Monday 29 July 2024

Praying with Mary - Juliette Levivier and Anna Gravier - CTS Children’s Books

Praying with Mary
Juliette Levivier
Anna Gravier (Illustrations)
Hardcover
ISBN 9781860825361
ISBN 1860825362
CTS Booklet CH14
Paperback 
ISBN 9781784690830
ISBN 178469083X
CTS Booklet 

Praying with Mary - Juliette Levivier and Anna Gravier  - CTS Children’s Books

As of the reading of this book over the last few years I have read over 396 volumes from the Catholic Truth Society. I stumbled upon them while doing research on an author, and have been hooked ever since. This is one of only a Few books in the CTS Children's Books I have read, but I will be tracking down more. One of the first was another volume by Juliette Levivier, and I am attempting to track down the 9 she wrote that are available in English. It should be noted there appears to be both hardcover and paperback editions of all of Juliette’s CTS books.

The description of this book is:
 
“Learn about Mary and how you can pray to her. A little book to help children discover the important moments in the life of Mary and pray to her with tender trust.”

The sections in this book are:

Mary, specially loved by God
Mary’s names
Immaculate Mary
Mary, full of grace
Mary, radiance of joy
Mary’s Yes
Mary, filled with the Holy Spirit
Mary, mother of Jesus
Holy Mary
Mary, mediator
Mary’s faith
Mary in suffering
Mary at the foot of the Cross
Mary, mother of mankind
Mary, mother of the church
Mary, gate of heaven
Mary, our Queen
Our Lady of Prayer
Our Lady of the Rosary
Our Lady of the Smile
Our Lady of Mercy
Mary, Mother of God

A sample section is:

Mary
Mother of God

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
John 1:14

What great rejoicing there was in Ephesus one fine day in the year 43I. All the Christians were singing and dancing in the streets, with immense joy, because the Bishops in council had just proclaimed Mary as “Theotokos”. That's a Greek word that means “Mother of God”. This is the greatest and most beautiful thing that can possibly be said about Mary. What could be more extraordinary than being called “Mother of God”? What an honour!

Mary is the Mother of Christ, true man. She brought him up, she formed his human heart.

Mary is the Mother of Christ, true God. She learnt from him who God is, and the greatness of God's love for all men.

How great and powerful Mary is! And yet the Mother of God is also my own mother, and I'm so little!”

A couple of the prayers that really caught my attention were:

“Holy Virgin Mary
every day you had
to find your way
of saying yes to God.
_ Every day you had
to start discovering God
in your life again
in a completely different way
from the one you expected.
Teach us not to be
a page that’s already written on,
but a clean page I
every day
where the Spirit of God can
write the marvels he works”

-from a prayer by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray

“O Mary, my mother,
so holy and so good!
Make me understand
the great value of the silence
in which I can hear God!
Teach me to keep quiet and listen to him.
Help me to make that into
a perfect prayer,
in faith, trust and love.” 

-from a prayer by Marthe Robin

I picked this up just to give a read and pray through it once. I picked up the hardback edition. I was surprised how much I loved praying many of the prayers in this volume. CTS has both a hard back and softcover editions. The illustrations are fun, the colours are bright and vibrant. This is one of several books by Juliette available from the Catholic Truth Society, and there appears to be editions in French and maybe even Spanish of many of her children’s books. It looks like the French and English editions were published originally both in 2008.

We enjoyed it so much we donated the copy we tracked down to the School Library, the primary school our children have attended has a resource section for the teachers and we thought this would be a wonderful addition. This is another excellent resource from the Catholic Truth Society. I am very thankful I picked it up and wish I had it when my own children were younger. A great resource I can easily recommend for church, home, or school library.  

Praying with Mary - Juliette Levivier and Anna Gravier  - CTS Children’s Books Sample Page 1

Praying with Mary - Juliette Levivier and Anna Gravier  - CTS Children’s Books Sample Page 2

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2024 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.


Books by Juliette Levivier:
Francis: the Poor Man of Assisi
Prayers Around the Crib
Praying with Mary
Praying with the First Christians
Praying with the Friends of Jesus
Praying with the Holy Spirit
The Rosary


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