For your An old-fashioned “Retreat-in-a-Book” . . . to help them ponder the truths of the Faith and live lives of holiness in accordance with those truthsBased on the traditional St. Ignatius retreat (trusted by Catholics for centuries) and adapted for children, this clear, simple, thoughtful presentation of the Faith is invaluable for parents seeking to form their children in holiness. My Path to Heaven covers such essentials of the Faith as God’s will, angels, Heaven and Hell, the Fall of man, the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation, the Nativity, the Passion, salvation, the sacraments, faith, hope, love, and contrition, and it teaches children the relevance of these truths in their lives and in the decisions they make. This unique book it focuses on proper devotion and right action, not feelings it acknowledges and speaks to the deep seriousness that attentive parents know lies in the hearts of even the very youngest children it considers central points of the Faith and addresses the issues that face every Christian, even the youngest by speaking reverently of holy things, it inspires children to develop in devotion to Jesus, Mary, and the saints chapters include numerous Scripture references Among the •Three ways to help your child make good choices•The victory promised to those who try to be holy•Free a great gift (and a great responsibility)•God's overwhelming mercy and patience•Christ's plan to train children to follow Him•God's why He deserves all our love• how your child can avoid the Devil's traps• why now is the time to begin seeking it
I absolutely fell in love with this book! Originally written in 1936, it is divided into 12 lessons that teach deep theological concepts on a level that children can understand and appreciate. The illustrations are so intricate and beautiful and symbolic of the lessons being taught. I ended up copying the illustration at the beginning of each lesson, one for each child, so they could pour over individually while I read. So many beautiful conversations organically arose from these short lessons. I think I will bring this out every Lenten season to reread. Highly recommend!
Reason for Reading: We always start our homeschool time together with God. First using something for study, then reading a story or passage from the Bible. I just happened to stumble upon this book online and after looking at the sample pages was extremely excited about using it with my son as a catechises/devotional.
This book is utterly amazing and I highly recommend it. I do not have the theological background to do justice to it by trying to explain it to you and anything I do say about it will only be a small portion of just how beautiful and spiritually captivating and instructional it really is. This is a twelve lesson course and we did one lesson a school week, thus with the occasional week off it took us just over 3 months to complete. During that period of time, my son's knowledge of God & Jesus has blossomed and intensified. He has formed from a childish knowledge of his faith to a more mature and personal devotion to the Lord which gradually became evident throughout the study of these lessons. He understands concepts he never quite got before. He knows what Love and Hope are, he knows who to pray for, he appreciates the glory of the sacraments and the importance of the Holy Eucharist with a true heart of someone who cannot live without the food the Lord provides for our souls. He speaks of the Lord with knowledge and truth. He has reached a new stage in his religious life and I am so thankful to this book which engaged him on all levels.
Briefly how the book works. Each lesson is the same. We start off with an illustrated picture and these are incredibly intricate and detailed pictures which one is asked to study the first day. The picture also has a caption to go along with it to help your thought process.
The second day one is to read the accompanying text for the lesson which run two to three pages, usually three. These lessons are written to the children, in an old-fashioned voice, remember the book was originally written in the 1930s, but it is never condescending or babyish (the modern editing may have had a bit to do with this perhaps). It explains theological concepts and Church dogmas so simply, even a youngster listening in could comprehend. The theology is not watered down though in anyway. The Truth is told here. There is a Heaven and a Hell and it is up to you where you will go. God sends no one to Hell. He gave us free will and we make the choice to go there on our own by the way we choose to live our lives and the lessons in this book each touch on a subject and show one how to strive for holiness, remembering that we have a forgiving God. That while the Devil will tempt us with snares, God will show mercy and patience as long as we return to him and keep striving for that holiness through which this book shows children how to pick up their cross and follow Jesus.
The lessons suggests spending more than one day reading the lesson. Then finally there is a list of anywhere from 10 to 20 "yes" or "no" questions at the end of each lesson to catechize the student/reader to obtain there understanding of the material covered. Interestingly, there are no answers. Just an accumulation of the yeses and noes such as Answer: 14: Yes, 6: No. This makes the Instructor/leader have to pay attention as well. I will say these lessons brought about some amazing discussions between ds and I. He is 11 and autistic, he discussed throughout the lessons about the topics and we even got way off topic and he had me answering questions about morality, ethics, what about the people who don't believe, abortion, what do we do with bad guy killers and a whole bunch of other stuff. He's a very intelligent kid when it comes to this stuff and his lack of verbalizing in the usual way most of the time, makes it very thrilling to have these conversations with him when he takes the lead. I highly recommend this book for individual or small group settings such as homeschool or Sunday School.
I just love this book. I have not read it recently so I will not say too much in this review. I have read this with quite a few of my children. I think it has been helpful for them in their faith. I know I always get a lot out of it each time. I always do this with one child at a time at around the age of 11. The illustrations are fabulous, and I lose myself in looking for all the details each time. My understanding of the Ignatian exercises for discernment are not very thorough, but my understanding is that this is a child's version of that in that it is about encouraging a response to faith. I choose Jesus! I choose God! I recommend this as a great way to share your faith with your children, and it might help you grow in your faith as well.
This is a phenomenal book for kids (and adults) about the Catholic Faith! The artwork for each chapter is amazing and there is so much depth to it. This was such a good read and convicting. I will come back to this book for myself and my kids as they grow. Definitely a favorite!
This unique book offers children an introduction to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius as well as various other elements of Ignatian spirituality. Consisting of twelve guided meditations (complete with reflection questions) that cover key moments in the four weeks of the Exercises, "My Path to Heaven" is a great tool for helping children to deepen their relationship with God in an Ignatian spirit. The book is enhanced greatly by a series of lavish illustratiosn by Caryll Houselander, each of which bring to visual life such concepts as the Principle and Foundation, the Two Standards, and the Contemplation to Attain Love. I have used this book as the basis for a Ignatian-style Vacation Bible School as well as in youth ministry with middle school students, all to good effect. I have also made use of it for my own prayer and meditation, finding it in many ways to be more accessible and spiritually nourishing than many "adult" Ignatian resources. I would recommend this book to parents and religious educators, as well as to any adult who is willing to become a bit childlike in order to deepen their relationship with the Lord.
This is a lovely children's classic based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. My children get completely absorbed in the illustrations, which we photocopy (the publisher encourages this) and let them color. Great read-aloud for Lent.