Saint Catherine Labouré And Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal - Marianne Lorraine Trouvé and Cathy Morrison - Encounter the Saints Book 30

Saint Catherine Labouré
And Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
Encounter the Saints Series Book 30
Marianne Lorraine Trouvé
Cathy Morrison (Illustrator)
Pauline Books and Media
ISBN 9780819872241

This book is about a saint that I had not encountered before reading the book. The story of this saint and the miraculous medal are amazing. My children could hardly believe the story. We loved this book and the whole series. The Encounter the Saints Series, from Pauline Books and Media, are all wonderful reads. Written for younger readers, they are great reads for anyone who wants to encounter saints in a powerful way. These books are great to read to children, with children or if you just want a good read for yourself. I started reading the series before reading them with my kids and we have now tracked down all 37 book currently available in the series in one format or another, and are working through them all.

The chapters in this book about Saint Catherine Labouré are:
Prologue 
1. Life on the Farm 
2. A New Role
3. A Growing Desire 
4. Following a Dream
5. Rue du Bac
6. The Lady 
7. A Special Mission
8. Back to the Farm
9. The Medal
10. Miracles 
11. Catherine's Secret 
12. Ordinary Life
13. Fire!
14. Another Mission for Father Aladel
15. The War 
16. More Trouble 
17. Into Flight
18. Back to Normal  
19. Some Changes
20. The Final Road 
Prayer
Glossary

Saint Catherine Labouré lived to serve and to work for the lord. Her service in running the gardens, and then the farm as well as her hospice work is exemplary. I was unaware of the story of the medal, its history. After having read a book about Mother Teresa and her affinity for passing out these medals it is nice to know their origin now. 

The author of this work also penned three other book in the series but has written about 25 other books about the Catholic faith. The writing style is direct and to the point but tells the story in a very engaging manner. The illustrator, Cathy Morrison, has illustrated one other book in the series and it was also written by Trouvé. I believe that the illustrations are charcoal or conté sketches. They are full of rich details. And each of the 5 illustrations is a full page illustrated out to a full rectangular image. A number of the other books have sketches that are not complete drawings like these.  

My children really love the last two sections in these books; the prayer and the glossary. The glossary in this volume has 20 definitions ranging from Canonization to vow. The especially enjoyed the definition of: 

"Pilgrimage - a journey to a holy place to venerate a saint or to obtain some spiritual favor. A person making a pilgrimage is called a pilgrim."

For we often go to a statue of Mary outside of our town and spend some time praying as a short pilgrimage together. And as always they really enoued the prayer:

"Saint Catherine, all your life you workedhard. You tried to serve God and love others insimplicity. Even when the Blessed Motherappeared to you and gave you a special mission,you were so humble that many people neverguessed what you had experienced. Your speciallove for the poor moved you to reach out to them,so that they would know how much God lovesthem. Pray for me that I will have a truly humbleheart, grateful for all that God has given me.May I, too, serve God with courage, even whenit seems that no one notices. 

Mary, our Lady of the Miraculous Medal,you asked Saint Catherine to encourage people totrust in your prayers and help. Pray for me andfor all those whom I love. Keep us close to Jesus.O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us whohave recourse to you. Amen."

My oldest commented about the book; and the prayer that the book is an example of doing everything as well as we can, but also in not calling attention to ourselves in the process. And that we should work hard at all we do. And that is a lesson I still need to learn and am happy my children are being exposed to through this book. And all three children loved the story of her faith during the fire, it really has encouraged them to face things that scare them.

My children and I love this series. In fact I have two different books on the go currently with my youngest two. I carry a small pocket oratory that has a miraculous medal and I love knowing more about it through this book. We love this book and the series. 

Currently there are 37 books in this series, including The Saints Pray for Us, and I have read over a third of them. I have read almost half of the series on my own and read about a third of them now with my children.  My oldest who is 11 and I read them to the younger two. My son who is 9 can read them with some help on the more difficult words. This book and the series is geared for readers between the ages of 9 and 12 but in our house they are loved by the 6 year old and this man who is pushing 50. As mentioned this book as mentioned is part of the Encounter the Saints Series; from Pauline Books and Media, and this book is an excellent read as is the entire series!  This family gives them our highest recommendation.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2017 Catholic Reading Plan!

Encounter the Saints Series from Pauline Books and Media:
Blessed James Alberione Media Apostle
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati Journey to the Summit
Journeys with Mary Apparitions of Our Lady
Saint André Bessette Miracles in Montreal
Saint Anthony of Padua Fire and Light
Saint Bakhita of Sudan Forever Free
Saint Bernadette Soubirous And Our Lady of Lourdes
Saint Catherine Labouré And Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
Saint Clare of Assisi A Light for the World
Saint Damien of Molokai Hero of Hawaii
Saint Edith Stein Blessed by the Cross
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Daughter of America
Saint Faustina Kowalska Messenger of Mercy
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini Cecchina's Dream
Saint Francis of Assisi Gentle Revolutionary
Saint Gianna Beretta Molla The Gift of Life
Saint Ignatius of Loyola For the Greater Glory of God
Saint Isaac Jogues With Burning Heart
Saint Joan of Arc God's Soldier
Saint John Bosco Champion for the Young
Saint John Neumann Missionary to Immigrants
Saint John Paul II Be Not Afraid
Saint John Vianney A Priest for All People
Saint Juan Diego And Our Lady of Guadalupe
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha: Courageous Faith
Saint Katharine Drexel The Total Gift
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque And the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Saint Martin de Porres Humble Healer
Saint Maximilian Kolbe Mary's Knight
Saint Paul The Thirteenth Apostle
Saint Pio of Pietrelcina Rich in Love
Saint Teresa of Avila Joyful in the Lord
Saint Teresa of Calcutta Missionary of Charity
Saint Teresa of Kalkota Missionary of Charity

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux The Way of Love
Saint Thomas Aquinas Missionary of Truth
Saint Thomas More Courage, Conscience, and the King
Saints Jacinta and Francisco Marto: Shepherds of Fatima
The Saints Pray for Us

Saint Julie Billiart The Smiling Saint

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