Sitting Like A Saint: Catholic Mindfulness for Kids

We are all looking for a book to help us teach our children to pray and meditate in a manner coherent with the Catholic faith. I was excited to see this charming title and hoped it might fill the bill.Alas! It is not an impressive book; in some respects, it feels more Buddhist than Christian. Starting out with a quote from St. Faustina does not entirely fix the problem. Mystics of every tradition always have passages that be interpreted in a quietist manner, lending themselves to Buddhist, Hindu, or secular New Age reading. I don’t have the impression that the authors are trying to put anything over anyone, but at the same time, quietism is not Catholic contemplation.Catholics teach that someone living intimately with the Spirit of God, may receive “infused” gifts which are not merely the culminating touch on a natural virtue, but an out-and-out gift, an ‘infusion” from God. These gifts are certainly compatible with natural virtues, but they are not like Aristotelian virtue in the sense of a median between the extremes of two vices, or a cleverly achieved balance between two opposing tendencies in our nature. Infused virtue is a share in God’s perfection, plain and simple.The Bottaros’ ideas about calming down are natural approaches to human peacefulness. Their reference to God and the saints is pious and credibly sincere, and it could bear fruit in friendship with the holy ones, but the saint stories are more of a setting for their message than evidence that the saints were living their message. Consider the following:Their version of St. Teresa of Avila in the mud is actually shifted away from her humorous but wry complaint: “If this is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few,” to an implication that she laughed off her troubles, and you can lie in the dirt (or flowery grass, see drawing) and laugh off yours too. That may be, but it was not Teresa’s story. It was raining; she was in the mud; the road was bad; she had to get up and get help righting the cart and continuing her thankless journey. She did not lie there and giggle.St. Francis and the wolf of Gubbio is a marvelous story, and I’m always careful to tell my children that when the Gubbio Church was renovated several hundreds of years later, the head of a very large wolf was found under the front step or somewhere. In other words, there really was a wolf, and quite a large one, and not one with the delicate face of Lassie (see image). But… it’s worse. Bottaro does not invite us to imitate the simplicity of Francis, who knew by faith that the wolf had to obey him, since he was obedient to God, -- “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” – No; Bottaro has us imitating the gentleness -- of the wolf!The Solanus Casey story similarly invites us to imitate the bees he kept. Cute, and Solanus may have enjoyed their buzzing, but they were not the source of his peace; friendship with the saints does not mean imitating their animals but themselves.Bottaro quotes Joan of Arc, “I am not afraid; I was born to do this.” (I presume it’s a quote.) Then he explains how to arrange our breathing and our imagination to be fearless. This was not her technique; we know this. Because of her fully recorded trials, we know more about Joan than about any other person in the 15th century. Indeed, it is important to get a grip on your imagination when you are fearful by habit, and breathing differently can help; furthermore, you will find that when you calm down, your breathing changes, so there is a relationship… which way does it go? Both ways, maybe… But that has nothing to do with Joan; she simply had a vocation and she knew it. You might wish for such a clear vocation, but remember, she was born to be burned at stake too, so it wasn’t easy; it was just clear and she was specifically aware of her celestial friendships. That helps, and you can work on it.It goes on. I hope that gives you the flavor. I don’t think that the Bottaros have the relationship between psychology and faith figured out. Few do. St Paul writes that only the Spirit of God can distinguish between the soul and the spirit. Precisely that distinction is what is confused here. Emotions are not part of our spiritual life; they touch it and are touched by it, but the movement of the Holy Spirit is distinct. We cannot access it by any technique, still less by presuming to imitate the saints’ pets. Their pets?It was a disappointment and an irritation to read this book.

I bought this book sight unseen after having a great experience reading the adult “the mindful catholic” book. I’ve done a variety of prayer with my little kids (7,5,3)—devotional, rosary, novena, journaling, praying aloud, adoration—and I found this is a great building block for helping them in prayer. Some reviewers seem to be upset that this isn’t a book of prayers, and it’s not really meant to be a devotional. Instead it helps children learn how to approach prayer calmly and, well, prayerfully. It introduces someLesser known saints and has beautiful art. Another reviewer took issue with the message we are “supposed” to derive from these stories, but I would just point out we can derive multiple lessons from these stories and these certainly aren’t antithetical to the saints. My husband and kids have been working their way through it and I think it has been really helpful.

This book is amazing! Each page has a different exercise relating to a Saint (and not just the well known ones), as well as a beautiful full page illustration. Even my 3 year old enjoys doing these mindfulness exercises, and my 9 year old asked if we could do the Elijah one every day! I usually read the page aloud while the kids do the exercise, and we all feel calmer and more settled after doing one. We've only had the book for about a week, so we'll see what the long term effects are, but I'm really glad we bought it, and highly recommend it.

I’m really looking forward to reading this with my kids. Especially my 6 year old. I think he’s really going to enjoy this book. I love that they are short stories about a Saint and a simple meditation for the kids.Update *I read it tonight with my 6 year old. He really enjoyed it. He liked the relaxing meditation before bedtime. I recommend this book.

This book provides a meaningful and accessible way to help children and the adults who care for them experience peace, reduce anxiety, and create relationships with the Saints. There are experiential techniques here to address fear, anxiety, anger, and other sources of strife in a simple manner that will also provide the context for deeper explorations of the lives of the Saints. I love how the authors have created such a child-friendly way to embrace the biblical imperative to,"Be still and know that I am God."

While this book has lovely illustrations, and short stories of the saints...it feels more like a book of self-regulation than meditation. I don't think it's bad or inappropriate, just not exactly what the title implies. I can see using the story of Blessed Solanus Casey and the bees, for example, when you have a child who is angry with his/her siblings to help them calm down and ask for God's help in regaining self-control. I wish I had been able to read this book before purchase, because I probably wouldn't have. Since Amazon wants more than half the price to return it, I'll keep it and try to take what we can from it.

This is a colorful and peaceful read. It can help adults as well. It helps a person recognize the love God has for them, the precious moment they are in, and how to be still and relax. This book is a good tool for parents to use for their children. It helps the children understand and learn about Saints and it gives thoughtful meditations for the children (and adults) to physically do to learn how to relax and how to focus on God. The illustrations are simple and give the reader a feeling of peace and joyfulness. Excellent book.

So grateful for this book. I've tried a few different times to introduce my niece and nephew to deep breathing, affirmations and mindfulness. I've always tried to adapt the resources I have and find a way to make it accessible to them. I love that this book 1) Doesn't dumb down the material which is often a problem I find with stuff geared for kids, 2) Has practical exercises 3) Has the stories and examples of the saints! Really well done. Thank you Bottaro family!

Bought this to teach my daughter a little more about Saints as she draws nearer to her confirmation. We both loved enjoyed reading it and learning about each Saints and their special gifts and prayers. We have reread this book many many times. I even recommended it to her teacher for religion class while they were online learning.

This book is wonderful. It draws in the attention of the children and reminds us that we can hear God when we quiet our bodies and and minds. I look forward to referencing this for a long time.

I absolutely love this book, and my kids do, too. It really makes a special moment in our day.

Beautiful book about mindfulness