The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life - 3 Volume Set

Summa Domestica

by Leila Marie Lawler

Most wives possess a deep, existential intuition that they bear primary responsibility for creating the home environment, in cooperation with their husbands, who protect and provide for it. When Leila Lawler started out as a young wife and then became a mother, she had no idea how to keep a house, manage laundry, or plan and prepare meals, let alone entertain and inspire toddlers and select a curriculum to pass on the Faith. She spent decades excavating deeply rooted cultural memories that had been buried under an avalanche of feminist ideology. Lawler developed and meticulously presented these on her popular website, Like Mother, Like Daughter, and has now collected them in this comprehensive, three-volume set to help women who desire a proficient and systematic approach to home life. The Summa Domestica comprises three Home Culture , which delves into establishing a home and a vision for raising children; Education , which offers a philosophy for the primary vocation of parents to form their children and give them the means to learn on their own; and Housekeeping , which offers practical details for meals, laundry, and a reasonably clean and organized busy and thriving household. All at once lively, funny, calming, and complete, The Summa Domestica an indispensable how-to book on making and keeping a home that will serve your family best.

Genres: Nonfiction, Parenting, Catholic, Spirituality

1376 pages, Hardcover

Published November 23, 2021

About the author

I am wife of one, mother of seven, and grandmother of a growing number of little ones, living in Central Massachusetts.

I encountered Christianity as a high school student (but really from my earliest memories through fairy tales and The Chronicles of Narnia) and entered the Catholic Church in 1979, the year I was married to Philip Lawler, noted Catholic journalist, author of The Faithful Departed.

My own journey of learning the faith has given me an appreciation for the difficulties and excitement today's family faces in living its Christian calling. I try to encourage all kinds of audiences, online and in person, to commit to the renewal of family life.

I practice "kitchen sink philosophy" at Like Mother, Like Daughter, a website for practical and theoretical insight into in all aspects of daily life. I write on everything from cooking and knitting to education and recovering what I and my daughters call "the collective memory" -- things we like to share about our creative life and also things we don't want to forget that were passed down from family to family in a more generous era.

I am co-author with David Clayton of The Little Oratory: A Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home and author of God Has No Grandchildren: A Guided Reading of Pius XI's encyclical Casti Connubii, On Chaste Marriage.

Reviews

[Jean Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing resource! I wish I had such a book as a newlywed. But even now I'm finding encouragement and good common-sense advice on all things domestic.

[Anna Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I can say is, I loved these books and will continue to reread them throughout the years

[Masha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good! The author has a delightful style and a lot of good advice. Not all of it will be applicable to everyone, but the underlying ideas are solid and the tone is friendly, affectionate, and informative.

This is a solid collection of resources for housewives.

[Nicole Szpila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volumes I will go back to again and again! Perfect resource for mothers "in the thick of it" and in need of calm reassurance that this work is good and worth doing.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started with the second volume (Education). There is much great material within, presented in a very friendly manner. The section on reading aloud is pure gold - practical and from real experience, not from some esoteric academic position.

For the academic subjects, I wish there were a broader survey of the available resources. I'm not arguing with what is said, but rather missing what isn't. But there are other homeschooling books that cover this.

Most of all, I appreciate the big picture that is always there. This is a serious Catholic mother who has raised a family all the way into adulthood. Too often we see "authoritative" advice from those who are still in the thick of it (sometimes only beginning). Lawler has perspective, both in terms of her own family, but also in terms of understanding how things have been done throughout history. She comes at everything from a Catholic perspective, which is a huge (pleasant) difference from nearly every other book on homeschooling or raising kids - those either are blandly "agnostic" about religion or are full-on Protestant.

I'll get to the other volumes, but wanted to devour this first.

On the first volume (Home Culture) now. I find so much to agree with in her philosophy, but it's a little disappointing that I am apparently not the target audience for her books - in this volume's index, the entry "men" refers back to exactly 7 pages (out of nearly 500). I'm sure husbands and fathers are mentioned more than this (and in the interest of full disclosure, there are index entries for "husbands" and "fathers" too), but clearly with parts titled "On the Woman in the Home" and "Motherhood in the Field," much of this book is specifically directed to only one person in the family. And that's fine for those parts. However, it's in other parts that I can see a larger role for the man of the house.

I guess I would just encourage *both* parents to read and consider those other parts of the book - if for no other reason than to be on the same page in terms of all that is discussed: discipline, family life, the liturgical year and its implementation in the home, and last, but by no means least, "Destruction-Proofing Your Family." These are things that demand the involvement of both parents. I have to wonder what Phil Lawler would have to say - it would have been nice to have included at least some input from The Chief. Maybe in their family never the twain do meet - but that's not how it necessarily has to be, even for those on board with her view of "the gift of womanhood."

[Micaela Lewis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found her writing warm, easily readable, relatable... then... condescending. SO condescending. It was awful. As i read, I would internally eye roll or worse, stop and close my eyes and SIGH. I wanted to absorb her wisdom, badly. But the AUNTIE passive-aggressive tone, made me feel like sh*t and was entirely off-putting. I don't know if I didn't AGREE with her on the majority, per se... (I did plug away through the 2/3 books of the boxed set I purchased), but eventually.. I began skimming, and basically lost trust in the author, so decided to not keep reading, despite a few of the positive points she was making. It's now 2024, all of our Catholic conversion stories are DIFFERENT. I became Catholic at my wedding 15 years ago and started a family with no confidence in passing on the faith "well", and her voice made me feel ashamed for not being good at it, immediately. For not being able to talk to my husband at the dinner table, with our SIX beautiful (exhausting) children under 9, and telling them to let mommy and daddy talk. No, I don't think a swift spanking is really fruitful, in any case. Myeh, I guess I totally don't understand what the hype is here, but I tried! And want to make sure no one else feels crazy for not vibing, after reviews. Appreciate she has a genuine value for family, nonetheless, despite the dated methods.

[Megan Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author that taught me the value of wearing an apron. A fun, encouraging, and helpful set of books by a somewhat problematic author. (I heard her say in a vote that she regretted that women have the right to vote because suffrage politicized women... uh okay?) I wish she had skipped her long-winded personal introduction, but given the volume and value of her practical wisdom, I respect her for wanting to share it.

[Annie Kell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would be helpful for someone who is just starting their motherhood career and did not grow up with a mom who taught her how to keep house.

However, if you had a mom who was mildly decent at keeping house and you are already 7 kids deep in motherhood, there will really be nothing earth-shattering in this series.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much great advice to put into practice - especially the housekeeping and meal planning.