an extremely high standard when it comes to design and production. In fact, there is a certain cookbook which I cannot bring myself to open because the terrible layout causes me such pain.

This calendar is not in that category but definitely could have benefited from a more subtle hand in the layout. Generally layout is perfectly adequate and the friends I showed it to did not wince the way that our household did when they were viewing it.Shadows are not necessary nearly as often or as dark. Certainly the printer's logo need not be on every page. The back cover would surely suffice. Lighter colors could have been used practically everywhere in order to better enhance the monthly photos of lovely Church murals. They are still lovely, to be sure, but the overall layout tends to distract from them.

As I said, these layout problems are in this viewer's eye and probably will not be noticed by the regular calendar user. This is an excellent educational and informational calendar and I definitely recommend it.

This review was written as part of The Catholic Company product reviewer program. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on 2009 Calendar of Indulgences.

Other Catholic Company reviews may be found here. You can find all active reviews of this product here.


No comments:

Post a Comment