THE TEN for Little Catholics Listen to Go( THE TEN COMMANDMENTS for Little Catholics Listen to God BY SISTER M. JULIANA OF MARYKNOLL ILLUSTRATED BY ADELE WERBER Nihil obstat: John M. A. Fearns, S.T.D., Censor Librorum Imprimatur; J«Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop oj 7iew york, July 28, 1953 The nihil obstat and imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the nihil obstat and imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions or statements expressed. CATECHETICAL GUILD EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY St. Paul, Minnesota Copyright 1954 by Artists and Writers Guild, Inc. and Catechetical Guild Educational Society. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A by Western Printing and Lithographing Company. Published simul taneously in Canada by The Musson Book Company, Ltd., Toronto i G od is wonderful and beautiful and very good. He made the world, with blue skies, trees, sunshine, grass and fruit. He made animals and birds. He made two people, Adam and Eve, to be the first father and mother of all the chil- dren in the world. I G od is very wise. He knew what Adam and ' Eve must do to be good and happy. He told them, as plain as could be. All they had to do was listen to God, and mind what He said. But they did not mind God, so He made them leave their beautiful home. An angel with a sword of fire stood at the gate. ! T ^HEN the world be- came full of troubles. People began to fight and kill each other, and they lied and stole. They had to work hard for a living, and they got sick and died. After they died, they could not go to heaven, because heaven’s door was shut. All these things hap- pened because Adam and Eve did not listen to God. After a while, there .LV were many people in the world, and nearly all of them were very bad, God thought, "'Fm sorry I made them, Fll send a big flood and drown them all,"^ T here was one good man, Noe, and his wife and children. God told Noe, ''Build yourself a big boat, and go into it with your family.^" Noe listened to God, and he and his big sons built the boat. We call it the Ark. The bad people made fun of Noe. "Building a big boat on dry land! Ha! Ha!'^ they said. ?%« WTHEN the Arkwas finished, Noe and his family went in- side and they took a lot of animals and birds with them. Then God shut the door and the big rain began. S OON the water was higher than the mountain tops. The bad people were drowned. Noe and his family were A FTER the big flood, the water dried up, and JLV people began to live on the land again. There was a good man named Abraham who had a little son. The boy's name was Isaac. His father loved him more than anything else in the world. ONE day God spoke to Abraham. He said,“Take your little boy Isaac up on a moun- tain top. Tie his hands and feet and lay him on a pile of wood. Then kill him and burn him up. I want you to give him back to Me in this way.'' A BRAHAM'S heart was breaking, but be knew JT \ he must mind God. He was just about to kill his son when God sent an angel to stop him. God didn't want Isaac to be killed. God wanted to see if Abraham loved Him more than Isaac. ,1 ! I V j ^ f- ONCE there was a little baby named Moses.A bad king wanted to kill him, but his mother hid him in the weeds by the river. Moses grew up to be a good and holy man. One day, God called him to the top of a mountain and talked to him a long time. I I i OD wanted every- body to know bow to be good and happy. He wrote down ten rules on slabs of stone, and gave the stones to Moses. Moses read the rules to all the people. These rules are called the Ten Commandments. G od is very anxious for us to be good and come to heaven with Him. So He also gave each one of us a little still voice inside. This still voice tells us when we have been good or bad. It is called our conscience. B esides that inner voice, God gave us much more. He sent His only Son, Jesus, down from heaven to live in our world with us. Jesus showed us how to keep God's commandments. He even died on a cross to save us and open heaven. He taught us how to mind God. T hese are the Ten Commandments God gave us to keep. In the first commandment, God says: ''I am your God. I want you to love Me more than anything else in the world.'' We ought to think about God a lot. We should pray to Him often during the day, and especially at night and morning. We should be happy, because He loves us and takes care of us. I N the second commandment, God says: ''My Name is holy and good. Be careful to say My Name with love.” W^E remember that God is listening, whenwe say His Name. We will be nice to all holy people and things, because they belong to God, If we hear anyone say God's Name in a bad way, we will whisper, “Blessed be God," to make up for it. N the third com- mandment, God says: ''Sunday is My day. Remember to keep My day holy.'' On Sundays and on other holy days, we must go to Mass. We should also rest on those days, and take time to think more about God. We might read a holy book or look at holy pictures. We should say more prayers. We can also play and be happy, be- cause God loves us. w- I N the fourth commandment, God says: ''Honor your father and your mother/' We must be nice to our fathers and mothers, if we want to please God. God has promised long life to children who are good to their parents. I N the fifth commandment, God says: “You must not hurt or fight or be mean to people/' God is good to us. All the other people are His children, too. We must be nice to them, because God loves them. I N the sixth commandment, God says: “You must not do nasty things that make you ashamed/' God knows what we think, and what we do, and what we say. God is very holy, and we must be holy in our bodies as well as in our souls. i i I N the seventh commandment, God says: 'Tou must not steal/' We must not take money or other things from our parents or anybody else unless they give them to us. We should not keep things that other people have lost. We must not cheat. I N the eighth commandment, God says: “You must not tell lies about people.” God does not want us to say mean things about people, even if the mean things are true. I N the ninth commandment, God says: “You must not even think about nasty things.” God wants our hearts to be pure and holy. Then we will be fit to live with God in heaven forever. sdWWiS- I N the tenth commandment, God says: 'Tou must not want other people's things.” God does not want us to be greedy and selfish. He wants us to share our good things with others. 6 G od our Father is ' very kind to us. He tells us how to get to heaven. All we need to do is to listen to God, and then mind His com- mandments. God always helps His children to be good. We shall love God, and love all His children in the whole world. Let us orav that ' FIRST BOOKS 7or Ottle Catholics FB 070 FB 071 FB 087 FB 088 FB089 FB 090 FB 091 FB 092 FB 094 FB 095 FB 096 FB 097 FB 098 FB 099 FIRST PICTURE DICTIONARY FIRST HOLY COMMUNION A FIRST BOOK OF SAINTS MY BOOK ABOUT GOD MY GUARDIAN ANGEL HAIL MARY THE TEN COMMANDMENTS I BELIEVE MY LITTLE MISSAL LET'S PRAY MY CONFESSION A FIRST LIFE OF CHRIST THE ROSARY GOD’S STORY BOOK FIRST BOOKS For Little Catholics are avail- able on your parish pamphlet rack, through your regular book dealer, or on direct order from CATECHETICAL GUILD EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY 260 Summit Avenue, St. Paul 2, Minnesota