Our Lady’s Message to Three Shepherd Children and the World

December 13, 2017 - Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

Give a gift of Inspiration this Christmas!

For children and adults alike!

In this warm retelling of the story of Our Lady of Fatima, Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle unfolds vividly before the eyes of children the mysterious radiant holy Lady who suddenly appeared to three peasant farm children in Portugal.

At a tumultuous time when the First World War was at its height and Portuguese farm families were devastated by the horrors of the Great War, miraculous events mysteriously occurred in 1916 and again in 1917 in an obscure little agricultural hamlet in Portugal.

As Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta were grazing their flock of sheep, a great white Angel emerged, preparing the little shepherds hearts and souls for what was to come. Soon, the Queen of Heaven appeared over a little holm oak tree, bringing many graces and important messages about penance, prayer, and peace. She even performed a miracle the Great Miracle of the Sun to prove her message was from Heaven, a message that would wake up the sleepy village and ultimately change the world!

In reading this beautifully-illustrated chapter book, children will walk in the footsteps of Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta and will be led to ponder Our Lady’s message and how it should be applied to their own prayer lives.

Award-winning author and journalist, catechist, and EWTN television host Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle’s love for children and family shines through these pages. A master storyteller, she now presents this authentic book which reads like a page-turning novel for children ages seven to one hundred and seven.

Warm retelling of Fatima story…Sturdy hard cover..Beautiful illustrations…

PURCHASE autographed copies here!

Editorial Reviews

“Our Lady’s Message to Three Shepherd Children and the World is a great easy read, while at the same time very substantial and filled with challenges to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima’s apparitions! Our Lady of Fatima was very instrumental in my personal conversion, particularly through her messages. Donna-Marie brings out Our Lady’s messages clearly while at the same time helping the readers to know the story and to be challenged to live out the Fatima message and to imitate the three holy shepherds of Fatima by giving something to think about at the end of each chapter. I highly recommend this book not just for children, but for all adults as well. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!”

Fr. Miguel Marie Soeherman, M.F.V.A.

“Donna-Marie’s Our Lady’s Message to Three Shepherd Children and the World is a treasure for all children – young and old alike! With gentle inspirations and lovely illustrations, she tells the story of Fatima so that little ones will not only learn from it, but will be enchanted by it. Oh, to be a child again and to receive this beautiful book in my small, eager hands! With genius and tenderness, the author draws children into the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the message and meaning of Fatima. Well done!”

Marge Fenelon
Speaker and Author of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots: A Living Novena

“In Donna-Marie’s book Our Lady’s Message to Three Shepherd Children and the World she has put together the message of Fatima with the significant events that followed – in a way that is suitable for children and adults too.The illustrations are beautifully done and the meditations titled Something to Think About will help children and young people not only to learn the message of Fatima, but more importantly, to live it.”

Fr. Joseph M. Wolfe, M.F.V.A.
EWTN Chaplain

“Our Lady’s Message to Three Shepherd Children and the World is a special gift for the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima and beyond. It is a treasure for children and is sure to help them experience Our Lady’s message.”

Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R.
Co-founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, EWTN television Host of Sunday Night Prime

“Our Lady’s Message is an incredible book! Donna-Marie paints a soul-stirring portrait of the Fatima apparitions that speaks directly to the heart of the reader. Filled with remarkable insights and beautiful storytelling, Our Lady’s Message is an engaging, inspiring, and deeply moving look at how the encounter with Our Blessed Mother can truly change your life. Like a fine wine this book should be sipped slowly and savored, most especially in the presence of our Eucharistic Lord in Adoration.”

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers
Author, Behold the Man: A Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality””

***Purchase autographed copies here!

PERFECT for FIRST COMMUNION and CONFIRMATION

April 20, 2017 - Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

I am happy to offer my books to you at a special price for First Holy Communion and Confirmation gifts!

SUITABLE for either First Communion gift OR Confirmation gift…

An autographed copy of Our Lady’s Message to Three Shepherd Children and the World…

$15.99 Hard cover children’s chapter book

AND an autographed copy of my book Angels For Kids!

$14.99 Paperback filled with Angel Catechesis for children and adults

BUNDLED together for just $28.00 plus shipping and handling. A $3.00 SAVINGS!

***

SUITABLE for Confirmation gift…

Here is another option: An autographed copy of Our Lady’s Message…

$15.99 Hard cover chapter book

AND: An autographed copy of My Confirmation Book:

$16.99 Hard cover keepsake and teaching book

BUNDLED together for just $30.00 plus shipping and handling. A $3.00 SAVINGS!

Here is another GIFT option:

My Confirmation Book AND Catholic Saints Prayer Book (both hard cover)

BUNDLED together for a CONFIRMATION gift for ONLY $22.00 (plus shipping and handling)!

***

Exciting news! My new Fatima Children’s book!

March 2, 2017 - Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

I am excited to announce my upcoming children’s chapter book Our Lady’s Messages to Three Shepherd Children and the World.

Here is the beautiful book cover with a short publisher description and a link below to pre-order this children’s chapter book which is scheduled to release in June!

In this warm retelling of the story of Our Lady of Fatima, award-win- ning author Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle unfolds vividly before the eyes of children the mysterious radiant holy Lady who suddenly appeared

to three peasant farm children in Portugal.
At a tumultuous time when the First World War was at its height and

Portuguese farm families were devastated by the horrors of the Great War, miraculous events mysteriously occurred in 2016 and again in 2017. By reading this beautifully-illustrated chapter book, children will walk in the footsteps of Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta and learn the important message Our Lady delivered to these little shepherd children and to the whole world.

Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle’s love for children and family shines through these pages. As one of America’s Fatima experts, she presents an entirely authentic book which reads like a page-turning novel to children ages seven to 107! At the end of each chapter, the book offers an oppor- tunity to pause and ponder the story and the reader’s own prayer life as well as encouragement to apply the messages to one’s own life. A section of Fatima prayers completes the book.

It is a beautiful sturdy hard covered chapter book which sells for $14.99. Pre-ordering for autographed copies here.

You can see it and also order here at Sophia Institute Press and at Amazon.

What do you think?

Catching up and stuff!

February 18, 2017 - Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

I have been working non-stop on a very important book project. It’s a children’s Fatima book! It’s has been an inspiration on my heart to write it and I feel blessed to do so to teach children and their families about the amazing messages of Our Lady of Fatima. This book will help them to learn and LIVE the messages. I am taking a short break from the book writing right now to write this blog post! Then, I will get right back to it and work hard to complete the writing and get it off to the publisher and out to be printed so that in the very near future you can have it in your own hands to read to yourself and also perhaps to a child you love. It is a book that is not only appropriate for this 100th anniversary year of Our Lady’s messages, but for beyond this year as well. As soon as I have a cover image I’ll be happy to reveal it to you.

As you might know my other Fatima book titled, Our Lady of Fatima: 100 Years of Stories, Prayers, and Devotions is due to be released in March! You can see it right here on Amazon. It has been ranked the Number One bestseller in the “New Releases of Christian Mariology” for quite some time. That tells me that people want to learn the message of Fatima! You can see it here at my website for pre-order. Each copy will be autographed and will come with a blessed Miraculous Medal.

My pilgrimage to Fatima and Poland is September 17th to the 27th and will be an exciting grace-filled trip for this 100th anniversary year! Fatima expert Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R will be the spiritual guide for the trip. There is information here.

On another note, I will be on EWTN’s Sunday Night Prime soon on March 5th (with a couple of re-airs). I’ll be away that week end on a speaking trip in Lafayette, LA, so you will see it before me. 🙂

We are speaking about my Lenten books and the Lenten season within the family. Here is the information:

“Fr. Apostoli welcomes Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle to discuss Mother Teresa, St. Therese, and the Lenten season.”

Sun. Mar. 05 at 8:00 PM

Mon. Mar. 06 at 4:00 AM

Mon. Mar. 06 at 9:00 AM

I hope that you can tune in or tape it.

PLEASE pray for my book writing! You are in my prayers too. God bless!

Sunday Night Prime: “Feeding Your Family’s Soul”

August 8, 2016 - Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

[Hit the pause button above if you are not ready to view the show. This will allow you to read the blog post first. 🙂 ]

I believe that we need a strong backbone to parent our children and grandchildren properly. We can’t allow the culture to dictate to us about how we should parent our children or how our home life should be. As the first and foremost educator of the faith to our children and grandchildren, we absolutely need to know our faith and to in turn teach it to the children. God is counting on us!

The video above is the recent discussion I had with Fr. Andrew Apostoli about my newest book “Feeding Your Family’s Soul: Dinner Table Spirituality” on his very popular EWTN Sunday Night Prime TV show. During our time together, I show how we can seize the opportunity to teach the faith right at the dinner table. Fr. Andrew and I even talked about (in the words of Fulton Sheen), “dead bodies floating down the stream”! As well, how we do not want to be one of them! We need to go against the flow of our world today to parent our children properly.

Recently, a weary homeschooling Mom of many children came to me for a little “shot in the arm.” She was worn out from demands pulling at her, sleepless nights, and active children. A new school year was about to begin and being in her third trimester of a pregnancy, she felt quite exhausted. I think you get the picture. Things were getting to be a bit overwhelming. We chatted through emails and then it was time for this show to air. Afterwards, the gracious Mom emailed me again to share her thoughts. With her permission, I will share some of her note to me:

“Before I head to bed, I just wanted to tell you that the Sunday Night Prime show was tremendously excellent! It was a huge blessing that came at the perfect time for me! I feel completely renewed in my goal and purpose as a homeschooling mom!

I love the quotes and the reinforcement that being countercultural, having a backbone, swimming up stream (not floating downstream with the other dead bodies) is absolutely God’s call on my life. Through your interview, I am convinced now, more than ever, that He is with me and for me in this sometimes very intense homeschooling adventure. No other path allows me to so vehemently protect my children from evil influences. This show was a God-send at the beginning of a new homeschooling year for me (and at the end of the pregnancy). My resolve is strengthened! Thank you!”

By the way, in addition to the above opportunity to view the show, you can also see the show here on the EWTN website. I hope that you will enjoy the show! May God bless families everywhere!

Books can be pre-ordered here at Amazon or autographed copies here at my website and at Paraclete Press!

God bless!

Donna-Marie

The heroic role of the mother

April 5, 2016 - Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

“You lifted my spirits, pointing out how motherhood is a ‘sublime calling,'” she told me.

A very beautiful part of my ministry to mothers, families, and women is that I often feel blessed when hearing from someone who expresses her heartfelt thanks for my work. It causes me to stop right then to give glory to God, thanking Him for using His little servant and working in that person’s heart.

I recently received a beautiful email from a young expectant homeschooling mother of five children. I asked her permission to share part of it.

Here it is:

I must tell you how much your books and talks have affected my life. I am not even sure how I discovered you. I think it was an Amazon search years ago for Catholic motherhood. The first book that I’ve read by you was Embracing Motherhood, which made me feel elevated in my status as a mom. You lifted my spirits, pointing out how motherhood is a “sublime” calling. For years, I just wanted my mom and mother-in-law to come beside me and lift me up and praise the work I was doing, but the reality is that they grew-up in a very feminist generation and seem to be blind to the validity of this work. So, your writings filled that need for validation for me.

Next, I started listening to Everyday Blessings For Catholic Moms on my Kindle as I went around cooking, cleaning and doing laundry. The kids always knew when I was folding clothes bc the theme music would blare out 🙂 Then, I read The Domestic Church, and one of my favorite passages in that book (which I double highlighted) was when you said that “Blessed (soon to be saint 🙂 Teresa’s advice was to not be ashamed of humble work which is a huge part of mothering: an extraordinary vocation in which little saints are raised inside the hidden confines of the homelife amid the nitty-gritty, humble work of the mother in the home.” That one statement helps to bring me back to a place of peace when I am tempted to grumble and get discouraged with the nitty-gritty of it all.

She continued…

I cannot express to you what a miracle it is that a girl like me (raised in a non-church going home with a mom who thinks I have lost my mind to be open to this many children…and consequently, she has not offered any support or help) is on the path that I am on. I owe it to the great influences of women like you! You have come into my home and spoken words of faith and encouragement. Your words have given me strength when I’ve been tempted to agree with my naysayers that I am nuts for doing this. Your work renews my sense of purpose and inspires me to go on when every bone in my exhausted body says, “Just quit; put them in public school; and, put your feet up with a latte.” ?

Next, my goals are to order the Miraculous Medal book, the Mother Teresa Friendship book and the Children’s book on Angels. I will read them all. Please don’t ever stop writing!!!!! Keep the nourishment coming! Your books are my spiritual direction. They are my friends.

My dear Reader, I want you to know that your loving words and actions mean more than you might ever know. The culture does not make it easy for the heroic mothers who are trying their best to raise Christian children. They are constantly bombarded by the crazy mixed messages of the culture and are not often encouraged in their beautiful sacrificial role of serving their family. Protecting their family from the influences of the evil in society and working hard to teach, care, and most of all, love their children can be tiring.

That mother you see who seems to have it all together, might actually be deeply hurting inside because she craves some motherly affirmation–some kind of shot in the arm to keep her going. You can be the one to help her to know that she is so treasured by God and extremely important to her family in a sometimes thankless job, humbly working through the nitty gritty details of life in the family.

Please go out of your way, and perhaps even push a bit beyond your comfort zone to encourage the many mothers in the trenches raising their little saints to heaven. They need our kind and loving words of encouragement and affirmation. Please help that frazzled or worn out Mom in the grocery store or on the plane–wherever the encounter unfolds and the need arrises. Let her know that her work and sacrifice are SO very important. After all, God has entrusted her with the human being!

I am absolutely sure that you will find countless opportunities–even just in your daily life as you encounter mothers and grandmothers–to help uplift them in their sublime vocation of motherhood – that beautiful vocation of LOVE.

My visit on EWTN’s Bookmark TV Show

March 23, 2015 - Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

I loved visiting with Doug Keck On EWTN’s Bookmark show. He is such a gracious and very brilliant television host. I have been honored and blessed to have visited with him on several Bookmark shows.

I am striving to reach the kids with solid teaching on the Angels, their invisible companions (based on Scripture and St. John Paul II’s catechesis on the Angels) and also teaching them about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit for their Confirmation preparation and for LIFE!

We chatted about my books “Angels For Kids” and “My Confirmation Book.”

I’m having a special sale on both books here.

You can see out visit here:

Tips and encouragement for your family Lenten journey

February 22, 2015 - Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

One mom I know is doing this for Lent. Each day, drawing from the tips, advice, and encouragement in my new book Bringing Lent Home with St. John Paul II, she makes her family’s fasting, prayer, and almsgiving more tangible by writing it down for them to see. It’s a great reminder to all.

I’ve suggested this in my book and I am tickled to see it carried out by Katie.

and this:

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Katie’s daughter Lillian helped by writing the prayer.

What ways can you be mindful of the holy season of Lent in your family? It’s not too late to initiate some ideas and put them into place. We are just beginning on our journey.

In case you’d like to listen in, here’s my visit with Teresa Tomeo on Catholic Connection chatting about families and Lent.

Please feel free to share your ideas for your Lenten journey in the comments below. I’d love to hear them! 🙂