I just want to give you one warning. It is this: DO NOT BE
DECEIVED!
Because of the mold in which I have cast it, this may read
like a novel; but do not be deceived. It is history! The facts
are facts. Many of the words are Bernard’s own words, culled
either from his sermons or his letters. I have dramatized
much; I have fictionalized little or nothing. So, take it for
what it is—a perfectly reliable story.
You may ask: Why the story form? My only answer is that
we have had plenty of historical novels and plenty of biographical
novels; so why not have some novel history in a
novel biography? This family lived! Why not represent them,
then, as life-like? Furthermore, since it is only in and by
your everyday living that you are going to become a saint, I
had to give you a safe model. I am sure that you and I and
all of us can learn much from this “everyday living” of Bernard’s
family. They show us how we can supernaturalize
the natural. What a family!
Now, remember, I have given you only sketches, not fulllength
lives. Bernard alone would take a volume twice this
size! But I hope that the sketches will satisfy and stimulate.
I never met such a family before; I feel sure you will enjoy
the introduction I give you.
Fr. M. Raymond, OCSO
Our Lady’s Birthday
September 8, 1942
http://www.amazon.com/The-Family-that-Overtook-Christ/dp/1933871202
I read an very old copy of this in Cobh in the convent. If you are homeschooling parents, I highly recommend this reprint.
A great book to which I have referred on this blog.
And, if anyone would like to get a copy for STM, let me know. I would love to have a copy.
You all know who my favorite saint is.....
