FACING, FIGHTING, & DEFEATING The Violet Dragon of Lust: The Chronicles of Sir Rolland Paterlot

by Sir Rolland Paterlot, Isabelle Wood (illustrator), John R Wood

214 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2024

Reviews

[Abby (Reader of Clean Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book in the series! And I'm so sad that it's over. 😭

I love how some of Rolland's friends' names are plays on words. Topher Sixate (two, four, six, eight), Misewell Goferite (might as well go for it), Landon DePlain (land on the plane? or land the plane?), and Noshur Howel (not sure how well).

Dragon Slayer Maxim for Agabah, the Violet Dragon of Greed: "Form your conscience and then use it, lest the dragons make you lose it."

BATTLE CRY FOR AGABAH
The violet dragon can be quite alluring,
But its faithful commitment is never enduring.
Facing this dragon in life's greatest arena,
Was the virgin martyr named St. Philomena.
As the daughter of light, she persevered to the end,
As the bride of Christ her resolve wouldn't bend.
Her soul took flight to her Savior above,
Her primary weapons were chastity and love.
You too can be light and pure in your youth,
And guard what is sacred with the belt of truth.

Quotes: ⬇️

Fr. Thomas smiled. "Here is the long and short of it, Rolland. God gave us everything that is good, and true, and beautiful. Dragons are plagiarizers. That means they take what God made, and they twist it and try to corrupt it. They give us counterfeit, or a lie, to try to deceive us."
(Page 24)

"Here at the academy, we have dragon targets. The center of the target is the ideal. That is what we aim for: perfection. We aren't perfect though, and to miss the dragon's eye is called 'sin' in archery. It means to miss the mark. We practice with virtue our whole lives to sharpen our skills. Practice doesn't make us perfect--we all sin--but practice makes progress toward perfection."
(Page 65)

"Without the truth, all else fails. Love without truth is not really love, and truth without love is not attractive and pushes people away. Truth and love are both essential to live a life of chastity."
(Pages 66&67)

"Can anybody tell me what the first sin of Adam was?"

"Eating the forbidden fruit," Bobby Gruff declared.

"That is what most people would say, and it is true in some sense," Fr. Thomas replied. "But I would propose that the first sin of Adam was not what he did. It's what he did not do. God told him to guard and protect the woman and everything in the garden, but when the dragon deceived his bride, Eve, he stood there like a coward and did nothing."
(Pages 67&68)

Billy Gruff raised his hand. "So, we are called to guard and protect girls because we are bigger and stronger, and we are supposed to take care of those who are weaker, right?

"Wrong," Fr. Thomas said. "You are not called to guard and protect because you are bigger and stronger; you were created bigger and stronger because you are called to guard and protect. It's not because women are weak but because they are sacred. They are the crown of creation, the most mysterious and beautiful of all of God's creation. They are His daughters, and He expects you to treat them with respect and dignity and lay down your life for them."

"Wow, I never thought of it that way," Paulo said.

"Most boys don't. Real men do, and so all of you must begin to think and act according to this code of conduct, as a man does...as a Knight of Light does," Fr. Thomas said boldly.

"But how?" I asked.

"Open doors for ladies. Always allow them to go first. Treat them as a servant would serve a queen--as you would serve Mary, the queen of creation and model of chastity. Make sure they feel safe and valued and cherished. See them as daughters of the great King. In Revelation Chapter 12, we read about the dragon who seeks to devour the woman and the child. The dragon hates the woman, who is the crown of creation, and the dragon hates new life. You must be defenders of that which is good, and true, and beautiful...defenders of life."
(Pages 68&69)

"Because Confirmation is about God sending you out into the world to share the faith, even when it's hard. It's about standing up for the truth, even when you are standing alone. Confirmation is your time to step up and be a man. You have been trained by your family, and your teachers, and Fr. Thomas, and now God is sending you out to be light in a dark world."
(Page 79)

"But you can't control how other people respond. It doesn't matter what other people think anyway, it only matters what God thinks."
(Page 81)

"Yeah, why are you leaving?" Misewell echoed. "Is it because Topher is always asking to go to the bathroom?"

"It's only when I'm excited or nervous!" Topher defended himself, glaring at Misewell.

"No, no, it's nothing like that," Fr. Thomas said with a chuckle.
(Page 84)

"What does a bishop even do?"

"I think it means he can only move diagonally," Topher said.

"This isn't the game of chess," Fr. Thomas laughed. "But it does involve strategy."
(Page 85)

"Think of the deposit of faith as a big box of truth given to us by Jesus," Fr. Thomas explained, straightening and moving to the center of his desk. "Jesus gave us everything we need to build and guide His Church and lead people to heaven. Everything in the box is important. Church leaders have no right to remove anything from that box or to put anything into it. All we can do is unpack what is in there and share it with the people. We can't make up our own truth. We must share the truth of the gospel, and we must do it with the love of Christ."
(Page 86)

"In fact, whether you remain single, get married, or become a priest, you will all have a target on your back. Dragons hate real men, because real men love as God loves."
(Page 88)

Landon was flying around so fast that it was hard to catch him, but I was able to freeze him when he wasn't looking. DePlain was grounded.
(Page 139)

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This final book in the Seven Deadly Dragons (sins) series for youth was very good. I was wondering how they would cover this and it was done beautifully and almost poetically. I enjoyed this one most of all. Get these for your kids, but enjoy them yourself.

[AJ Conroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series