Book Reviews and More: Saint Julie Billiart The Smiling Saint - Mary Kathleen Glavich and James Bentley

Saint Julie Billiart:

The Smiling Saint

Encounter the Saints Series Book 11a

Mary Kathleen Glavich

James Bentley (Illustrator)

Pauline Books and Media
ISBN 9780819870506

Independently Published Edition

ISBN 9798556365223

ASIN B08N1K5NX1

This book was a surprise for me. I had a list from the publisher and had read them all and was just finishing up the last 2 reviews and stumbled upon this volume. This Pauline Books and Media Edition of this book was published in 2005, there was an earlier edition by Turtleback Books in 2002. And in 2020 the author republished it herself, as it had been removed from print, and even number 11, given to another volume in the series.

I believe I have now read all of the books in this series. This is an excellent read! As a family we have read all books in this series many of them multiple times. I started reading them myself reading books on Saint Damien of Molokai and Saint Edith Stein Blessed by the Cross. Then started reading them with my three youngest children. My children and I love this series. We have read many of the books more than once. I do not recall encountering Saint Julie Billiart previously. I really enjoyed reading this book, finding out about this saint and all the trials she encountered.

I have said it before and I say it again, this is an excellent series is! With my three children and I we have now read all of the books in this series. I have read them either by myself, or with one or more child. My youngest 2 children current ages 14, 11, still both love these books. And they have read or reread them frequently. My son wants to have the complete set in his room, so he keeps asking to buy his own copies, he loves these books so much. We have picked up several volumes to donate to the school library. I would love to have the whole set in the school library as a resource when the students are picking confirmation saints. With each reading of a book in this series we appreciate this series more. And though only one book has been released since we started reading them a few years ago, we hope there will be more books released in the series in the future. I would love to see how this series handles Saint Josemaria Escriva, Blessed Carlo Actus, … and many more. We would also like to eventually see eBooks of all of the volumes in the series. With my dyslexia and my son’s eye tracking issues we both prefer eBooks where we can change page color, font size and font spacing. This book has an eBook listed, it is a rerelease and not specifically part of the series.

Now back to this specific book on Saint Julie Billiart.

The description of this volume is:

“During the French Revolution, Saint Julie Billiart began her own revolution. With a good friend she opened schools for poor girls and founded the Sisters of Notre Dame, a religious community that departed from traditional ones. Although paralyzed for twenty-three years, she was consumed with zeal for teaching the faith to people who had been deprived of it for years. While suffering physically, persecuted by revolutionaries and clergy, and criticized by her own Sisters, Julie never failed to proclaim, "How good is the good God!" Remarkably, after a miraculous healing at the age of fifty-two, Julie made 120 journeys, often on foot, to found houses and schools in France and Belgium. Her entire life is nothing short of a miracle.”

And the description of the Encounter the Saints series is:

“The Encounter the Saints series offers intermediate readers relatable portrayals of the saints. Each story, in a handy format, vividly recreates the saint's place of origin, family life, and corresponding historical events.”

The chapters in this volume are:

1 Sunshine

2 Playing School

3 Thieves

4 Off to Work

5 A Smiling Sufferer

6 The Revolution

7 Escape!

8 Françoise

9 Flight Again

10 A New Community

11 The Miracle

12 Teaching

13 Troubles

14 To Namur

15 Energy

16 Journeys

17 Back to Amiens

18 Visit to the Pope

19 War

20 Suspicion

21 With the Good God

Prayer 89

Glossary

The prayer in this volume is:

“Dear St. Julie, you always looked to God as faithfully as a sunflower always follows the sun across the sky.

All your life you loved God and showed this love by prayer and action. Even in the midst of great sufferings and trials you still proclaimed, “How good God is.”

Your greatest joy was to tell others about the good God. Please ask God to give me strong faith. Pray that I may be aware of God’s goodness in my life. I want to be like you and share with others the Good News of God’s goodness and loving care whenever and however I can.

Then someday I may be with you, basking in the radiance of God’s love forever.

Amen.”

I highlighted a few passages my first read through and two of them are:

“In the garden Julie noticed how sunflowers turn their heads to follow the sun as it moves across the sky—even on cloudy days. Julie wanted to imitate them. Just as the sunflowers always face the sun, Julie would live always looking to God. Later she taught that to be holy is to be simple. She explained, “To be simple is to be like a sunflower which follows all the movements of the sun and ever turns toward it.” This idea became a motto that guided Julie’s life: “God alone.””

“For Julie, faith was more than prayer. It was a whole way of life and was shown in action by living as Jesus did. Julie visited sick villagers and cared for them. Sometimes her parents let her stay all night with someone who was very sick or dying. People began to call Julie “the saint of Cuvilly.””

Each volume in the series has 5 illustrations. This is the only volume illustrated by James Bentley, and they are excellent full page illustrations. This volume also contains a map highlight key places in the saints life. The reprint edition has photos of buildings, places, and portraits throughout the volume. My children enjoy these books so much they always read through the whole Glossary. And the prayer and glossary is at the end of each edition.

This book is very moving read. Learning about Saint Julie Billiart will bless any reader, but especially those with medical issues or with friends and family with them. I have now read all of the books in the Encounter the Saints Series from Pauline Books and Media we are still enthralled by these volumes. This book and all in the series are great read and would be wonderful additions to a home, school, or church library. Each book has been worth the read. It is an excellent read in a wonderful series! And I am thankful the author has republished it.

Please Note: I discovered recently that most of the eBook editions are no long available for this series. In fact I could only find a handful of the over 20 volumes that had been available electronically. I do not know why this is the case but I consider it a great loss. A loss for people with reading issues like my son and I, for others with learning disabilities, and for those in different geographic regions.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2021 Catholic Reading Plan!

Books about the North American Saints and Martyrs:

North American Martyrs Kids Activity Book - Bonnie Way

Saints of North America - Jean Olwen Maynard

…

Encounter the Saints Series from Pauline Books and Media: