St. Rosaline, the Carthusian: The Saint With the Shining Eyes

by Mark Vincent, Nadia Olson (Illustrator)

Saint Rosaline, the The Saint With the Shining Eyes, is a beautiful children’s picture book about St. Rosaline of Villeneuve, the daughter of a great noble house of Provence in medieval France who became a Carthusian nun at age seventeen and who is revered as a Saint. It was the time of the last crusades. The Villeneuves were a devout family who fought for the Christ's Kingdom, some with the sword and some like St. Rosaline with prayer and fasting. The Carthusians live hidden, contemplative lives and do not advertise their Saints. Little is known about St. Rosaline. What little is known of her shows her as a model of true Christian living which we believe today’s children should learn about just as they learn about Mother Teresa of Calcutta or St.Francis of Assisi. While these great Saints performed feats of holiness for all the world to see, St. Rosaline spent most of her life alone in her cell in a cloistered monastery where she performed feats of the spirit. It is difficult to talk about the spiritual life to children. In their book, Mark has found the words and Nadia the pictures to show the adventure of the life of the spirit which a very young noble woman embarked on 700 years ago and lived to the fullest. The Carthusian life has always been a calling to a few chosen children of God. Fewer follow this calling today. May this book help many children get to know and love St. Rosaline and the Carthusian life of prayer, this life which is of the utmost importance to the health of our world. Author Mark Vincent and his friend Nadia are both members of a small Byzantine Catholic parish in the Pacific Northwest. You will find that the beautiful images of Byzantine liturgy and iconography have slipped into the words and images of this story. Mark tells children about the earthly life and the spiritual battles of St. Rosaline.. He addresses his audience directly as their storyteller evoking the spiritual adventure of St. Rosaline’s life. The unschooled freshness of fourteen-year-old Nadia Olson’s art framed by rich floral designs reminiscent of Provencal textiles makes this book a feast for the eye. There is a lot of detail to discover and enjoy. This book contains a timeline and a map for your school or home school history project.

31 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 13, 2017

Reviews

[Rosanne Pallini-Verlezza · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely book! The drawings, colors and background designs are wonderful! For a child at heart it was such a pleasant read about a Saint I knew nothing about.