Christmas

Saint Nicholas: Patron Saint of Children
by Pierre and Germaine Noury

Second in the series of illustrated books by Pierre and Germaine Noury is the tale of a saint who is so widely popular that almost no one knows his true story…because they know him only as Santa Claus.

But long before he was known as the Christmas gift-bringer, St. Nicholas was greatly beloved--in life, for his kindness and generosity--and afterward, for his great miracles, which soon gained him the title Nicholas the Wonderworker. Once nearly every seaport in Christendom featured a church dedicated to him, and he remains one of the most revered saints in the Eastern Church. And did you know that even to this day, a miraculous fluid called manna still flows from his bones???

Now in this wonderfully illustrated book your family can learn some of the stories of the amazing miracles attributed to the great St Nick!

Other titles in this series include: The Blessed Virgin: Mary our Mother and Saint Francis of Assisi: the Little Poor Man.

Hardcover, size 8.5" x 11", 36 pages

Good King Wenceslas
by Mildred Corell Luckhardt’

“Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen, when the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even.” Familiar to all Christmas carolers, these words begin the story of a brave king and his page as they journey through the winter wilderness, bearing Christmas gifts to the poor and needy.

Bohemia in the time of King Wenceslas is caught in a twofold struggle: first, the old pagan ways and its many gods, against the new Christian religion and its one God, the God of love; second, the authority of its good Christian king, Wenceslas, against the power of his rebellious brother, Duke Boleslas.

When young Vojak is captured by Boleslas, he is claimed by Wenceslas and given the Christian name of Stephen, after the Church’s first martyr. In faithful service to the king, Stephen must face his people’s struggle with courage and compassion, ready at each dangerous moment and every dramatic turn to follow in the footsteps of his master, good King Wenceslas.

Beautifully illustrated by Gordon Laite, Mildred Corell Luckhardt’s Good King Wenceslas is certain to delight readers both young and old with its story of Christian kindness and Christmas joy.

Hardcover, size 9.25" x 6.25", 110 pages

The Miracle of St Nicholas
by Gloria Whelan

It was the day before Christmas in a small Russian village. Alexi's babushka was telling him what Christmas was like when she was a girl-before the soldiers came. "Our church was as crowded as a pod full of peas. Candles made the church as bright as the sunniest day. Watching over us was the blessed icon of St. Nicholas." Alexi had many questions, including, "Why can't we celebrate Christmas tomorrow in St. Nicholas?" Babushka sadly replied that it would take a miracle after sixty years. Well, Alexi had heard enough. If there truly was such a thing as a miracle, why couldn't it happen here? And so unfolds a story that poignantly reveals how, though quiet and hidden, faith and hope cannot be suppressed-by soldiers or by time.

Sewn Hardcover, size 10.2" x 8.4", 32 pages, Illus

The Flowering Hawthorn
by Hugh Ross Williamson

This is a new edition of Hugh Ross Williamson's classic work, The Flowering Hawthorn.

This is a delightful, exquisitely decorated, essay-a blending of legend and history-on the famous Thorn of Glastonbury which has flowered each Christmas and from which, wrote Chesterton, grew the whole story of Britain.

With consummate artistry Hugh Ross Williamson explores the legends which involve Joseph of Arimathea, including the possibility that Jesus Christ may have come to England with Joseph. The great event of Joseph's sojourn at Glastonbury was the building of the church...the first Christian church to be built in Britain. From the earliest days Glastonbury was to be pre-eminent as a Christian centre.

To Glastonbury, as Avalon, came King Arthur; then King Alfred; and then Dunstan, perhaps the only other man in the pre-conquest period who approaches Arthur and Alfred in greatness. And the fame of the Abbey spread throughout the world. Pillage and desecration were to follow...and eventual restoration in this century.

Paperback, 95 pages

' You know the story of the Three Wise Men of the East, and how they traveled from far away to offer their gifts at the manger in Bethlehem. But have you ever heard of the Other Wise Man, who also set out to follow the star, yet did not arrive to be present with the Christ Child? This is the legend of the fourth pilgrim - heard in many ports and different languages around the world - whose great desire to see the Messiah was denied, yet accomplished in the denial; who wandered for years in search of, and eventually finds, the One Whom he sought. A touching tale of sacrifice and perseverance, this is a book to be read aloud to the entire family. '

The True Meaning of Christmas
by Archbishop Fulton J Sheen

“God so loved the world, that He gave up His only-begotten Son, so that those who believe in Him may not perish, but have eternal life.” These famous words of Saint John’s Gospel reveal the true meaning of Christmas.

Simply and reverently, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen meditates upon the Incarnation and Nativity of Jesus Christ, Son of the Most High, born in a lowly stable in Bethlehem of Judah, and the significance it bears and salvation it offers for each man, woman, and child.

Beautifully illustrated by Fritz Kredel, The True Meaning of Christmas offers a joyful greeting to the newborn King of kings and Lord of lords, and makes for fitting Yuletide reading for the whole family.

Hardcover, size 7.25" x 5.25", 32 pages

The First Christmas for Dear Little Ones
by Miss Rosa Mulholland

The First Christmas comes to life on the pages of this book from 1875. The original paintings were recreated using a sophisticated woodcut technique that gives the feel of an engraving, but in vivid colors. With verses by Rosa Mulholland, who frequently wrote for Charles Dickens' weekly magazine, All the Year Round.

Hardcover, size 8.5" x 11", 32 pages

' A fun and creative way for children to learn about the birth of Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas. 32pp, softcover, Illus '

The Saintmaker's Christmas Eve
by Paul Horgan

The Castillo brothers are artists in the craft of saintmaking—curing, carving, plastering, and painting dead wood into lifelike statues of God’s blessed ones. As boys, the brothers received this talent from a Franciscan friar, who saw in them the capacities to wield it well.

The brothers were fashioned by God to constitute, between them, that which it took to make a work of faith, which was the same thing as saying a work of art. Roberto had the eye, the swift and careful hand, to see what lay hidden in a stick of wood and to carve it free; while Carlos had the patient and musing joy to work by measure, like an apothecary, and never by the flash of certainty that comes from nowhere.

Christmas 1809: Roberto Castillo sets forth for the village of San Cristóbal, in New Mexico’s Rio Grande valley, with a statue of their patron to be installed and venerated at the Midnight Mass. It is the brothers’ masterpiece: St. Christopher bearing on his shoulder the holy Christ Child. Upon his return home, Roberto greets his brother, not with the payment for their labor, but with strange, miraculous tidings.

Told with tenderness and great suspense, and illustrated with eighteen fine drawings by the author, The Saintmaker’s Christmas Eve tells with imaginative fire and frank humility the miracle of Christmas: God’s mercy, made incarnate for all peoples.

Hardcover, size 9.25" x 6.25", 112 pages

Christina's Carol
by Tomie dePaola

Based on the 1872 Christmas carol “In the Bleak Midwinter” by English poet Christina Rosetti, this stunning, wintry picture book from acclaimed author-illustrator Tomie dePaola will be cherished all through the holiday season.

One chilly winter’s night, the wind howled over a blanket of snow while in a humble stable, Jesus Christ was born. Angels, shepherds, wise men, and farm animals all gather to share in the still and holy night.

Hardcover, size 9" x 11", 32 pages

Christmas and the Saints
by Hertha Pauli

Ever since that night nearly two thousand years ago when the Infant Savior of the World smiled up from a manger in a poor village in Judea, men’s hearts have gladdened at the angel’s good tidings and their eyes have turned toward Bethlehem for a glimpse of the Divine Child.

This is the story of how those good tidings reached us, of how they passed from land to land and from saint to saint, of how Christmas customs sprang up from the hearts of people of every land. From the lands of the Magi back to the fourth-century Bethlehem of St. Helena, and on to the Emerald Isle of St. Brigid, to the thirteenth-century Italy of St. Francis, all the way to La Navidad in the New World - so the good tidings were carried. And with them came, one by one, the tree, the gifts, the crib - all the customs which bind our own time and place with the Bethlehem of long ago. In a beautiful blend of history and legend, Hertha Pauli weaves together the story of the world’s Christmas.

Paperback, size 8" x 5.2", 190 pages, Impr, 1956

The Christmas of the Eucharist
Selection from Father Faber
by Rev. John Fitzpatrick, O.M.I.

This is a Christmas book about the Blessed Sacrament.

When, at the good tidings of great joy, the little ones crowd to the Crib, going over, as it were, and going back to Bethlehem, to see the gracious mystery which has come to pass, we elders turn rather to the Tabernacle, to find there once again, new-born in mystic birth and wrapped in the swaddling-clothes of the sacramental species, Him for whom there is really no far-away and no long-ago.

These pages will help to penetrate us, while kneeling there in lowly adoration, with the spirit of the dweller in that ‘house of bread’, and to make us, in very truth, as little, children once again.

Paperback, size 5" x 3.8", 120 pages, Impr 1901

Saint Eulalia
by Abbe Dom Prosper Gueranger

Dom Gueranger notes in his Liturgical Year that St Eulalia is one of the five virgin saints whose feast are prominent during Advent, the others being St Bibiana, St Barbara, St Lucy, and St Odilia.

This little book brings to life the courageous martyrdom of St Eulalia with beautiful watercolour illustrations by Jane Spencer.  Written by Prudentius in the 4th century, the hymn was included in the traditional Mazarabic liturgy of Spain.

Enjoy gathering your children around you every 10th December and read this heroic story of the valiant maiden of Christ.

Booklet, size 8" x 4.75", 30 pages

Father Brennan's Christmas Storybook
by Fr Gerald T Brennan

Father Brennan spent his life specializing in telling interesting stories to the young. He has a very special gift in reaching the young with moral lessons they would remember for many years.

In Father Brennan's Christmas Storybook, one of his many books, there are 4 different stories all for the young and young at heart. All stories deal with the Christmas season, especially Christmas Eve.

Booklet, size 7.4" x 5.4", 28 pages, Impr. 1957, colour pictures

A Life of Our Lord for Children
by Marigold Hunt

Dear Children:
"The Gospels are four very short books that tell you about our Lord's life. You can read them quite fast. The reason the same story takes so much longer to tell in this book is that the men who wrote the Gospels just went straight on and hardly even stopped to explain anything. They couldn't be expected to know how we would live, and that we would have forgotten how people dressed and spoke and built houses, and the other customs they had in those days. So in this book, I have to stop and explain all the time, but after you've read it, the explaining will have been done, and you can start reading the Gospels yourself any time you want."

So says the author of this rich retelling of the life of Christ, a tale that possesses the interest, lucidity, and dignity that marks the best of books for children.

Marigold Hunt begins with Adam and Eve and goes quickly through the Old Testament to Jesus, whom she presents simply but not trivially, so children encounter Him in His goodness, His suffering, and His majesty.

Hunt speaks in words and phrases that young children understand and explains terms they may not know. She includes devotions from the Bible (such as the Magnificat, the Beatitudes, and the Canticle of Zachary) along with many of Christ's parables (which she explains).
A Life of Our Lord for Children will make sense of Scripture for your children and help them be more attentive during Mass when they hear the same tales directly from the Gospels.

Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 189 pages