The Weight of a Mass: A Tale of Faith

by Josephine Nobisso

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0940112108
• ISBN13: 9780940112100
• Release Date: June 2002
• Publisher: Gingerbread House
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.1" x 11.5"
• Age Range: 5 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Excellent

My three and five year olds love this book. Beautifully illustrated, with a wonderful storyline.

Beautiful

Kids ask to read it over and over!

Beauty and Substance

Exquisitely written and illustrated, "The Weight of a Mass" is a rare gem of a book that will be appreciated by all ages and even all faiths, because though the theme is Christian, it speaks of the importance of God in our lives, and the triumph of faith over secularism. The story is based on an event that is said to have occurred in a Luxembourg butcher shop a few generations ago. In this telling it is placed in a bakery, as Jesus our Lord is the Bread of Life, and there are many other symbolic aspects to the tale, which increase our interest, and add freshness to the story every time we read it. Josephine Nobisso, the author of many books and winner of numerous awards, writes in a lucid style with a rich and varied vocabulary. Not only will this lovely book bolster your child's faith, it will also increase his knowledge and usage of the English language, something that is hard to find these days, and it is one of the many reasons to own this book. Katalin Szegedi began her career as an illustrator in her native Hungary in 1991, and her art that accompanies this story is marvelous in its expressiveness and technical skill. There is a grace and sense of movement in the figures, intricate patterns in the clothing, and terrific perspective and detailing in the architectural structures. The subtle colors are also beautifully balanced and contrasted. I especially like the depiction of the baker's son, who has a lively sweetness in his eyes and mouth, and a lovable innocence. "The Weight of a Mass" has won several awards, and it will touch your heart and lift your spirit. The quality of the book is excellent, with thick semi-gloss paper and sturdy construction for both the hardcover and paperback editions. Inspired and full of beauty, "The Weight of a Mass" is a worthy book choice for the children in your life.

Delightful! Ten stars!

'The Weight of a Mass' might well have been the title of a dry and dusty tome of physics, something that lists values in tables how much certain things weigh. This is at the heart of the deliberate pun in the title - weight can indeed be a physical attribute (the pull of gravity on an object, being weighed on a scale, as the metaphor is embodied in this text) but also the moral, ethical and spiritual weight we give to things that matter in our lives. This is a fable in the true sense of the word - it is a story that stands by itself as a good tale, but the meanings throughout add depth and breadth, and, appropriately this case, weight. It is ostensibly a book for children, but will also delight adults who have a care for the meaning found in sacraments, liturgy, parables and narratives. Narrative theology, the understanding of God and our relationship with God inherent and expressed in story form, has long been a favourite of mine. Parables of Jesus are a key example of this, but children's stories and fairy tales of many cultures have also carried the burden of conveying meaning through accessible and memorable situations and images. Few who read or hear the story of the Good Samaritan forget it, as the images transcend the simple plot into much more meaningful applications across time and cultures. The same is true for this story. The idea in Josephine Nobisso's story is simple at first glance - there is a prominent baker in the town who is rather stingy. A widow comes, seeking a few scraps of bread, and gets rebuffed by the baker. She promises to dedicate her hearing of the mass to him, at which point he mocks her belief and decides to put this to the test, literally testing the weight of 'one mass', written on a small piece of paper, against the goods in his shop. The imagery is readily accessible - bread is used in communion service, and this is what the baker makes. However, the bread the baker makes somehow becomes something different weighed against the paper; it literally changes into something unexpected, and indeed, the weight of 'one mass' is something that cannot be calculated by the baker's scale, efficient and official though it might be. There are various characters in the story who symbolise different people in our regular lives. The baker-shop story is actually a story within a story (another well-established biblical tradition), the larger story being the preparation for a royal wedding, in which the baker features as the provider of the wedding cake. The baker's son represents a person with vocation to service, charity, and possibly priesthood. The book is available in both hardback, paperback, and in Spanish. In each case, the printing and production values are very high; the colours are deep and rich without being overpowering, with wonderful graphics by Katalin Szegedi, whose work has won her native Hungary's 'Most Beautiful Children's Book' prize. Nobisso has been awarded the Delta Kappa Gamma 'Frie

Good, Beautiful and True

Beautifully written and illustrated, "The Weight of a Mass: A Tale of Faith" is a great story based on an existing legend. It is set in the style of a fairy tale to communicate the great teaching of the Catholic Church regarding the ultimate importance of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass above all earthly things. The story takes place mostly in a bakery shop where the people of the kingdom seem to prefer to spend their time rather than at church, we are told. The shop owner arrogantly argues with an old beggar woman that her offer to hear Mass for him if he were to give her a small piece of bread is of no value. His lack of faith becomes the occasion for a miracle in which a small piece of paper bearing the words "One Mass" is shown to outweigh all the items in his bakery. These items, representing the natural goods of this earth, are not able to even lower the scale one bit. The response to the miracle is for the people of the kingdom, including the repentant shop owner, to rush out to attend the royal wedding Mass. The king and queen, of which very little is said, can be seen as an analogy of Christ and his Bride, the Holy Church. The desire of both is not so much to have people admire the grandiose royal wedding cake, but to join their hearts in the celebration of the Wedding Mass. This is a very effective book for teaching kids and reminding adults of the surpassing value of the Mass and God's love for us. I was worried that my 3-year son, obsessed with Bob the Builder and the Veggietales would not appreciate the story, but he likes it very much and requests it at bedtime frequently.

Every catholic family needs this book!

This is a really special book, one that helps teach children the value of attending mass. How often have you found yourself trying to convince your children how important it is to go to mass? Well, this beautiful book will help you share your faith and love of the mass. The story has a lovely fairy tale quality to it. The illustrations alone are just beautiful. Together the story and pictures are perfect. It is deep and ernest and loving. It is appropriate for any age. There is never a moment of heavy handedness. It is like reading any other fairytale, but there is so much more depth to it.

Exquisite, beautiful, luminous story and illustrations!

Want to give your children or other children whom you love a precious gift? Give them this book! It's one they'll read as children and they'll read 40 years from now to their own children. It's not only a beautiful story, but one that will strengthen their faith.Wonderfully written by Josephine Nobisso and luminously illustrated by Katalin Szegedi, The Weight of a Mass, is an original cultural folk tale based upon a true story. The story reads and looks like a fairy tale.A ragged, destitute widow arrives at the kingdom's prosperous bakery and begs only a crust of bread in exchange for offering a royal wedding Mass for the baker.The baker scoffs and tears off a tiny piece of tissue paper on which he writes the words: One Mass, intending to place them it on the scale to find out the value of a Mass.Much to his surprise, when he drops a piece of old bread on the other side of the scale, it does not tip. So, he enlists his son to stack more and more baked goods on top of the scale. Out come cherry topped cupcakes, marzipan apple, filled chocolates, poppy seed cakes, rolls, donuts, fruitcakes, cream cakes, berry tarts, poached pears, plum pudding, candied fruits, almond confetti, crsuhed walnuts, and eventually the royal wedding cake.The father, his son, the old woman, and others in the kingdom come to learn the weight of a Mass.The story includes an author's postscript recounting the original story as told by Father Stanislaus from Luxembourg who tells of a conversation between a butcher and a Captain of the Forest Guards that was interrupted by an old woman begging a morsel of meat in exchange for a Holy Mass intention. As a result of the miracle, the Captian began attending Mass daily and one of his sons later received a calling to the priesthood. I cannot say praise this book enough. It's a genre that is sorely needed in children's literature. Not only is it a beautiful book, but it teaches about the richness of the Mass and the priceless presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.The paintings are wonderful, particularly those of an arched interior of the Cathedral and the bishop holding up the Eucharist at the wedding Mass.Do yourself a favor. Purchase this book for your children, your grandchildren, and any other children whom you love.