Priest on Horseback: Father Farmer

This true story of a priest in the American colonial period will inspire young readers to learn more about our religious and patriotic roots. While stationed in Pennsylvania, Father Farmer is assigned to meet the needs of the Catholics in the colony of New Jersey, but there is one problem--Catholic priests are appreciated at all in the New Jersey colony. He goes in plain clothes about the countryside for twenty-one years, never failing to reveal himself as a priest whenever needed. And there is a lot of need, as Father Farmer encounters one adventure after another in his travels. The backdrop of the story is the tumultuous period in which the colonists decide whether or not to rebel against England. Father Farmer's life is a testament to the living of the faith in word and deed, and that the Christian religion is one of love and service to others. Yet for all his outward mildness, within him a white hot flame burned, a consuming love of God which made him willing to run all risks, a flame which enkindled those whom he instructed. Eva Betz