Seriously.
October is always a ridiculously busy time in our family. We have 5... FIVE... kids' birthdays in October (3 in the same week), a mother-in-law's birthday, an anniversary, preparations for Halloween/All Saints' Day, AND (this year) a visit from my parents and a trip to Florida.
Whew.
[and just for fun, did you see what my husband transformed my daughter into? That was a mighty impressive costume... I'm not sure if you can tell it or not, but that tape reel is functioning. She got many oohs and aahs from the neighborhood as she made the rounds on Halloween!]
But, now we're in the much more relaxed (please, God!) month of November, and I'm hoping to start blogging all the things I've had going through my head the past month or so.
In the meantime... in honor of All Saints' Day (just passed), All Souls' Day and the month-long extra emphasis on remembering the dead, I wanted to bring up again some great books that I have found inspirational:
Saints Behaving Badly
This one is a fun, quick read, and one that I can recommend heartily. Each saint is introduced with a brief description of who they were, before the transforming power of God's grace in their lives -- therefore, you get stunning chapter titles like, "St. Mary of Egypt, Seductress" or "St. Olga, Mass Murderer" or even "St. Vladimir, Fratricide, Rapist, and Practitioner of Human Sacrifice." I mention those last two in particular because (according to my dad, who does a lot of genealogy research) I am a direct descendant of those two.
There you go. It's your little bit o' trivia for the day.
"Did you know that Chez Ouiz chick is a descendant of St. Olga and St. Vladimir?"
It will brighten someone's day, I'm sure!
My Life with the Saints
Another great book that I have reviewed before. It was such a comfort to me to see the true humanness of each of the saints mentioned in the book. If you don't love Bl. Mother Teresa before reading this one, you most certainly will afterwards!
The Lure of the Saints
This book is quite interesting. It is (as you can see in the subtitle) a Protestant's view of the rich tradition of saints. There is a difference on opinions, obviously, in some of the ideas presented in the book; however, I am encouraged to read passages like this:
Prayer is the most popular and accessible spiritual practice for relating to the saints. There is praying with the saints and praying to the saints. Each day, I do both, and neither practice means that I am forgetting that my relationship with God is accomplished through Jesus Christ.
Praise God!
Other books which I can recommend are:
I could list a whole host of others, but for now I'll stop.
What is your favorite book on the saints? Please leave a comment and tell me... I'm always looking for new books to read!
3 comments:
My favorite book on the saints is "Saints Saints Saints (Rock you all night long)" by Jesse Hornlightener.
also, I like "SAINTS!!!!". I forget the author.
I am currently reading St. Therese's "The Story of a Soul." I love it. I'm finding that I identify greatly with her. Who knew? I am also reading "My Life with the Saints" by James Martin, SJ. The book is his own autobiography as inspired by various saints. It appealed to me because he was a regular guy who worked in corporate America before he felt the call to the priesthood. His life is full of regular things like the rest of us, but he recognizes that God has given us these wonderful saints to help us through our normal, boring lives as well as through the more difficult times. It was through this book that I was introduced to St. Therese.
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