Rosalie Marie Levy

Last year my brother surprised me by giving me this book. He had found it in a box of stuff we had taken from our parents' home but had never gotten around to sorting. It has the dedication they wrote to me when they originally gave it to me for Christmas in 1960.

My family was devoutly Catholic, and all us kids attended Catholic schools. I'm sure I was thrilled to get this book and to page through it, but I doubt that I ever really read the whole thing. Well, now I have. I started reading Dec 26, 2014 and have read a "Saint for Each Day" throughout the year.

I have to say that I was frequently appalled by the writing.
His father, a heathen, brought him up in the errors and superstitions of paganism.

He was famous for his sanctity and his doctrine, and became still more so by the prodigies and miracles which God multiplied through the years..."

In his rage, [he] ordered a fire kindled around her. Seeing that she was unharmed, one of the servants thrust a sword through her throat, and of this wound God was pleased to let her die.

Well, it was a product of its time and of the fervor of the writer for the doctrine of the Catholic Church. Many times as I read I was struck with the passion and blind devotion evidenced within. It made me think of many other religions and the narrow world-views that some proponents hold dear.

I'm still glad I finished it ... My parents' faith was important to them, and while I no longer belong to the Catholic church, my faith is still important to me. It was a reminder of their love for me and of their hopes that I grow to a fine adult.

Note: I was surprised to find this in the Goodreads database. My edition is hardcover, with an Imprimatur of Dec 26, 1956 and a copyright (by the Daughters of St Paul) of 1958. The dust jacket is missing, but the full color plate illustrations (some of which are really fine religious art), are intact.
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