Anthony DeStefano. From Bread and Wine to Saints Divine. Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press, 2025. Hardcover $17.95. 32 pages. Available from the publisher.
Perhaps you remember your First Communion Day. I’ve seen pictures of myself in a white dress, wearing a veil, smiling as happily as a princess. Most of my memories of my First Communion are of the rehearsals when we lined up in school and learned the proper way to receive our Lord in the Holy Eucharist for the first time. I can remember practicing this with one of my friends at home too. And then one of the most important days of my life came. I’m told that when I went up to receive Holy Communion my younger brother exclaimed: “That’s my sister!”
In his new children’s book From Bread and Wine to Saints Divine, best-selling author Anthony DeStefano provides a keepsake treasure to help children learn about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. As we approach the Easter season and time when children often make their First Holy Communion, this book offers an ideal way to teach children about the tenderness of God’s love for His children, His power to transform creation, and His ever present love for us in the Holy Eucharist.
Readers of DeStefano’s books—adults and children alike—cherish his gift of rhyme which enliven the pages and this book is no exception. His lyricism creates a whimsical feeling so that, even as you simply learn profound truths about our Faith, you feel a sense of joy and wonder.
“This a children’s book that attempts to explain the sacrament of the Eucharist in a way that’s simple but engaging, hopefully entertaining and, of course, theologically sound,” explained DeStefano on a March 27, 2025 interview on EWTN Bookmark. “It takes kids on a journey through the experience of change, something we all experience in life and something that children, I think, are especially fascinated by.”
Children will read about—and behold in breathtaking paintings—the awesomeness of God’s creation, from the stars to the gift of their own precious life.
“The book shows real everyday changes that kids recognize, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, or night turning into day, or flour and sugar transforming into a birthday cake, and then it connects those changes to the greatest transformation of all, bread and wine becoming the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and then it goes even further. It shows the reason we receive the Eucharist so that we can change. We take Jesus into ourselves, so that we can become more like Him, so that we can grow in holiness, love and truth, and so this book really is about two miraculous transformations, what happens on the altar at Mass and what’s meant to happen to us when we receive the Eucharist in a worthy manner on a regular basis.”
Readers will also see how they are not only able to share in God’s love but become saints who love too. Throughout our seasons of life, we are called to grow in holiness and the Source and Summit of our Faith is the key.
This treasure of a book is also a perfect addition to resources for the Year of Mission for the National Eucharistic Revival. Parents and teachers will appreciate the accessibility of DeStefano’s words in teaching about the Holy Eucharist in a life-changing way. DeStefano inspires adults and children alike throughout these pages with goodness, beauty, and truth. In the words of the soon-to-be saint Carlo Acutis, “When we face the sun we get a tan … but when we stand before Jesus in the Eucharist we become saints.”
From Bread and Wine to Saints Divine provides a most memorable way to recall the Sacred Mystery of our Faith for children and adults alike.
