St Vincent de Paul
Catholic Stories For Boys and Girls IV
by Catholic Nuns in America
Finish off Catholic Stories for Boys and Girls with the last book in this classic series! In the final volume of this four-part series read:
- "The Dawn of Spring"—Old Louis's reflections on eternity looking forward to spring
- "The Land of Erin"—The adventures of Saint Patrick, from his homeland to heaven and St Brigid
- "The Flowery Kingdom"—Blessed John Gabriel’s zeal for sanctity
- "The Lion Tamer"—The faith and strength of Saint Martina in the face of the wild beasts and the pagan Emperor Alexander
- "A Shepherd and His Sheep"—The life of Saint Vincent de Paul
Written to be read aloud for the entire family’s entertainment, Catholic Stories for Boys and Girls offers four volumes each holding a handful of happy and courageous stories, compiled and written by Catholic nuns in the 1930's. Catholic Stories for Boys and Girls appeals to the whole family by using simple vocabulary to engage children but also providing well-developed plots to captivate adults’ interest.
Each story highlights a different virtue, and, to reinforce the virtue, every chapter closes with a two-line rhyming verse that provides both a chapter summary and a pithy message, all underlining the books’ main theme—the Church gives life to the soul through grace. Excellent when read by children, and even better when read to children by parents and older siblings, these timeless stories show the reward of virtue by the wondrous events that occur when one is generous with God.
As taken from the front cover of the book, the stories herein are republished in the hope that in a small way the Faith, Culture, and Tradition of the Holy Catholic Church may be preserved for our most prized possession, our children.
Our prayer for these books is the same as Baltimore’s first Archbishop, the Most Reverend Michael J. Curley, prayed when these books were first published:
“May our Divine Lord bless each boy and girl who reads these stories, as well as every one who helps to place them in their hands.”
Hardcover, size 7"x4.75", 144 pages
by Gordon Purcell
The Saints Chronicles bring vividly to life the stories of courageous Christians from the earliest days of Christianity to modern times. All five volumes of this Graphic Novel Series are packed with engaging texts and dramatic images that captivate and inspire readers of all ages.
In this fifth volume, you'll dive into the life of Christianity's boldest heroes of the Faith, including:
- Pope St. Celestine V, the humble hermit who was named the head of the Catholic Church — and was the first pope to resign from his position.
- St. Ignatius of Loyola, the valiant young warrior who was injured in battle, experienced a profound conversion, and became one of the greatest spiritual teachers in Church history.
- St. Clare, who, following the words of St. Francis, committed to a life of poverty and devout prayer.
- St. Germaine Cousins, the young French girl who, despite deformities and sickness, lived a life of heroic love and patience.
- St. Vincent de Paul, the patron of charitable societies, who avoided personal comforts and showed immense compassion for the poor.
The stirring adventures of these brave Christian souls remind us that God has in mind for each of us a unique mission, worthy of all our imagination and all our daring.
Appealing to readers of all ages, these five Graphic Novels will enhance literacy and promote content retention while introducing Catholic saints in a form that can be enjoyed again and again.
Paperback, size 10.25" x 6.5", 120 pages
by F. A. Forbes
The Apostle of Charity
St. Vincent de Paul, called the Apostle of Charity, stands as a monument in the life of the Church. He transformed utterly how both the Church and the secular world (copycatting the former) undertook the infrastructure of organized charitable action. Far from doing social work for social work's sake, St. Vincent de Paul sought out the good of souls both temporally and spiritually, as his massive labor and remarkable life attest.
Born to a peasant family, he was ordained in 1600. In 1605, he was captured and taken to Tunis by Turkish pirates as a slave, but he escaped after two years, having converted his master. Later he became the almoner of the French queen, Marguerite of Valois. He performed peasant missions for ten years, eventually gathering a group of priests to go with him; these conferences also involved performing charitable works. Much of his work included going to the convicts in French galleys—ships for transporting prisoners. The prisoners endured squalid conditions, and Vincent took care of both their temporal and spiritual needs, converting many. In time, he founded the Vincentians (known as Lazarists in Vincent's time), a society of priests who gave conferences and spiritual retreats for seminarians, priests, and the laity, especially in the poor peasant regions of the country. As part of his work, he also established seminaries all over France, eventually taking control of 11 seminaries!
He also founded his Daughters of Charity in 1629, mainly for noblewomen who would care for the poor and destitute. Eventually, young women were enlisted to form a legitimate religious order, who would visit prisons, hospitals, and slums to care for tens of thousands of poor, including eventually 4,000 orphan children; 40,000 poor of Paris; and thousands more in rural, war-torn regions of France. The works of charity these sisters undertook included especially soup kitchens and providing some useful means of work for the poor. St. Vincent's concern also reached the poor slaves of Barbary, whose fate he once had shared, and his missions cared for or ransomed up to 30,000 of them. Finally, St. Vincent's works of charity also included occupying himself with caring for Irish and English Catholic refugees and burying many dead from the 30 Years War.
Never neglecting his duties as a priest only for social work, he also undertook to fight the Jansenist heresy in France, ultimately inducing 85 bishops to convince the pope to condemn the errors of the Jansenists. He also acted as spiritual director to many congregations of religious women and sent missionary priests to go to the Roman countryside, Genoa, Savoy, the Piedmont, Ireland, Scotland, the Hebrides, Poland, and even Madagascar. His prayer, modesty, humility, piety, and asceticism were intense and marked despite all his manifold exertions.
Such was the soul of the Apostle of Charity, St. Vincent de Paul. This is the story of the great saint who put charity onto an organized basis and thus transformed not only Paris but the history of the Catholic Church and the world, its imitator.
Paperback, size7" x 4.25", 120 pages, Impr, 5 Illus
by St Vincent de Paul
Excerpt:
Some account of what befell Father (Saint) Vincent de Paul, Religious of La Trappe, with observations made by him when in America, where he has spent about ten years, with the permission of his Superior, in obedience to whose orders he writes the following.
In 1812, I, in company with two other brothers, was sent by him to the United States, there to found an establishment of our Order. We left Bordeaux on the 15th June, and on the 6th of the month of August we arrived at Boston. We had with us one of our Trappistines, whose object was also to found a community; with this intention she had preceded her companions, but now found herself alone, as passports were refused to the other sisters. We were welcomed by the worthy Mr. Matignon, parish priest of the town, who coaxed us to remain in the diocese of Bishop Cheverus. However as we had received orders to establish ourselves near Baltimore, after a few days rest I started for that town alone, leaving my brothers and the nun in Boston, intending to send for them when I should find a suitable site for the two projected establishments. I paid my respects to His Grace the Archbishop of Baltimore, who received me kindly, but appeared at a loss where to find a site such as we desired. After many unsuccessful efforts and researches, he established me temporally on a farm belonging to the Society of Jesus (of which he was a member) until such time as we could procure the sort of place we wanted; then as I thought that time might be long in coming, I summoned my brothers to me, and arranged for a suitable lodging for the nun.
During our stay, a rich man of Baltimore, who was once a Protestant and had been converted, offered us 2000 acres of land in the mountains of Pensylvania, near a river called the Delaware. He was even generous enough to offer me the services of his son, who was also a recent convert, and who came with us to point out the property which, however, I was not able to inspect thoroughly as I remained there only one day.
I returned soon after with two young men who were inclined to join our Order. They commenced a somewhat rude novitiate, for we fasted and kept silence on the way, going always on foot for want of money. After great suffering from fatigue and heat (as it was summer), we arrived at a little town, distant about sixty miles from Philadelphia, whence we had started on our tour of inspection. This little town, which was called Milford, was quite near to the land that was to be ours.
Additional Excerpt:
Still these souls have been created by God and bought by Jesus Christ, and the more abandoned, and the further from the religion of heaven they seem to be, so much the more do they call for our compassion. We have succeeded in civilizing many barbarous nations and in rendering them Christian and Catholic, we may equally, with the help of God, bring others to the knowledge of the true religion, and since pretended philosophers have abandoned the faith, it must, according to the divine oracle, go to other men. If this faith is extinguished for many, who have deserved the misfortune in closing their eyes to its light, it goes to others who will render themselves worthy by allowing this divine truth to enlighten them. Thus faith is never lost, if it leaves us, it is our own fault.
Paperback, size 8" x 5", 94 pages
by F.A. Forbes
Here is the remarkable story of a great Saint whose devotion to charity transformed both the Paris of his day and the history of the Church. Born a simple peasant boy, he would become a humble priest whose adventures included being captured by pirates, sold into slavery, and escaping back to France. He would battle valiantly against the Jansenist heresy, save countless foundling children, counsel nobility and royalty, and become the founder of two great religious orders: the Vincentians and the Sisters of Charity. Sure to become a family favorite, this Pro Multis Audiobook is another selection from the classic series The Standard Bearers of Faith by Mother Frances Alice Monica Forbes of the Society of the Sacred Heart.
by Joseph's Studio
- Material: Resin
- Dimensions: 3.5"H x 1.75"W
- Gift boxed with Holy Card
Saint of Charity
by Margaret Ann Hubbard
An exciting and inspirational story of the great French saint of charity, St. Vincent de Paul. From his days of youth as a shepherd boy to his slavery in North Africa, his escape to France, his priestly service to the poor and to abandoned children, his founding of both the Vincentian Order and the Daughters of Charity, clashes with the Jansenists and his political adventures at court, this dramatic story of Vincent de Paul is sure to inspire all readers.
Ages: 10 +
Paperback, 165 pages, Illustrated
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