Sarah Piccini's Framing Faith

Sarah Piccini's book, Framing Faith: A Pictorial History of Communities of Faith, is an enjoyable book that I found to be extremely rewarding to read. The book delves into the influence of faith in the lives of Catholic immigrants to the North Eastern part of Pennsylvania during the late 1800's and the early 1900's. It took me back to my high schools days, and visiting Pennsylvania Dutch Country, and feeling a sense of awe in how religion influences communities. This book goes into a brief history and overview of 10 Catholic churches with an amazing array of photos by photographer Ivana Pavelka. It also has a basic layout of how most Catholic Churches are arranged, and what different items are and what they mean to Catholics.

The beautiful work of photographer Ivana Pavelka, and her students from the ARTS Engage! program are simply breathtaking.

I sat and actually let my children look at the wonderful display of the history of these churches, and they recognized some of the items and statuary. This would be a great family book to snuggle up with!

I would recommend this book to someone who loves history, particularly if they like religious history. These memories will now live on in the hearts and minds of those in that part of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and in the hard work of Sarah Piccini, Ivana Pavelka, and the Lackawanna Historical Society, just to name a few.

Here are a couple of pictures from the book: