Bed Time Stories of the Saints

3657 Words8 Pages

Bed Time Stories of the Saints

When children are young, it can be difficult for parents to teach them certain skills and lessons to live a good life. For example, toilet training a young person is something all parents suffer through and most of the time it is hard for them to teach their young ones how to use the bathroom. Several methods have been developed by psychologists, pediatricians, and other scholarly people on the toilet-training process. In addition to this, children’s books are published that are strictly directed at teaching children about their own bodily functions, and using the restroom. The language used, the illustrations, and the delivery of the language, is directed at children. Even children’s bibles are made because children cannot comprehend, or hold the attention to the King James version on the Bible, and so the stories of the bible and its teachings are rewritten in a language children can understand, as well as presented in a manner that will hold a child’s attention. This same approach is used for Catholic stories of their saints in order to teach children about them and their lives that they lived, which reflects how the Church instructs its followers to live in order to go on to everlasting life with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Each children’s story evaluated, although directed to teach children, or to help the parents teach the child, also contains a certain sub-text, and by comparing the same children’s stories to those written for adults and the general public about saints, and by examining the authors intent, as well as the intent of the Catholic church, the importance of these different story styles and their purpose will be determined.

The first story analyzed will be th...

... middle of paper ...

...ersion of a saint’s story is read, the reader will learn something different and take something different from each one.

Works Cited

De Cantimpre, Thomas. The Life of Christina the Astonishing. Trans. King, Margot H.,

David Wilijer. 2nd ed. Toranto, Canada: Peregrina Publishing Company, 1999.

De Pizan, Christine. "Saint Catherine." The Book of the City of Ladies. New York:

Persea Books, 1982. 217.

De Voragine, Jacobus. "Saint Cecilia, Saint Catherine." The Golden Legend. Princeton,

New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1993. 318.

Lee, Frank C. SS R. Bedtime Stories of the Saints. Vol. 2. Liguori, Missouri: Liguori

Publications, 1980.

Lee, Frank C. SS R. Bedtime Stories of the Saints. Vol. 1. Liguori, Missouri: Liguori

Publications, 1980.

Potter, Giselle. Lucy's Eyes and Margaret's Dragon. San Francisco: Chronicle Books,

1997.

Open Document