Spring 2023 Catalog

What’s New!

Treasure Trove The

Literature of

And the Art of Understanding It

Level 4

Lead your student to understand and love literature with this in-depth, Catholic program written by homeschooling parent Roxanna Hebson! This fourth level, designed for students in grades 7–8, studies five classic works of children’s literature: The Bronze Bow, The Miracle Worker, A Christmas Carol, Banner in the Sky, and The Fellowship of the Ring. Learn more on page 32. Designed for independent study—no prior literary knowledge needed by the parent!

The Virtue Tree

Growing up to be a better person on the inside . . . A Hands-On Religion Resource for Seventh Grade

This character-building course is powerful! It contains easy-to understand lessons to encourage growth in virtue and follow-up “Good Ideas” to put into practice. This new, expanded edition is lavishly illustrated in full color and includes stories of the saints to reinforce the lessons in virtue. The Virtue Tree makes an excellent preparatory course before beginning formal Confirmation classes.

The Queen’s Good Works

God. She knew that Jesus became man in order to serve, and she sought to imitate Him. * * * How did Elizabeth become such an extraordinary person? Elizabeth had been born the daughter of the king of Hungary, and she had been promised in marriage to the future Landgrave Louis when she was only four years old. At that young age, she had left her family and home and traveled toThuringia with many servants, attendants, and costly gifts, to be raised with Louis and to be trained to be the landgravine. Louis was 12 years old at the time, and the moment he first saw his serious, dark-haired future bride, he loved her. Elizabeth, for her part, loved the tall, blond, trustworthy, and courageous Louis. Whenever he was absent from her, he brought back a present for her—some gloves, a coral rosary, a seashell. She would wait for his return and run to him right away, and he would give her the gift he had for her. Then they would talk and talk. Elizabeth and Louis were best friends and called one another “sister” and “brother.” They grew up together. Louis grew into the ideal crusader knight: modest, patient, truthful, wise, reverent, prayerful, and trustworthy. His men trusted him and the people of the kingdom loved him. Elizabeth grew into the ideal virtuous lady: beautiful, modest, serious, kind in speech, generous to the poor, fervent in prayer, full of goodness and love of God. Many benefited from her kindness, even before she was grown. Many nobles at Wartburg Castle did not like Elizabeth because, even as a child, she was so kind and holy. When bouncing balls with her friends, she would bounce hers too far, always in the direction of the chapel. She did this so that she would have an excuse to disappear for a few 113

S T . E L I Z A B E T H O F H U NG A R Y

NEW expanded edition!

Read the following story to see how Queen Elizabeth of Hungary practiced humility in caring for the poor.

L ong ago, during the winter of 1225, the German kingdom of Thuringia was in dire straits indeed. A terrible thing was happen ing, and it affected everyone, rich and poor, young and old alike. From the family of the landgrave, or king, high up in theWartburg Castle, to the poorest family of serfs, everyone tried to find solutions to this terrible problem. Solutions were running out, though. What was this terrible problem? Famine! The crops that year had produced little food, and everyone was using up their stored grain. Soon supplies were running low, and people had less and less to eat. Because hunger had made the people weak, many of them became sick with smallpox, or as they called it, “the pest.” Men, women, and children all suffered. People in nearly every household sickened, and many died. Up in Wartburg Castle lived Elizabeth, their landgravine, or queen. During the time of the famine, Elizabeth’s husband, Louis, was away helping Frederick, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Elizabeth was only 19 years old. What could she do to help the people of her kingdom?

Elizabeth was an extraordinary woman. She had been trained from the time that she w s a small child to be the wife of the landgrave. She knew how to manage a large castle with dozens and dozens of people living and working in it; she also knew how to manage the kingdom itself when Louis was away. But Elizabeth was especially known for her holi ness and her kindness. This ma t poor glad and the nobles uncomfortable. For in th se days, pe - ple were divided into four classes: the nobles, who owned most of the land and were extremely rich; the merchants and craftsmen, who sold goods and services; the peasants, who owned and worked small farms; and the serfs, who owned lm st nothing but who farmed the land of the nobles in exchange for protection in time of war. The merchants, peasants, and serfs were forced to pay very high taxes to the nobles, who used this money to live in idle luxury. The nobles saw nothing wrong in this. They thought nothing of passing a sick or hungry per son on their way to church without h lping him; somehow they thought that G d was pleased with their prayers in church alone. Elizabeth instead believed that all people were equal in the eyes of

moments and pay Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament a Eucharistic visit. Sometimes, the chapel would be locked. At those times, Elizabeth would kiss the door, lock, and walls of the chapel in honor of the One who lived there. While feeding the poor at the castle gate one day, Elizabeth suddenly saw Jesus Himself standing in their midst. She fell to her knees. Jesus placed His hands on the poor around Him, and suddenly Elizabeth saw the face of Jesus in the face of each poor person. Elizabeth knew what Jesus was teaching her: she must see His face in the faces of all who suffered. She remembered this lesson well. Many nobles at the castle noticed Elizabeth’s love for prayer and for helping the poor, and they ridiculed her for this constantly. This was because they wanted to live their lives of vanity and luxury without their consciences bothering them. Elizabeth’s conduct reminded them that they, too, should be spending time in prayer and serving the poor. Many of them tried to persuade Louis to send Elizabeth back to Hungary. “She is an unsuitable bride for you,” they said to him.

Learn more on page 61.

114

4

1-800-490-7713 | www.chcweb.com