The Weight of a Mass: A Tale of Faith (The Theological Virtues Trilogy)
Hardcover – Picture Book, June 1, 2002
Description
From School Library Journal Kindergarten-Grade 3-This gentle tale celebrates the power of the Mass in the Roman Catholic faith. A shabby, penniless old woman enters the baker's shop as he is preparing luscious creations for the king's wedding, which is about to take place in the city cathedral. Few are expected to attend, however, because the populace has grown cold and neglectful about their faith. When the baker refuses to give the old woman even a crust of stale bread, she offers to say a Mass for him, in exchange for food. Scoffing, he writes "One Mass" on a tiny piece of paper, places it on his scale, and tries to overbalance it with heaps of his finest pastries, but to no avail. The Mass outweighs them all. Chastened, he and his customers hurry to the cathedral to renew the practice of their beliefs at their monarch's marriage. The text, which was inspired by an actual event recounted by a priest in Luxembourg, is written in a lilting, storytelling style and teaches its lesson sweetly. Double-page spreads of warm-toned watercolors are filled with swirling action and show charming, doll-like people in Victorian dress. Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. “Lilting storytelling style. Charming.” — School Library Journal “Wholly beautiful! For those of us with a religious background—or none!” — Kirkus Reviews From the Publisher American Booksellers Association "Picks List" Winner of a 2004 Parents' Choice Recommended Award Josephine Nobisso is the author of over 100 books including Take It to the Queen , and Francis Woke Up Early . She lives in Italy and Portugal. Miss Nobisso is a Dame in the chivalric, Papal, and royal brotherhood of Saint Michael of the Wing, invested by the Duke of Braganza. She was named "Distinguished Graduate" by The National Catholic Education Society, and "Friend of Education" by the society of honored teachers, Delta Kappa Gamma. Katalin Szegedi has illustrated numerous children’s books and was awarded the Most Beautiful Children’s Book Award by the Society of Hungarian Publishersxa0and Distributors. Read more
Features & Highlights
- When a poor devout widow begs for a scrap of bread from a rich faithless baker, she promises to participate in the king’s wedding mass as payment for the baker’s generosity. The baker writes “One Mass” on a scrap of paper and places it on his scale to determine how much bread it is worth. To his and the entire town’s surprise, nothing in the shop, not even the gigantic wedding cakes made for the king, outweighs the simple piece of paper representing the true worth of a mass. Luminous old-world watercolor paintings grace the interior of the book and gold foil artwork lends an air of solemnity and sacred beauty to the story. This has been a best-selling children's book since it was first published. It us often made into plays for catechises, or used in homilies, and read on YouTube, and on private sites and channels.
