An Exquisite Book for Everyday Saints
Sylvie Vanhoozer’s The Art of Living in Season
“Perhaps this way of living in season—observing the special seasons of the church, the ordinary seasons of nature, and the varying seasons of life alike—is the highway of our pilgrimage that leads us home.”
Sylvie Vanhoozer, The Art of Living in Season
For my final semester of Mentored Formation, my formation need was patience/temperance, and my cognitive resource was The Art of Living in Season: A Year of Reflections for Everyday Saints.
This book has been rightly described as entirely original, charming, reflective, and a work of art. Vanhoozer is a native of Provence in southern France, and her childhood memories of the traditional Provençal crèche (nativity scene) form an exceptionally unique background to her reflections on the church calendar, Christian discipleship, and the seasons of creation and life.
The people of the crèche are called santons—“little saints”—and each one has an ordinary, yet unique gift to bring the Christ child. Vanhoozer introduces readers to each santon and encourages reflection on what modern everyday saints can offer him, not just at Christmas but throughout the year.
The Art of Living in Season immediately appealed to me as I have recently begun my own journey through the liturgical calendar. I learned of it through A Rocha, a global, Christian environmental group committed to restorative creation care. I see why they recommended it so highly. Vanhoozer seamlessly weaves church calendar with attention and respect to creation, along with her own stories and beautiful insights from a lifetime of pilgrimage—from the hills of Provence, to England and Scotland, and finally to the United States. She reflects often on the true meaning of home and discipleship, and how everyday saints can be moving yet rooted because we are ultimately rooted in Christ.
Her husband, Kevin Vanhoozer, is a well known theologian and author. He wrote the forward and the last paragraph is a nice summary:
“What’s an everyday saint to do?” The question appears as a refrain in every chapter. It is Sylvie‘s way of helping readers think about what it means to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). So come, join the pilgrimage. And as you do, practice the art of living in season. Learn how to be at home, in Christ, in 10,000 places, both strange and familiar.”
The book is beautifully illustrated with Sylvie’s own artwork. Colorful santons and various flowers, herbs, fruits, and vegetables add visual appeal and delight. She knows her local environment well and encourages readers to live in relationship with the earth by cooking and eating locally and in season. Some of the little saints in the crèche bring food as their offering to baby Jesus, which she reflects on in one of my favorite chapters: “At the Table: The Art of Restauration.” She unpacks the fascinating story behind restaurants—originally called “health houses” because food is meant to restore.
“In the land of my ancestors, the term restauration can refer either to the restaurant business or to a process of restoration and renewal (the English word restoration comes from the same Latin root, passed through French.)
Legend has it that the origin of the restaurant dates to pre-revolutionary days in France when the people relieved their hunger due to the scarcity of food by buying broth from street peddlers…Broth was able to sustain them, even when there was precious little to go with it, hence the idiom long comme un jour sans pain (as long as a day without bread), still used to today when the French are faced with a discouraging wait…according to French lore, streets broths became so popular that some enterprising individuals opened establishments where one could sip a bowl of broth while sitting down. These modest facilities were soon called maisons de santé (health houses). The trend caught on. Today we know them as restaurants: a place to be restored.”
There really is something for everyone in this book. Not only does she address the seasons of creation and the church calendar (and how to eat restoratively), she also reflects on family, gardening, the seasons of life and aging, and the value of every vocation, no matter how ordinary. It is heartwarming and inspiring to learn from the little saints—faithful disciples who simply bring to Christ what they have from their ordinary, everyday lives and work.
Each chapter also provides prayers and suggestions for reflection and practicing the art of living in season, which is not always easy in our modern society of hurry and convenience. Living in season really is an art, and art requires patience and practice. So, what is an everyday saint to do? This book is a wonderful place to start.
I loved your description of this book. Just yesterday I was reading Trevor Hudson's book on Advent, and highlighted this: "I’ve heard people say that genuine saints are always hidden. In the solitude, in the ordinary, and in the unspectacular, they work on their relationship with God in ways that others may not notice. Even so, by focusing on who God would have them be, they shine, bringing the light of God into the world. May we aspire to do the same." In other words, may we aspire to be like the "little saints" you've mentioned here. May we weave Christ into our vocations and avocations, into our words and our worship.
I've mentioned the eerie coincidences in our readings, and here it was again: I recently discovered A Rocha too. I loved the work they do, and look forward to contributing to their efforts in some way. Through A Rocha, I didn't end up in "The Art of Living in Season," but in "A Place at the Table," by the cofounder of A Rocha and her daughter. It's high on my reading list. And so is "The Art of Living in Season" now. Thank you. :)