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dolorsofmary
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My son (he is 5) wants to hear a saint story every night at bed time. I have been doing this for a while now - done in my own words too. But when you do this day after day you realize that you have to go to obscure saints, saints that no one or at least few have heard of, etc. And my son wonders - saints need 2 or more miracles to become a saint - so where are the miracles in my story? He wants the miraculous, the fantastic, the spellbinding. Its hard really. Like todays is the feast of St. Brigid and i read Brigid's cloak and went on the planning thread and looked inthere. It mentions that in general people can be healed of eye, head, back ailments but nothing specific. Oh the the catholic treasure set did mention the healing of the one blind's nuns eyes. But in general if we are not covering Moses, Joshua, St. Francis of Assissi, St. Patrick, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Joan of Arc and the like - the ones with the big names, then its hard - any ideas? Maybe I should dispense following the calendar of saints and just go for the ones that have a lot of miracles - but to do this EVERY DAY! Yikes!
help! 
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JennGM
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Well, to make it simpler for you, the rules of reaching canonization were not established until much later. And the miracles do not happen during the lifetime of the saint, but after he/she is dead.
People pray through the intercession of a person, and the miracles show that he/she made it to heaven.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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MaryM
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Reiterating what Jenn said about sainthood/canonization not having the current requirements in more ancient times. Also there is so little known about some saints from further back in early Christian times that you are going to make yourself crazy trying to find info for the saint of the day. I would recommend getting books that are specifically about miracles attributed to saints' intervention and focus on those even if they aren't the saint of the day.
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stellamaris
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One idea is to let your son know that it is holiness of life and heroic perseverance and charity that distinguish a saint. Even saints who performed miracles in their own lifetimes (like St. John Bosco) didn't want to call attention to these extraordinary events. They wanted all the glory to be given to God and humbly hid their own "gifts" many times. So, focusing on the saint's life and the every day (as opposed to miraculous) events in his or her life that demonstrate deep love of God through prayer, sanctity, self-denial, and service might encourage your son to see the saints as examples he could really imitate, instead of wonder workers who are too fantastic and "heavenly" to even try to be like.
ETA: It's quite alright to repeat stories, too. Children like to hear the same stories many times, so I think you might not need to come up with a new saint every day. That's pretty daunting! Also, it's OK for him to learn to accept an occasional "Not tonight, dear" when you are too tired or really stumped. Maybe he could tell you about his favorite saint on those nights?
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Caroline
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ekbell
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Amy Steedman's Saint Books Our Island Saints and In God's Garden contain lots of stories of miracles.
BTW here is her story of St. Brigid which I found via the Catholic Culture site.
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JennGM
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Another thing to remember is that the lives of some saints who lived earlier became larger than life. Brigid is one that didn't have anything written down, and as time has gone on, the stories have gotten bigger, and it's harder to separate what was real, and what is "pious legend".
The Golden Legend that was written in Medieval times had stories that depicted saints that were sometimes used to illustrate points and virtues, but not necessarily all true.
And today I've been thinking so much about how to separate the "magic" and "fantastic" from the holiness and virtues and the actual miracles. Some stories are depicted in a natural way, to show the fantastic without reflection of the saint striving to love and live for God.
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stellamaris
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Yes, I just want to clarify that I certainly do think we should tell our children about miracles! I only think we need to be cautious not to go too deep into miraculous accounts that might be legendary. Some of this is OK, but we don't want our children one day to think ALL miracles are legendary!
So, I like to keep the focus on the holy example of the saint and if there are miracles, I always comment on the great and faithful power of God--how He works through His saints in every age and place to manifest His might and love. I think the saints would approve of that approach, too! I try to pick out books that are more "truth" than "legend", but when we do read legends (which maybe are helpful in art, for instance), I always state specifically that it is a legend. Over time, the children understand this distinction.
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Caroline
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dolorsofmary
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Thank you all for your kind and detailed responses. I also appreciate your cautioning of entertaining my son with too many miracles, making the saints unapproachable and even like gods in themselves. Thanks!
Rosemarie
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It sounds like perhaps your son is very imaginative himself? You might try doing a "legend in reverse" and take a simple story of a saint and make characters for the things in the story.. like from what I can find out.. the "dragon" St. George is said to have battled wasn't a mythical beast but evil personified as the dragon.
So you could come up with something that a saint fought against and come up with a character to symbolize that and then retell the story as a legend..
It will help him understand that legends are not necessarily true stories but contain part of the truth.
And it's fun. 
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I love saint stories! (I still have a saint story book my aunt gave me for my First Holy Communion...42 years ago this coming May...!)
One of the wonderful things Pope John Paul II gave us is a host of new saints...modern-day as well as from farther back in time. Many of these saints did amazing, holy things...but these things happened in the context of their daily lives and vocations. (St. Gianna Beretta Molla, for example - she was truly heroic - but everything she did at the end of her life was a fulfillment of her vocations as Catholic, wife, mother and physician.)
The first saint I ever really studied was St. Therese of Lisieux, courtesy of the Treasure Box series my beloved grandma's neighbor gave to her...talk about a truly ordinary life...I loved (at age 5, 6, 7...) the idea that she could aspire to sainthood, join her order and just do plain everyday things in holy ways. She is my Confirmation patron (I never, ever considered another saint...her example lived with me from those early days).
Rosemarie, you are doing wonderful things...even on the days when your son appears to be dissatisfied, he is still listening to the stories of our holy saints. If he chooses only one to remember and emulate - wow! - you'll have given him a marvelous gift, one that could point him toward eternal life and joy.
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dolorsofmary
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Thank you all for your great great suggestions. I think though I need a little more help in presenting a legend in reverse. So I tell the story backwards? I'm confused. Can Jodie explain that or anyone please.
Thank you!
Rosemarie
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stellamaris
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My idea was just to have your ds tell you a story he has heard or knows already...kind of like a narration.
Jodie had a more creative thought that I am sure she'll explain! I liked your idea, Jodie, and I think I'm going to use it as a writing assignment in the future.
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Caroline
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JodieLyn
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You read the story (or tell it) and then talk about what symbols can be used.. like a dragon is used for evil.. and the sword of truth can cut through the lies..
I'm not feeling good so I'm just doing this off the top of my head rather than using a particular saint.
"There once was a saint that fought especially against the lies of the devil. He lived a good life and when he died he went to heaven."
Then you talk about how the saint could be like a knight and how he used the truth like a sword to fight the evil lies that are like a dragon..
Then the story can become..
"Once there was a gallent knight who recieved a wonderful sword from God. When he went out to fight none could stand against him. He heard about a ferosious dragon that no one was able to defeat. And he went to the help of the troubled land and went in search of this dragon. They fought madly but in the end the miraculous sword slayed the evil nasty dragon. And the Knight returned home in triumph."
See, you're making an exciting legend out of a simple story of a saint.
But that will also let you then take the exciting stories and figure out what might the simple story behind it be. You gain an appreciation for the simple stories because they can become exciting stories and you can "see" better that being able to tell the truth against a mess of lies can be miraculous in a quiet way.
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: finding miracles for every day saints?
