Saint Therese and the Roses


Helen Walker Homan - 1955
    Therese of Lisieux, the "Little Flower." Growing up in Lisieux, France was occasionally painful but usually delightful for Therese and her four sisters. For practical Marie, studious Pauline, hot-tempered Leonie, mischievous Celine, and beautiful, lovable Therese, growing up meant growing closer to God. The Little Flower found her pathway to holiness right in her own back yard.With their disagreements, secrets, visits to the convent, school adventures, and romances, these five girls are an enjoyable handful for their kindly, widowed father. But Therese, because she loves her family, discovers that one of her sisters might unwittingly prevent her dearest wish from coming true.In this Vision book, Helen Walker Homan, who writes in the tradition of Louisa Mae Alcott, has created another classic of delightful family life among five sisters, one of whom became a saint.

St. Maria Goretti: In Garments All Red


Godfrey Poage - 1950
    Describes her virtuous life, poverty, holiness, valiant resistance, heroic and lingering death, conversion of her murderer and canonization in 1950 with her mother, her murderer and over 500,000 present. This is the famous, popular, classic biography! This is a good book to read to children, so they have someone worthwhile to imitate. By having Maria put before them as a model, they will learn to appreciate the virtue of purity. For a child to imitate the saints, he or she must first love them -- which in turn requires knowing them. Get your children acquainted with one of the greatest saints of the twentieth century!

Picture Book of Saints: Illustrated Lives of the Saints for Young and Old


Lawrence G. Lovasik - 1979
    Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D., recounts the lives of over 100 well-known Saints, including sixteen 21st-century Saints. Among them are Mother Teresa, Padre Pio, St. Faustina Kowalska, Pope St. John XXIII, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, and Pope St. John Paul II. Written in a straightforward, easy-to-understand style that will appeal to parents, teachers, and children, the life of each Saint in this classic and enduring Saints collection is beautifully illustrated in full color. This edition has a colorfully illustrated padded hardcover binding.

Pray, Hope, and Don't Worry: True Stories of Padre Pio


Diane Allen - 2009
    It provides a glimpse into the life and spirituality of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, who has often been called "The greatest mystic of the 20th Century." More than thirty individuals, all who had met Padre Pio, were interviewed for this first edition book. The author and her husband, Deacon Ron Allen, have traveled to many parts of the United States in order to record the personal testimonies of Padre Pio's friends from near and far.

Outlaws of Ravenhurst


M. Imelda Wallace - 1923
    As it is, Uncle Roger comes from Scotland, identifies George as Sir Charles Gordon, Lord Rock Raven, heir of Ravenhurst, and takes him to Scotland. For generations, Ravenhurst had been the stronghold of Scottish chiefs who lead Clan Gordon to battle "for God and Our Lady!" It was filled with memories of persecution for their Faith. It was the scene of the last stand of the great Earl, Sir Angus. Back against the altar and the desecrated Precious Blood, outnumbered twenty to one, the giant grasped his two-handed claymore and laid the sacrilegious enemies of his God around his feet "like sproutings clipped from a hedgerow." But when the boy Gordon rode across the drawbridge, he did not know these things, nor that Catholics were outlaws, that hearing Mass in seventeenth-century Scotland meant death—that he must choose between death here or hereafter. He did not see the outlaws peering through the bracken, studying him. In their eyes was the question: would he take up the claymore where it had fallen from the bleeding fingers of Sir Angus?

Saint Joan: The Girl Soldier


Louis de Wohl - 1957
    Joan of Arc. De Wohl uses his famed narrative skill to tell young people about the brave teenage French girl who had visions and led armies in battle, but also about how her entire life testifies to the amazing power of God's grace.It's all here: how Joan, a humble maiden in an insignificant town, was told by St. Michael the Archangel, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret to lead the French in battle against the English; how she finally succeeded in convincing the French of the truth of her mission; how she met with fantastic success but was betrayed, captured, and imprisoned; and finally, how she suffered through a politically motivated trial for heresy and was burned at the stake.Best of all, de Wohl is not interested solely in the external details of Joan's life, but in Joan's all-encompassing love for God, which informed all her courageous actions from beginning to end. You'll not only thrill to Joan's heroism; your heart will delight in her example of loving surrender to God's will. Every detail of her life will ring out to you as a joyful witness to the grace of God.

Kateri Tekakwitha: Mohawk Maid


Evelyn M. Brown - 1958
    This is the inspiring story of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, a holy young Indian woman who was converted to Christianity by the French missionaries led by Saint Isaac Joques during the 1600s.Kateri's mother was a very devout Christian woman who, after being captured by the Iroquois, was not allowed to baptize her daughter. Kateri's whole family died of smallpox, and she was adopted by a chief who was very anti-Christian. When she was baptized and converted by the missionaries, Kateri became ostracized from the tribe. With the help of the priest, she made a daring escape, and thereafter lived a life devoted to God. Denied her desire to become a nun, she declined marriage and lived as a single woman with deep faith, offering her sufferings and life to Christ. She died at the age of twenty-four and is affectionately known as the "Lily of the Mohawks." Kateri was canonized by Saint Pope John Paul II in 2012.

Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland


Tomie dePaola - 1992
    DePaola also retells several well-known legends, including the story of how Patrick got rid of all the snakes in Ireland.

Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul


Maria Faustyna Kowalska - 1981
    This amazing narrative will stir your heart and soul while it chronicles the experience of a simple Polish nun.

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes


Eleanor Coerr - 1977
    And then the dizzy spells start. Soon gravely ill with leukemia, the "atom bomb disease," Sadako faces her future with spirit and bravery. Recalling a Japanese legend, Sadako sets to work folding paper cranes. For the legend holds that if a sick person folds one thousand cranes, the gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again. Based on a true story, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes celebrates the extraordinary courage that made one young woman a heroine in Japan.

St. Therese of Lisieux: Her Last Conversations


Thérèse de Lisieux - 1977
    Translation of J'entre dans la vie, originally issued under title: Novissima verba.

Saint Gianna Molla: Wife, Mother, Doctor


Pietro Molla - 2004
    Gianna Molla (1923-1962) risked her life in order to save her unborn child. Diagnosed with uterine tumors during her fourth pregnancy, she refused a hysterectomy that would have aborted the child, and opted for a riskier surgery in an attempt to save the baby. Herself a medical doctor, Molla did give birth to the child, but succumbed to an infection.An Italian woman who loved skiing, playing piano, attending concerts at the Milan Conservatory, Molla was a dedicated physician and devoted wife and mother who lived life to the fullest, yet generously risked death by cancer for the sake of her child.A unique story, co-authored by her own husband, with his deeply moving personal insights of the heroic witness, love, sacrifice and joy of his saintly wife. A woman for all times and walks of life, this moving account of the multi-faceted, selfless St. Gianna Molla, who made the ultimate sacrifice to save her unborn child, will be an inspiration to all readers. Illustrated“A woman of exceptional love, an outstanding wife and mother, Gianna Molla gave witness in her daily life to the demanding values of the Gospel.”?Pope John Paul II

Joan of Arc


Diane Stanley - 2002
    It is a story of vision and bravery, fierce determination, and tragic martyrdom.Diane Stanley's extraordinary gift to present historical information in an accessible and child-friendly format has never been more impressive, nor her skillful, beautifully realized illustrations (here imitating medieval illuminated manuscripts) more exquisite. Recommended in Catholic Mosaic Materials Publisher.

Crusader King: A Novel of Baldwin IV and the Crusades


Susan Peek - 2004
    Teenagers and avid readers of all ages will be amazed at this story and be inspired by a faith that accomplished the impossible!

Father and I Were Ranchers


Ralph Moody - 1950
    Through his eyes, the pleasures and perils of ranching in the early twentieth century are experienced... auctions and roundups, family picnics, irrigation wars, tornadoes and wind storms all give authentic color to Little Britches. So do wonderfully told adventures, which equip Ralph to take his father's place when it becomes necessary.Newly republished in a hardcover edition with a 1950s cover, jacket and pictorial endpages. Interior illustrations by Edward Shenton.