Recently we welcomed a group of 50 students from Maximilian Montessori Academy for a day of retreat and exploring Passionist Life. Since many of the students were in the Kindergarten through 3rd grade age range, we decided to rethink our traditional vocation talks to help engage our young visitors.The result? Vocation Storybooks! Three Sisters each chose an aspect of their vocation story to highlight in a fairytale-style, to which we added a few large illustrations. We’ll be sharing these tales with you in a three-part series, so stay tuned!

Now, without further ado, we present to you:

Part 1: The Little Girl Who Wanted a Sister

Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived with her Mom, her Dad, AND FIVE brothers.

ALL that little girl wanted was to have a sister.

She prayed and wished and hoped for a sister.

“If I only had a sister….

We could pretend to be PRINCESSES!

We could wear LONG DRESSES!

And CROWNS!

We could do our hair and our nails…we could make each other look BEAUTIFUL!”

The little girl loved her five brothers. They were wonderful.

But a brother is not the same as a sister.

Her brothers never wanted to be princesses. They never wanted to wear long dresses or crowns. And they MOST CERTAINLY DID NOT want to look BEAUTIFUL, OR to make their sister look beautiful.

Many years passed, and the girl still did not have a sister.

“OH WELL...” she said to herself. “Maybe I’m just not meant to have a sister…”

BUT THEN, something happened! ONE DAY, she met a KING! He was tall and handsome and kind, and He wore a crown. He said to her, “My Child, will you come to live in My palace?”

The little girl was amazed that a REAL KING would ask HER to come to live in His palace. How could she say no?

“Oh yes, my King, I would love to come to Your palace!”, she replied. “But if I live in the palace of the King, would that make me a REAL PRINCESS?”

“Yes”, the King said. “In My palace, you will be a princess, very dear to the Heart of the King.

“And will I wear a long dress and a crown?”

“Yes, you will have a crown like mine, and a long dress.”

“And will I be BEAUTIFUL?”

“Oh yes, you will become very beautiful indeed. But you will not become beautiful all by yourself. You will need help for that.”

The girl knew how kind and good the King was. “YOU will help me to beautiful, My King!”, she said.

“You’re right”, the King said with a smile. “But I have chosen others to help You, too.”

SUDDENLY, the girl thought of something…Maybe, JUST MAYBE, if she came to live in the palace of the King, she would have what she had ALWAYS WANTED!

Do you remember what she ALWAYS WANTED?

THAT’S RIGHT! A SISTER!

“My King…” the little girl whispered, “If I come to live with You in Your palace….will I have a SISTER??”

The King’s smile got even bigger this time. But He didn’t answer her question! All He said was,

“Come, Follow Me!”

So the little girl followed the King, and came to live in His palace.

She became a princess, very dear to Heart of the King. She wore a long dress. BUT BEST OF ALL, she had SISTERS! Not just one sister. She had many, many, sisters!

The King said to her, “These are the sisters that you have wanted for so long. These are the sisters who will help make you beautiful for the King. And you will help to make them beautiful, too. Your sisters will help you and teach you how to LOVE. And you will help them to love. It is LOVE that makes the Sisters in My Palace the MOST BEAUTIFUL!

To be continued . . .