How the Church Has Changed the World by Anthony Esolen

I've become a big fan of Anthony Esolen's essays from his daily posts at Word & Song. In particular the Word of the Week essay every Monday is always an engaging, wide-ranging reflection on the word from personal experience, far-flung sources, scientific or historical links, and, finally, etymology - the origin of the word itself.

When I came across this series collecting monthly essays he'd originally written for Magnificat I was excited to see that the same captivating, wide-ranging style was used. Quite often I'd find myself thinking, "Oh this is definitely about this well known saint" only to find that I was reading about someone I'd never heard of. Although that "well known saint" might have been best friends with the subject of the piece.

Esolen ranges across time and around the world to show us the many ways that the love of Christ has been expressed by the Church through history — in art, song, customs, and people. Each book has twelve essays and they make wonderful daily reading — if you can hold yourself down to one a day. I couldn't!