Saint Biography

Saint Patrick was, by his own admission, a controversial figure. Convicted in a trial by his elders in Britain and hounded by rumors that he settled in Ireland for financial gain, the man who was to become Ireland’s patron saint battled against great odds before succeeding as a missionary. Saint Patrick Retold draws on recent research to offer a fresh assessment of Patrick’s travails and achievements. This is the first biography in nearly 50 years to explore Patrick’s career against the background of historical events in late antique Britain and Ireland.

For more than 500 years, the story of Joan of Arc has been an inspiration and a mystery. The least likely of heroines, a peasant girl with no education and no prospects, Joan turned herself into the legendary Maid of Orleans, knight, martyr, and saint. Following a voice she knew was God's, she led an army to victory in battle and crowned the king of France, only to be captured by her English enemies and burned at the stake as a heretic, all by the age of 19.

God spoke to Don Bosco in dreams. These fascinating dreams of St. John Bosco involve prophecy, parables, and reading of hearts, with a powerful spiritual message. These stories include: "To Hell and Back", "Two Boys Attacked by a Monster", "The Snake and the Rosary", and many more. Those dreams led to many conversions and will instruct, admonish, and inspire many today!

Comment est morte Lucy ? Pourquoi et comment le corps de Saint Louis a été dispersé à travers le monde ? Que nous apprend l'étude du cerveau de Descartes? L'Histoire est pleine de mystères, c'est peut-être ce qui fait son charme et les résoudre est une aventure passionnante qui s'étend sur plusieurs siècles. N'étant plus une discipline monolithique, l'Histoire voit désormais s'étendre son champ d'action et s'enrichit de rapports fructueux avec l'anthropologie physique, l'ethnologie, l'archéologie, la biologie.

Quel était donc le secret de Marthe Robin, cette petite paysanne qui, malade, paralysée, vivant loin de la célébrité dans une discrétion absolue pendant 60 ans, a reçu plus de 100 000 personnes...

Based on the film by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, The Mayo Clinic: Faith, Hope, Science chronicles the history of this unique organization, from its roots as an unlikely partnership between a country doctor and a Franciscan order of nuns to its position today as a worldwide model for patient care, research, and education. The book demonstrates how the institution’s remarkable 150-year history continues to inspire the way medicine is practiced there today.

St. Therese of Lisieux, largely unknown when she died in a Carmelite convent at the age of 24, became, through her posthumously published autobiography, one of the world's most influential religious figures. No less a luminary than Andre Gide modeled one of his characters after her in his novel Strait is the Gate.

The Life of Saint Macrina is a significant work of early Christian literature written by Bishop Gregory of Nyssa. In the form of a letter to the monk Olympus, Gregory describes the life and influence of his sister Macrina. Macrina – also known as "Macrina the Younger" – had helped to establish a monastery and convent in Pontus (in modern-day Turkey) in the fourth century AD. The story centres on Gregory’s final visit to Macrina and is written as testimony to her piety, sanctity, and holy influence.

The Little Flowers of St. Francis is a classic collection of popular legends about the life of St. Francis of Assisi. Composed at the end of the 14th century by an unknown author, this manuscript is a version of the Latin Actus beati Francisci et sociorum eius, which can be dated to 1390 AD. Most scholars are now agreed that the author was Ugolino Brunforte (1262-1348). The text was the inspiration for Roberto Rossellini’s 1950 film Francesco, giullare di Dio (Francis, God’s Jester), which was co-written by Federico Fellini.

"Nous étions six – cinq garçons et une fille – insouciants, frivoles, joyeux, dans un été de tous les possibles. Pourquoi a-t-il fallu que l'un d'entre nous disparaisse ?" S'inspirant d'une histoire vécue, Philippe Besson retrace un drame de sa jeunesse, survenu dans l'île de Ré, un soir de juillet, au milieu des années 80.

In an age that smirks at the mention of miracles, sin, angels, and demons, St. Pio of Pietrelchina has emerged as a figure of immense popularity, attracting fascination, veneration, and emulation. Padre Pio, who once wrote in a letter, "I am a mystery to myself," is certainly a mystery to all who know of him. To those who moved beyond mere credulity, he became an inspiration to embrace the fullness of faith.

Here are yet more of those human and lovable people whose mysterious passion for God led them into preposterous escapades. Ethel Pochocki presents a follow-up collection of wildly distinctive saints-from Hyacinth to Zita to Longinus to Kentigern. Listeners will again be charmed by the vivid immediacy of their settings. We find out what very real people they were, these saints who lived and breathed in a world as changeful as our own. Ethel Pochocki leads us through their adventures, joys and sorrows to the truly happy ending each one gained.

Ex-priest Stephen H. Donnelly’s memoir, A Saint and a Sinner, is an immersive experience into the world of a Catholic priest and a brutally honest account of Stephen’s journey of sinfulness. At age 42, Stephen was ordained a Roman Catholic priest. As he stood before God, the bishop, and the congregation, he made promises he struggled to keep. Three years into his priesthood, he descended into a world of cocaine and alcohol abuse.

One part biography, one part prayer book, The Life and Prayers of Saint Padre Pio is an essential for any Christian. The foundation for Padre Pio's work in the world was love. His love of God became intertwined with his love of humanity so that the two became inseparable and unwavering. Padre Pio is notable not for his erudition or even his teachings, per se, but for the man he was and the intercessor he continues to be. Pio gave himself to Christ as a spiritual victim for the souls of sinners.

The world needs saints to show it the way to true humanity. The church needs saints to show it how to live out its calling. The witness of the lives of the saints is a powerful testimony to the reality of God’s plan and the possibility for truly following it in one’s life. So often, we do not see this witness. We see hypocrisy and mediocrity among Christians. That is why we must look to the saints - the ones who really followed the words of Christ and let them be carried out fully in their lives. The saints also give us a reason to hope.

Considered by many to be the first autobiography/memoir ever written, Confessions is a retrospective view of a life challenged by uncertainty, doubt, human frailty, and earthly desires. Augustine discovers and cherishes a deeply personal relationship with his God, all while describing the day-to-day dealings of his life in the fading, corrupt days of the Roman Empire.

This long-awaited translation of Confessions, which Stephen Greenblatt describes as central to the legacy of Adam and Eve, enlivens the beguiling world of late antiquity. No modern, well-versed literature lover can call her education complete without having listened to Augustine’s Confessions. One of the most original works of world literature, it is the first autobiography ever written, influencing writers from Montaigne to Rousseau, Virginia Woolf to Gertrude Stein.

While visiting Siena, Italy, Mary Lea Carroll grew fascinated with the remarkable story of St. Catherine of Siena and made a resolution: Whenever she was lucky enough to travel, if a shrine dedicated to a female saint was nearby, she'd visit it and learn about her. What started as a hobby grew into a journey she never expected, one rich with challenges and cappuccinos, doubts and inspiration, glasses of wine with strangers and moments of transcendence.

Although there is so little written about Joseph in the Scripture and in the apocrypha, or perhaps because there is so little written, the life of Saint Joseph can be quite a complicated subject. The theological study of Saint Joseph, known as Josephology, shows us how differently the saint has been perceived throughout history, in different parts of the world, and in different denominations.

To say Edith Stein lived a remarkable life would be a dramatic understatement. Born in Breslau (then part of Germany) at the end of the 19th century, Edith was raised as an observant jew, only to turn her back on religion right around the time World War I devastated the continent. In the wake of the war, during which she earned a doctorate and began working as an assistant at the University of Freiburg, she began reading the works of the legendary St. Teresa of Ávila, one of the most influential Catholic saints in history.