Humanity abides by seasons. Throughout life, we move seamlessly from one season to the next: from infancy to childhood, adolescence to adulthood, middle age to our elder years. Likewise, we live within nature’s own seasonal rhythm—winter, spring, summer, and autumn—each shaping how we eat, celebrate, dress, and even how we decorate our homes.
Yet for Catholics, there is a deeper rhythm still: the liturgical seasons of the Church.
As we settle into the liturgical season of Lent, we come upon the Ember Days of spring. Ember Days offer another way to live seasonally, as we experience how both the natural and liturgical seasons coincide with one another.
A Life Shaped by Seasons
We learn a bit more about Ember Days, as well as seasonal living, in the newly released book Feast, Faith, Flourish: Holistic Wellness in Light of Eternity. Written by the women behind The Ember Journal, a seasonal print magazine devoted to holistic wellbeing, Feast, Faith, Flourish gathers nearly four years of reflections into a single, carefully-curated volume.
The content includes what has most resonated with the magazine’s readers, including meditations on liturgical living, seasonal food lists and recipes, and practical guidance for caring for the body. Designed to be revisited over time, the book functions as a thoughtful companion for intentional living, as we simultaneously steward our wellness, honor the natural world, and abide by the Church’s calendar.
Health Without Idolatry
The book opens with “Health in the 21st Century,” which summarizes key contributions to the modern health crisis, including toxins and soil depletion. It also suggests ways to choose the best options for proper nutrition and other factors that contribute to an overall healthy lifestyle, such as sleep and movement. Despite the content’s focus on health, it is evident that the authors avoid the temptation to idolize it through a rigid fixation on diet and exercise. This opening sets the tone for the entire book: one that offers a balanced approach and tangible guidance that emphasize a lifestyle rooted in natural, God-given rhythms of life.
Feast, Faith, and Flourish: A Structure Shaped by Time
From there, the book unfolds under three themes: Feast, Faith, and Flourish, and is organized by the natural seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter. The variety of content within each season spans from theological insights and faith-based meditations to practical discussions about sunlight, decorating with sacred art, gratitude, movement, and rest.
Each season highlights liturgical themes, including feast day celebrations and beautiful reflections on the mysteries of the Rosary, alongside seasonal food lists, recipes, and natural processes that unfold during a specific given time. For instance, the spring chapter discusses topics such as fasting to coincide with Lent but also as a health benefit. Gardening tips and traditions surrounding Saint Joseph’s Day are also included.
At the heart of Feast, Faith, Flourish is a vision of seasonal living firmly grounded in the liturgical year, consistently framing natural rhythms within the Church’s vision of time as ordered toward eternity. Likewise, discussions about caring for the body and its various complexities, such as digestion, blood sugar regulation, and stress reduction are conveyed not as self-improvement projects, but as acts of stewardship. The book is visually stunning with soft, inviting photographs that compliment the reflective tone of the text.
A Gentle Invitation to Attentive Living
Importantly, the book does not offer a prescriptive program or rigid rule of life. Readers seeking quick results may find its pace too gentle and unstructured, but for Catholic women longing to integrate faith, wellness, and the rhythms of the Church more deeply into daily life, the approach will be a welcome invitation.
Feast, Faith, Flourish ultimately encourages readers to live more intentionally within the natural and liturgical seasons, always with an eye toward the eternal feast that has no end.
Sarah Damm is the blog manager and a writer for Blessed Is She. She also is a frequent contributor to other faith-based platforms. Residing in Minnesota with her husband and six children, Sarah was a stay-at-home mom for 21 years, until she returned to the workforce in 2023. Sarah enjoys attending her kids' volleyball, football, basketball, or baseball games (depending on the season). She loves her faith, coffee, walks with her husband, and good books. Read Sarah's posts here. You can find out more about her here.
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