Customer Reviews

Saint Patrick (Package of 10)

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The story of the life of St. Patrick. This book, published by Catholic Publishing, emphasizes the victory of Patrick over the Irish Druids and other enemies of the Church. This book is drier than some of the other books this parent found, but the illustrations are vivid and the stories are good teaching tools. This is a good book for showing that perseverance, courage, and most of all, faith, will overcome all. This book is better for school-aged children due to the realism and the themes of victory over evil. It allows you to explain Catholic beliefs about St. Patrick and his important work in Ireland despite many enemies and difficulties.

Lawrence Lovasik's booklet 'Saint Patrick' is 32 pages long and colourfully illustrated. It tells the story of Patrick's life from his birth in Scotland in the late fourth century AD, his slavery in Ireland as a teenager, his divinely directed escape, his eventual return as a missionary to the pagan Irish to bring the message of Christ, and his death as an old man. It is meant to be a children's book, but can also be equally inspiring to adults. I was moved by it even though I have studied the life and mission of Patrick from an academic and missiological viewpoint. But, there were some aspects to it that hinted at the biased motives of the Roman Catholic author. For instance, some historically questionable legendary traditions about Patrick were included in the book, which I thought weakened it. Patrick's true story is powerful enough without the addition of myth. Also, the illustrations were well done and portrayed the rough and tumble pagan times of Patrick. But, sometimes Patrick is shown in full Catholic-like garb equipped with mitre, golden staff, and flowing luxurious robes, which is completely not authentic since Patrick was not Roman Catholic, but rather part of an independent Celtic Christian missionary movement that did not get absorbed by the Roman Catholic Church until hundreds of years later. And the prayer at the end 'about' Patrick is called a prayer 'to' Patrick, which is a Roman Catholic practice that he would have hated, since Patrick knew full well that there is only one mediator between God and humankind, that is, Jesus Christ (John 14:6; 1 Timothy 2:5). Overall, it is a well done booklet that can be a nice gift to children and even some adults who are new to the Christian faith.

RAD ZDERO, author of LETTERS TO THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT and THE GLOBAL HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT

I was also pleased to receive 10 copies for the extremely low price of $1.50! The book is similar to other Lovasik books and is a higher level than my preschool children can grasp, but the pictures are beautiful and by reading just the first paragraph on each page, they come to know a beloved saint. For a more preschool friendly book on St. Patrick, try the one by Tommie de Paola.

i did not expect it to be a pack of 10 because it was not so indicated! was i surprised and pleased!!