Holy Family Studios CDs

I'd like to recommend two CDs of audio stories I purchased last week while at my favorite Catholic bookstore in the whole country: that at St. Stephen's parish in Sacramento, California. I have to travel 3,000 miles to get there!

I purchased Our Hidden God, a CD of true accounts of Eucharistic miracles, and Always At Our Side, a CD of true stories of our guardian angels manifesting themselves. These are produced by Holy Family Studios, which I see also produces a CD of Marian stories.

John (5) considers these his new favorite audio stories and is listening to them numerous times per day. Mary (3) still prefers her current favorite of Winnie the Pooh, and that might be an age difference or a temperament difference, as John's favorite books and CDs by age three were already the Holy Bible.

These dramatized stories are not written for children, but for adults. However, John follows along just fine. In fact, I paused the CD on the drive home and asked him, "John, do you know what transubstantiation is?"

John: "No."

Mama pausing silently, because I know by now that John's first answer is always 'no.'

John: "I don't know what transubstantiation is!"

Mama remains silent.

John: "It's when the blessed sacrament is changed into Jesus' body and blood."

Mama: "Do they still look the same?"

John: "Yes."

Mama, smiling: "I knew you knew what transubstantiation was."

Another aspect of the dramatized stories being written for adults is that they share what some might consider gruesome details. For example, in many of the miracles God has mercifully performed for us to reveal the real presence involve flesh and blood. And some of the guardian angel accounts involve death because the angels were saving people from certain deadly situations. However, John and Mary haven't been bothered at all by these real-life stories. And these are the children who still have to turn off Curious George The Movie because the high-suspense makes them cry. (I find it so interesting that fake, Hollywood-made drama for kids really upsets our children, but true stories, even of sin, death, and gore, such as are found in the Holy Bible, don't upset them at all. There's something to that.)

In summary, I highly recommend these CDs for Catholics of all ages, for listening around the house, at Quiet Time, and on road trips!