Liguori Author Barbara Yoffie Inspires Children with “Saints for Sacraments”
Liguori author Barbara Yoffie and illustrator Jeff Albrecht bring saints to life for children in the latest set in the Saints and Me! series. The Saints for Sacraments books inspire children with stories of real-life heroes and heroines who connect closely with each sacrament.
Both Yoffie and Liguori collaborated to select which saint would best represent each of the seven sacraments.
“A few were easy,” said Yoffie, “John the Baptist was the obvious choice for Baptism… the newly canonized Louis and Zélie Martin were standouts for Matrimony. John Vianney, patron of priests, was the choice for Holy Orders. And Padre Pio, the great confessor, was a no-brainer.”
Other saints in the set include Teresa of Ávila: Saint for the Eucharist, Maximilian Kolbe: Saint for Anointing of the Sick, and Philip Neri: Saint for Confirmation, who Yoffie says surprised her.
“I did not know of Philip Neri’s great devotion to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit truly worked through Philip to do God’s work so the church could grow. What a great patron for Confirmation candidates!” said Yoffie.
Liguori also offers the Saints for Sacraments Activity Book that enables children to relive the story and reinforce what they’ve learned. This book includes word searches, coloring sheets, maps, and lists of items found at the sacrament for each storybook.
“For the Saints for Sacraments set, I wrote their stories like the other books in the Saints and Me! series with one important difference—introducing and bringing out information about the sacrament,” said Yoffie.
“The challenge was ‘weaving in’ the sacrament—sprinkling, in a way—the saint's story with background on the sacrament at the same time. I wanted it to be lively. I didn't want it to sound like a religion textbook.”
When writing each story, Yoffie says she enjoys digging into the lives of each saint and finding details that help her connect with them on a personal level.
“I feel like I become best friends with each saint. I pray to them and try to sense what they want me to convey to the reader about their life on earth. I like making the saint real, alive, and interesting for young children,” said Yoffie.
In 2012, Yoffie began writing her first book of the series, Kateri Tekakwitha: Model of Bravery, to coincide with her canonization in October of that year. That book grew to be part of her first set of six books, the Saints of North America.
Saints and Me! series includes three other sets—Saints of Christmas, Saints for Communities and Saints for Families—with a total of over thirty books.
Barbara Yoffie has worked as both a classroom teacher and certified religion educator in Catholic education and an instructor for the Paul VI Institute. Her forty years as a seventh-grade Confirmation teacher ignited her love of saints, and she encouraged her students to discover “new” saints, not just those that were popular or well-known.
“I guess I meet and enjoy the saints every day—it's just a part of my life as a Catholic and Catholic educator,” said Yoffie.
“I have also developed two courses for Catholic educators through Paul VI Institute exploring the saints and creatively celebrating them in the classroom. Teachers love to learn about ways to make the saints come alive!”
In addition to the Saints and Me! series, Yoffie is also developing a new booklet for Liguori that explains the Mass to children who are about to receive or have just received their First Communion. This booklet will take children step-by-step through the four parts of the Mass with engaging graphics in the style of another popular Liguori booklet also illustrated by Jeff Albrecht, Guide for Altar Servers.
She looks forward to both this project and any future projects she may have with Liguori, saying, “Here we are, 31 saint books later, and I'm looking forward to the next set! Who will be the next ‘lucky 6’?”
