Seton Magazine Catholic Homeschool Articles, Advice & Resources
By: Caitlin Bootsma
With summer fast approaching, it’s always a challenge to adjust to the new normal, whatever that means for your family. Whether it’s fewer classes or none at all, more family togetherness on car trips and vacations or more downtime, it can be a challenge to encourage children to stay active, both physically and mentally.
This can be especially true with faith formation. I don’t know about your parish, but everything seems to slow down to a snail’s pace at mine. Religious education classes are done for the year, new groups of children have received the sacraments for the first time, and the youth groups have stopped meeting as regularly.
It is for this reason that Holy Heroes’ offer of free Glory Stories is particularly appropriate at this time of year. If you’re not familiar with Holy Heroes, it is a Catholic company whose mission is to help parents bring the joy of the Faith to their families. Among many other offerings, Glory Stories are audio CDs that tell about the lives of the saints in a way that engages kids and inspires them to pursue virtue.
And what’s great is that it is entertainment (but not mind-numbing TV), and the kids are learning about their Faith in a fun way. There is a quality about audio learning that engages children’s imagination and memories. And of course, they would be great alternatives to fighting over what music to play on long summer road trips. I’ve also taken to listening to spiritual podcasts and the like while doing chores—a practice that could easily be adapted for my kids with these Glory Stories.
Holy Heroes offers Glory Stories on a variety of saints—from familiar ones such as St. Therese of Liseux and St. Joseph to lesser known saints such as St. Miguel de la Mora of the Knights of Columbus.
Their free offer (just the cost of shipping and handling) actually contains two Glory Stories. The first is the story of Blessed Imelda Lambertini, whom I must admit I had never heard of before. It turns out, as a parent, I probably should familiarize myself with her since she is the patron saint of First Communicants! Through her story, kids learn more about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
The second story will probably ring a bell with more children and adults—the story of St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. What’s neat about this story is that children not only learn the background of the beautiful patroness of the Americas, they’ll also hear some of the conversations St. Juan Diego and Our Lady actually had.
Along with the CD comes a file to print coloring book pages that kids can use to follow along with the stories. Quite a few parents have found these coloring pages useful for kids to have a visual representation of the story as well as the audio. It also comes with a prayer card. My toddler actually carries around a Holy Heroes prayer card with him quite frequently, pointing out the members of the Holy Family in the joyful, colorful depiction.
The staff behind the Glory Stories has this to say about the impact of the tales:
“Allow your children to be inspired by these stories of the lives of the saints. Watch as your children’s imaginations are captured as they listen to these professionally produced dramatizations. The Glory Stories tell the true stories of the lives of holy people of God and are catechetical and entertaining (to both children and adults)! Every story teaches a truth of the Catholic Faith and listeners get to know saints who set inspiring examples for youngsters to emulate in their early walk of Faith.”
If you’re interested in seeing if Glory Stories are a good fit for your kids, you can sign up to receive a free audio CD with two Glory Stories as well as coloring pages that follow along with the stories and a prayer card of your choosing.
Faithful, fun and free… you can’t really beat that!
You can access Holy Heroes’ free offer here!
