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Summa Domestica #1
Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life Vol. 1 - Home Culture
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  Family Life , which delves into the essentials of establishing the home; Education , which explores
521 pages, Hardcover
Published December 20, 2021
133 people are currently reading
492 people want to read
About the author
Leila Marie Lawler
6 books30 followersI 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
February 4, 2025
This was so fun to read. I got the whole set as a Christmas present this last year. I wasn’t fully aware of the collection until I opened them up. But as I read the table of contents, it quickly became the book I was most excited to read in 2025. The sections I found most helpful and encouraging were: “On the Woman in the Home,” “Motherhood in the Field,” and “Discipline.”
Some parts were really helpful and other parts were just really random and irrelevant to me. Lawler is a catholic—which definitely showed at different points. So I just squinted and skimmed those parts. (i.e. praying to your child’s angel).
Lawler gives a really helpful reminder to have perspective as you raise your children. The first decade of parenting and family life is building the foundation for the second decade. Each decade requires different things from us as parents but both are connected.
It was also helpful reading about how she disciplined her kids—she gave practical examples. She reiterates over and over how a huge goal is to teach our children self-control. If they can learn to be self-controlled, it will be a gift to themselves and others. As parents, we need to be serious and consistent in discipline. We choose how and when to act not react.
I hoping to use this as a resource that I can look back to throughout the years to be reminded and encouraged in journey of parenting.
Some parts were really helpful and other parts were just really random and irrelevant to me. Lawler is a catholic—which definitely showed at different points. So I just squinted and skimmed those parts. (i.e. praying to your child’s angel).
Lawler gives a really helpful reminder to have perspective as you raise your children. The first decade of parenting and family life is building the foundation for the second decade. Each decade requires different things from us as parents but both are connected.
It was also helpful reading about how she disciplined her kids—she gave practical examples. She reiterates over and over how a huge goal is to teach our children self-control. If they can learn to be self-controlled, it will be a gift to themselves and others. As parents, we need to be serious and consistent in discipline. We choose how and when to act not react.
I hoping to use this as a resource that I can look back to throughout the years to be reminded and encouraged in journey of parenting.
December 22, 2024
“Christianity spread throughout the world by means of people living quietly, raising their families, loving their neighbor, and being friends…I encourage you to make in-real-life friends for the long term. Don’t waste your time with endless Facebook group discussions or forums where you will never meet the people you are talking to. Your children need to grow up thinking “these real people are my people” —people who sacrifice for each other and who also enjoy each other’s company with a right goodwill.”
I liked this exhortation in one of the appendixes—it didn’t necessarily sum up the book exactly, but was the point of several of my favorite chapters on hospitality and friendship and glanced at the overall theme of the three volumes—order and wonder within family life. Looking forward to reading the next two volumes!
I liked this exhortation in one of the appendixes—it didn’t necessarily sum up the book exactly, but was the point of several of my favorite chapters on hospitality and friendship and glanced at the overall theme of the three volumes—order and wonder within family life. Looking forward to reading the next two volumes!
February 18, 2023
I don’t agree with Lawler on everything, but I agreed with her more than I thought I would, and man, does she have a good sense of humor 😂
January 19, 2023
A wife and mother MUST have book. Can’t wait to read the other two. Would give it 6 stars if I could.
June 25, 2025
I felt like I was having a sit-down talk with one of the gracious older moms at my church. This was so full of practical, non-judgmental wisdom and humor, on subjects ranging from how to treat a UTI, to how to deal with a naughty 5-year-old (very relateable! haha) to establishing pleasant family mealtimes, and a whole lot more. I am not Catholic, so I overlooked those portions with some curiosity, but I just loved this book! I'm looking forward to reading the other two in the series.
September 14, 2022
I was predisposed to adore this volume since I have found Leila Lawler's blog to be a great source of commonsense wisdom for homemaking but, yes, it really is a treasure trove of wise advice. Portions are, admittedly, so strikingly Roman Catholic as to be less useful to those of other religious traditions. However, so much of this is simply what all Christian families need to inculcate and ponder.
January 29, 2025
So much practical wisdom that feels realistic and easily applicable. A great resource for tips on home-making and the mindset that makes it worthwhile
July 15, 2023
This is an instant classic for me. Not just a cozy conversation with a grandma, but Auntie Leila actually *writes* well. So refreshing I nearly cried. A far cry from the motherhood books nowadays constantly calling me “mama,” and written with, unfortunately, the syntax of an Instagram post. (Which doesn’t do us any favors in being taken seriously as homemakers, you know?) her blog has been a beacon for me for a while, it is a treasure to have her books. Cannot recommend this enough. It is full of gold nuggets of practical wisdom mixed into discussions on spiritual matters.
February 11, 2025
Incredible resource for a Catholic wife and mother!
March 11, 2025
A really sweet treasure trove of common sense, practical wisdom from Auntie Leila. All too often women are so squeamish about giving practical advice about homemaking, marriage, parenting, etc. for fear of being labeled "legalistic." Leila refers to this as the collective memory--the wisdom that should be passed down from each generation to the next that has sadly been deemed outdated or unimportant. Her book seeks to recover that Titus 2 style of mentorship on a whole host of subjects ranging from potty training to hosting large gatherings to the importance of putting on an apron. All of her subjects in the chapters are under the umbrella of seeking order and wonder within the home, the two balancing virtues we must cultivate in order to be faithful to the Lord as homemakers, wives, and mothers. All of her advice is very boots on the ground because she has been there and done that. Her spunk, humor, compassion, and relatability make the reading even more enjoyable.
My only caveat is that she is very Catholic and it shows. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater! A good Protestant can enjoy this book and quickly move past the bad theology.
My only caveat is that she is very Catholic and it shows. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater! A good Protestant can enjoy this book and quickly move past the bad theology.
January 29, 2023
This would be the ideal book to give to people preparing for marriage, or newlyweds. There is a lot of good, practical advice from someone who has the experience to base it on: Leila Lawler has been married for forty years and has seven adult children. There are two more volumes that I am looking forward to reading in the future.
July 5, 2022
*review pending*
January 20, 2022
I’ve been reading Auntie Leila’s blog for over 6 years and it has been a huge influence on my life, so of course I was going to buy her 3 volume collection right away. I didn’t expect to have time to read the first volume so quickly, but I got sick and it was a balm to be reminded of the reasons I pursue the life I do and the good practical advice for life in the trenches. You could say she offers equal parts why and how. She is up front that the material collected here has (for the most part) all been posted on her blog, so it wasn’t a surprise to re-read many entries, but they were not stale. There is a narrative thread that keeps the book moving forward even as the topics change. Is Auntie Leila for everyone? I don’t know. But it is not an understatement to say that my life, and my home, would be very different without her.
January 16, 2025
SUMMA DOMESTICA (Vol. 1)🧹📚☕
After 2 years of slow, thoughtful reading (and only reading it out loud to my mom on Sunday afternoons), I finally finished volume one. The Summa Domestica is chapter after chapter of advice and humorous encouragement for the Catholic wife and mother. Regardless of where you are in that journey, Auntie Leila has something for it, from dealing with 2 year olds, managing teens, or preparing to be an empty nester. Full of humor and love, every chapter is a delight, practical, and easy to read.
What I think I loved most is that Auntie Leila doesn't suggest living the "trad wife" lifestyle; yes, she promotes being a homemaker, but she doesn't take that to mean baking your own bread, wearing sundresses every day, baking pies, etc. Auntie Leila is real, and gives advice on how to get up earlier when you hate getting up in the morning like she does; how to live on a budget and be thrifty; she even has chapters on how to throw good parties that last until 3am and how to cure UTIs.
If you're looking for perspectives on Catholic homemaking that is relatable, actually helpful, and so funny to read, I highly recommend the Summa Domestica. I haven't read volumes 2&3 yet, but volume 2 is about homeschooling and volume 3 is more practical "how to patch jeans" type of content. I'm looking forward to both!
After 2 years of slow, thoughtful reading (and only reading it out loud to my mom on Sunday afternoons), I finally finished volume one. The Summa Domestica is chapter after chapter of advice and humorous encouragement for the Catholic wife and mother. Regardless of where you are in that journey, Auntie Leila has something for it, from dealing with 2 year olds, managing teens, or preparing to be an empty nester. Full of humor and love, every chapter is a delight, practical, and easy to read.
What I think I loved most is that Auntie Leila doesn't suggest living the "trad wife" lifestyle; yes, she promotes being a homemaker, but she doesn't take that to mean baking your own bread, wearing sundresses every day, baking pies, etc. Auntie Leila is real, and gives advice on how to get up earlier when you hate getting up in the morning like she does; how to live on a budget and be thrifty; she even has chapters on how to throw good parties that last until 3am and how to cure UTIs.
If you're looking for perspectives on Catholic homemaking that is relatable, actually helpful, and so funny to read, I highly recommend the Summa Domestica. I haven't read volumes 2&3 yet, but volume 2 is about homeschooling and volume 3 is more practical "how to patch jeans" type of content. I'm looking forward to both!
March 1, 2022
Have been reading the blog Like Mother Like Daughter for less than a year now and love it - it’s so practical and heartening and not perfectionist at all. Such a difference to most other home/mum blogs.
This book has everything I loved about the blog in it. Not being a homeschooling mum I’m not going to be so into volume 2, I think, but I’m really looking forward to the meat and potatoes of running a house (in my mind) of Vol 3.
What I didn’t love:
Ok, this might be just me, but the theology just goes over my head. I feel like all the more recent things are VERY theological and specific while the older writings are so practical, kitchen-table talk if you will. My eyes glaze over. While not Catholic, I am religious and so agree with everything “in principal” and yet … I just couldn’t follow the theological parts. They felt like two different books to me.
Can’t wait to keep reading :) Thanks Lawler family!
(Oh yes, and I LOVED the illustrations. They so carefully and beautifully depicted the homiest home things. That is, the tiny and most domestic and perhaps even mundane things became elevated when seeing them through the illustrator and author’s eyes.)
This book has everything I loved about the blog in it. Not being a homeschooling mum I’m not going to be so into volume 2, I think, but I’m really looking forward to the meat and potatoes of running a house (in my mind) of Vol 3.
What I didn’t love:
Ok, this might be just me, but the theology just goes over my head. I feel like all the more recent things are VERY theological and specific while the older writings are so practical, kitchen-table talk if you will. My eyes glaze over. While not Catholic, I am religious and so agree with everything “in principal” and yet … I just couldn’t follow the theological parts. They felt like two different books to me.
Can’t wait to keep reading :) Thanks Lawler family!
(Oh yes, and I LOVED the illustrations. They so carefully and beautifully depicted the homiest home things. That is, the tiny and most domestic and perhaps even mundane things became elevated when seeing them through the illustrator and author’s eyes.)
May 23, 2022
I agree with the overall premise of creating Order and Wonder in the Family. I agree that women are best suited for establishing a home culture. However, I disagree with the notion that women should not do any outside work. I found it ironic that the author went on a diatribe against working while simultaneously maintaining a blog or two and writing a book about domesticity and homeschooling, which some would consider work. There's nothing wrong with women working as long as it doesn't detract from God and the family. I have known many women who work and successfully maintain a peaceful and spiritually fruitful home. Often women's work can inspire their children to serve their neighbors as God has uniquely equipped them. Work can be a way of allowing a woman to apply her skills and knowledge in a way she may not be able to in the home.
Also, the author is a proponent of spanking and I was surprised at how often it was mentioned in the book. Discipline should be consistent and swiftly applied but it does not need to be corporal to be effective.
Also, the author is a proponent of spanking and I was surprised at how often it was mentioned in the book. Discipline should be consistent and swiftly applied but it does not need to be corporal to be effective.
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April 11, 2024Oh my… I don’t even know how to review this book. I was drawn to it because I just really enjoy books on these topics and I listened to a podcast episode where Leila Lawler was interviewed. I really liked what she had to say in the episode and I thought it was so cool that she wrote in a blog for about a decade and used that as a rough draft to write a trilogy of books.
I disagreed so strongly with some of the discipline stuff.
However, I still couldn’t put this book down! I really enjoyed it and found some of the chapters to be such gems of information! I had some real lightbulb moments and thought deeply about things I’ve never thought about.
I LOVED the illustrations!!! It’s a beautiful book.
If you read this book just expect a lot of strong opinions (nothing wrong with that) and that you may need to take some and leave some (hopefully leaving the discipline advice… I just don’t get it!!!).
I disagreed so strongly with some of the discipline stuff.
However, I still couldn’t put this book down! I really enjoyed it and found some of the chapters to be such gems of information! I had some real lightbulb moments and thought deeply about things I’ve never thought about.
I LOVED the illustrations!!! It’s a beautiful book.
If you read this book just expect a lot of strong opinions (nothing wrong with that) and that you may need to take some and leave some (hopefully leaving the discipline advice… I just don’t get it!!!).
October 5, 2024
This book series I found randomly at a thrift store. I flipped through and saw that she quoted many different theologians which ultimately drew me in. What an amazing wealth of practical wisdom this lady has to offer from her experience of mothering, wifing and homemaking over the years. These books are essentially a collection of her blog, so it's fun reading. Her witty sense of humor makes me laugh out loud at times. And her deeply intellectual mind intrigues me! By no means do I agree with everything she says, yet I find these books to be resources I will return to again and again in the future. A must get for any newly married woman who is looking for direction with how to begin cultivating a home.
November 1, 2023
I think this just might be my favorite book that I have read this year! Leila Lawler's wisdom and tongue-in-cheek sense of humor regarding the creation of a peaceful, orderly, joyful home living environment was a breath of fresh air. I almost teared up when I started reading it because it contains just the kind of encouragement I need as a housewife, home educator, and mother of littles. The entire time I was reading, I had a sense of familiarity with Auntie Leila, as if she was a dear friend with whom I might be having a chat over tea. I can hardly wait to read the next volume. 5 bright, shining stars!
September 25, 2025
3.5 stars. I’m not Catholic, so this one lost some stars over chapters that I didn’t agree with. However, I love the practical parts, and I find even the material I don’t agree induces some lively conversations.
For such a formal looking book series, it’s surprisingly causal in tone, with a lot of the article pulled straight from her blog. I am happy to have it as an analog resource.
For such a formal looking book series, it’s surprisingly causal in tone, with a lot of the article pulled straight from her blog. I am happy to have it as an analog resource.
July 2, 2023
I started to enjoy Lawler's writing much more when I started to read the book like a blog and not as an overall guide. She has a refreshing perspective, but I do take some of what she says with a grain of salt.
July 7, 2025
I’m glad I read the series out of order and did this one last. Liked all of it except her obnoxious lighthearted belief in spanking. How could having less virtue as a parent work to instill greater virtue in children? That’s some weird logic.
March 31, 2022
Love Leila Lawler and I’m so happy to have her blog in print form. Easy read, but gave me a lot to think about, and I’m sure I’ll be returning to it over and over!
June 22, 2022
So practical, faithful and wonderful! A must read for every wife!
July 25, 2022
I’m glad I read it, collective mind remembrance and all. Not sure I’d purchase it off this one book, but there are two more to go so stay tuned.
July 22, 2023
Amazing amazing amazing. Simply invaluable for those raising up a Christian household.
November 7, 2023
Superb, simply superb!!! Down to earth and hilariously practical advice for how to thrive as a mother at home. Will be referring back to this frequently.
March 12, 2024
Went in a bit skeptical but left completely delighted; very warm words in a blog-post-style format from a young grandmother from central MA. Reads like a “how to” manual.
May 9, 2025
This is an excellent read. Such great advice for all areas of house-making, wifery, and mothering.
July 3, 2025
Highly recommended for any and all Christian women seeking to be better wives, mothers, and homemakers! Full of insights and wisdom that is well worth pondering.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews