Writing seems to run in the Roy household’s bloodstream.
This spring, B.C. Catholic columnist Colleen Roy and her 17- and 10-year-old sons became first-time authors and creators of three new publications.
The Roy home became a flurry in February and March as the three writers published an activity book, a collection of journals, and a chapter book on the beauty and depth of Catholic tradition and the natural world.
All their efforts, Roy said, aim to draw readers into the joy and truth of their faith.
“Catholics need to bring things that are about the faith – that are beautiful, that are joyful – into their daily life,” not only during the sacramental seasons.
All three books started out as personal projects. The first, published in February, was My First Communion Activity Book, and it came about when Roy, a homeschooling mom of six, had the idea to create an activity book following the chapters laid out in the St. Joseph First Communion Catechism.
That particular catechism “is very straightforward and very old school and all the conversations we’ve had from it have had beautiful fruit in our home,” Roy said.
One quiet evening, she sat down to design a few chapters that had been swimming in her mind. Her 10-year-old son, Thomas, slid in beside her to watch and was soon offering suggestions and volunteering to create a word search.
“It became a dual project,” she said. “It was a lot of fun.”
They created the activity book together and released it on Amazon. Through word of mouth alone they have sold 150 copies and received piles of positive feedback from families who are purchasing the book as gifts for children preparing for First Communion or as homeschooling material.
Just as it was created, it was meant to be completed with parents and children working together.
The project has given Thomas “a sense of confidence that he really can create something that is important and that is realistic, not just to other kids but to families on a whole,” said Roy.
“It gave him a sense of pride in knowing his faith at his age level. He has something to contribute; he has something to teach.”
In March, the Roy home added more books to their Amazon publishing efforts. Elijah, 17 years old with a passion for graphic design, started creating Mass journals just for fun. He created the interior design for a 99-page notebook and then several covers to choose from. Some covers are his own artwork and others are images of saints, but all of them are aimed at inviting young people to bring their faith into the ordinariness of note-taking.
“It’s been an awesome experience seeing him express his love of the faith and use his artistic talents to create something beautiful,” said Roy.
So far he has sold 70 journals to students preparing for sacraments and even to university students.
Again in March, Roy published her own first book, titled Honey from the Rock: Feasts, Flowers, Blessings, and Bees in a Post-Eden Garden.
“God is constantly reaching out to us through truth, goodness, and beauty,” she said. “It was written because I see a growing sense of families wanting to bring the old traditions of the church back into their homes,” and many of these are inspired by the beauty of the created world.
From the patron saint of beekeepers to the blessing of herbs, Colleen writes short chapters that draw on little-known bits of Church history. She shares images of flowers with Marian names, recipes for dandelions, and stories that reflect on the beauty of the created world, God’s hand in it, and how Catholics through history have responded.
“If you have a moment to be silent and you have something to wonder about, you’re always going to be drawn closer to God.”
Her book has received high praise from various circles.
“Beautiful photos of nature, family, religious themes, spiritual writing, articles, Church fathers, poetry, prayers … your work brings out the richness of Catholicism as it is lived and meant to be lived,” said Father David Bellusci, OP, a professor at Catholic Pacific College in Langley.
Canadian author and novelist Michael O’Brien called it an “extraordinary treasure.”
The Poor Clare sisters in Mission described it as a “treasure from cover to cover, with so much beauty, art, words, that give life, healing, and help our journey of faith and holiness, til we arrive at the source of ‘Honey from the Rock.’”
The title Honey from the Rock comes from passages in Deuteronomy and the Psalms that use the phrase. “To give honey from the rock, how is that possible? Something beautiful, something sweet, something that sustains you, from a dry, dusty place,” she said.
“God refers to himself as the rock, crying out to us, saying, ‘come back to me, I would feed you with honey from the rock.’”
Honey from the Rock, My First Communion Activity Book, and the Mass journals can be found on Amazon.ca by searching the authors’ names.
Your voice matters! Join the conversation by submitting a Letter to the Editor here.