A Father's Heart: The Story of Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus
Young Adult Graphic Novel
Text: Corinna and Maria Laughlin
Illustrated by: Carlos Valdeira
- Softcover
- Width: 8.25"
- Height: 11.75"
- Pages: 40
Young readers and families devoted to the faith will love this beautifully illustrated graphic novel on the life and legacy of Father Michael J. McGivney, an American Blessed and founder of the Knights of Columbus.
The book tells a page-turning story, from his parents’ flight from Ireland’s 19th century Great Hunger, to their settlement in a factory city in Connecticut, to the hardships and early death faced by newcomers to the nation, to how their oldest of 13 children grew into a holy young man and a priest who became one of the most accomplished and consequential figures in U.S. Catholicism. As a young priest serving a large immigrant population, he responded to the needs of his people by founding what today is the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization, all the while exercising his ministry with heroic virtue and steadfast love toward the poorest and most neglected of society. Possessing both a tender heart and an indomitable will, Father McGivney blazed a trail of acceptance and achievement for Catholics in America and was a beloved witness to the faith at a time when the Church was suspect and maligned by Protestant elites. But this book is more than simply a historical account.
Through colorful, eye-catching pictures and appealing storytelling that keeps the reader engaged and informed, A Father’s Heart also tells of the miraculous healing of an unborn child that led to the beatification of Blessed Michael McGivney. The healing goes to the heart of the Catholic faith, in which a large Tennessee family, trusting in God’s healing power through the intercession of Father McGivney, experienced the signal favor in the birth of their healthy child in 2015. It is a story that captures the hearts and minds of young people today and serves as a testament that God is still working in our lives.