My Queen, My Mother

I loved this book.  It was packed full of information on various Marian shrines in the United States.  The author focused on places that I had never heard about right here in the USA. Her love for the Blessed Mother is inspiring and I recommend to anyone who has felt Mary's presence in their life and to those who want to feel her warm embrace. I like the fact that there were prayers included so you could do your own Novena. 

I think Catholics in America, whether they are young or old would enjoy reading this book. 

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.

This book is more than simply a novena of prayers: it's a pilgrimage memoir, travel guidebook, and prayer book all in one. Fenelon leads the reader on a journey around the USA, visiting 9 holy shrines to the Blessed Mother and sharing what makes each a unique and worthwhile place to visit and pray. Along the way, readers are guided through a novena of consecration to the Blessed Mother. The author ends by emphasizing the importance of regularly visiting holy shrines, as these are in danger of disappearing due to lack of visitors and funding. The book can be read over 9 days, weeks, or months - but I had a tough time stopping at the end of any single day's entry. Highly recommended.

This is the first book that I read by Marge Steinhage Fenelon, I have picked up a few others and not got around to reading them. After how quickly I devoured this volume that will not be the case for long. This book was so much more than I was expecting. I absolutely loved it. And living in Canada I am not likely to physically visit many of the shrines listed, but virtually through this book could. And I would love to see a book like this written about Marian Shrines in Canada. Each chapter of this book is a different day for a novena and a different Marian Shrine.

The sections in this book are:

Introduction:
Why a Marian Pilgrimage? 
Day One: Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche: St. Augustine, Florida
Day Two: National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor: New Orleans, Louisiana 
Day Three: St. Mary’s Mission and Museum: Stevensville, Montana 
Day Four: Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows: Starkenburg, Missouri 
Day Five: Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation: Carey, Ohio 
Day Six: The National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help: Champion, Wisconsin 
Day Seven: Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs: Auriesville, New York 
Day Eight: The House of Mary Shrine: Yankton, South Dakota 
Day Nine: Our Lady of Peace Shrine: Santa Clara, California 
Conclusion 
Appendix:
How to Pray the Rosary 
Notes 

However, this book is so much more than a simple prayer book or novena. This book is written mainly for Catholics in the United States, but Catholics from around the world will enjoy this volume. For the prayer, for the history, and for the different devotions to Mary from around America. I greatly enjoyed finding out about these sites, and the history and practices associated with them.

Marge states in the introduction:

"The idea started percolating in my brain as I watched the growing success of my book Our Lady, Undoer of Knots: A Living Novena. It seems that the notion of taking my reader on pilgrimage with me and then forming it into a novena had become contagious. I wanted to do it again, but this time I wanted to stay within my own country’s boundaries. I wanted to do something challenging and magnificent that would uncover the spiritual treasures of our United States and, in the process, help people to fall in love with our country again (or perhaps for the first time)."

And she does an amazing job of delivering on that goal. This book will be a great read for anyone with a devotion to Mary, for anyone wishing to deepen their devotion to Mary. And it is also excellent for anyone wanting to learn about these 9 Marian Shrines.

This was a book I read and loved. And it is a book I know I will read again. The devotion and love of Mary evident in Marge’s writing is inspiring. I give this book a very solid 5/5 stars. It is so worth the read!

I thoroughly enjoyed My Queen, My Mother, a sort of travel guide, reflective journal, history book, and prayer companion rolled into one!

Marge Fenelon's trek across nine novena-worthy Marian pilgrimage sites enlightened me to church and national history. The uniquely American flair of the sites and stories and the ways in which the author connected those to prayer for the United States is fresh and inspiring.

Though it's unlikely I'll visit most of these sites in person, I feel as if I've shared in their history and the devotion of countless pilgrims.

This book was such a blessing to me! I absolutely loved the author's way of writing. Being able to travel with the author, to see Our Lady through the author's eyes; it was just so wonderful. My own relationship with Mary grew with each chapter I read, and I happily highlighted and dog-eared all the pages that taught me, inspired me, moved me and helped me grow. I highly recommend this book. I truly can't recommend it enough. Such a treasure!

I loved the format of this book, very creative and powerful to be written as a novena. It inspires me to visit some of the shrines as well. Would make a lovely and inspiring gift for the Catholics in your life. I will read this again!