Book Review: St. Catherine Laboure

Continuing with the theme of “Books I need to choose so my daughter doesn’t disown me,” I picked St. Catherine Laboure and Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal as my most recent Catholic Company review title.  I was particularly curious because things like “miraculous medals” fall into the category of devotionals I don’t know much about — but when my eldest daughter was born, a random parishioner came up and gave me a blessed medal, and I do wear it. (Not always. Sometimes.  Long story.)

Synopsis for people who don’t know the story:  St. Catherine was a 19th century French farm girl who discerned a religious vocation.  While in the convent, she had a series of visions of the Blessed Mother, who instructed her to have a certain silver medal made and distributed.  Recall the French Revolution had wiped out large numbers of clergy and religious, and militant atheism was still very much afoot in St. Catherine’s time.  Forget all the warm-fuzzies associated with France being the Eldest Daughter of the Church, the 1800’s are no wonderland for those prone to religious nostalgia.

So anyhow, St. Catherine eventually did get the medal made.  It proved to be a great spiritual help to many.  And meanwhile, Catherine went on being an ordinary saintly religious sister, quietly doing her work, and never letting on that she was the visionary responsible for the origins of the “Miraculous Medal”.

(It’s called “Miraculous” not because it works miracles — sacramentals aren’t magic objects — but because of the miraculous nature of the visions that led to its creation.  There are miracles associated with the medal, just as there are miracles associated with praying the Rosary, visiting Lourdes, or sitting under the shadow of select Apostles.  Miracles aren’t scientific wonders, they are the freely chosen acts of a Person, God, responding in an unusual way to another person — a human — in a way that will benefit the human’s soul. )

Reading Level:  Upper Elementary and older.  As an adult I found the biography to be readable, enjoyable, and with plenty of interesting content.  I didn’t find the story was at all dumbed-down.  My 5th grader read it without difficulty, though as with others in this series,  it helps to have a general knowledge of the Catholic world. For a mixed-group book study, plan to have a group leader who can answer basic questions about the faith in order to assist readers who don’t know much about Catholic culture yet.

A note on the pronunciations:  The book gives easy pronunciation guides to the all the French names and vocabulary, as the words appear in the text, which is great for the reader, since most kids (and grown-ups) don’t know how to pronounce French stuff.  I noted one name in the book that the given pronunciation did not match what I thought it should be.  I don’t know if that is a regional/historical variation, or a typo.  In any case it was a fairly trivial concern, and of all the pronunciations, there was only the one that seemed slightly off to me.

What I love about the book:  The focus on the utterly normal nature of St. Catherine and her vocation.  In shorter treatments of her life, and undue amount of attention is given to her visions and the making of the miraculous medal, with one or two sentences summarizing an entire life that bookended that one part of her life.  In this biography, in contrast, we see St. Catherine growing up, discerning her vocation, and devoting the bulk of her life’s work to taking her everyday gifts (household management, farming, a kind personality) and using them to help others and share the faith.  If she was blessed with an unusual spiritual life, it was a spiritual life grounded in the everyday holiness that all of us can aspire to.

Late in her life we get to see an incident of extraordinary courage, the kind of heroic courage that caps a lifetime of small decisions to do the right thing in little every day matters.  In many ways this biography dovetails nicely with a study of St. Therese’s Little Way.

Summary: It’s a great book.  If you’re looking for an enjoyable, readable life of St. Catherine Laboure, here you go.  Very nicely done.

 

***

The fine print, and yeah, I just copied and pasted it off my reviewer-info page: This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Saint Catherine Labouré . The Catholic Company is a great resource for tools to help you participate in the Year of Faith, including Year of Faith bible studies and exclusive Year of Faith personalized gifts. The Catholic Company also has all your Advent needs in stock, such as Advent calendars and Advent wreaths.

***

And look at this: Here’s a list of all the books I’ve reviewed for the Catholic Company to date.   I thought it was cool.

Anna Mei, Blessing In Disguise – Reviewed – See All Reviews

Benedict of Bavaria – Reviewed – See All Reviews

Saint Gianna Beretta Molla – The Gift of Life – Reviewed – See All Reviews

Doctors of the Church – Reviewed – See All Reviews

The Mass Explained for Kids – Reviewed – See All Reviews

Theology of the Body for Teens – Middle School Edition Bundle – Reviewed – See All Reviews

Why Enough Is Never Enough-Overcoming Worries about Money – Reviewed – See All Reviews

Prove It! – God – Reviewed – See All Reviews

Who Is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew – Reviewed – See All Reviews

The Salvation Controversy – Reviewed – See All Reviews

Sex au Naturel – Reviewed – See All Reviews

Saint of the Day (Revised Sixth Edition) – Reviewed – See All Reviews

Mary, Mother of the Son 3 Volume Set – Reviewed – See All Reviews

The Angels and Their Mission – Reviewed – See All Reviews

The Apostles Illustrated Edition – Reviewed – See All Reviews

Dark Night of the Soul – New Edition – Reviewed – See All Reviews

The Fathers – Reviewed – See All Reviews