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The Little Book of Saints
How does Saint Christopher keep us safe when we travel? Why is Saint Patrick always depicted with a nest of snakes? How did Cecilia come to be the patron saint of music? These wonders and more are explained in this treasure ofa book. The perfect gift for the devout or any religious occasion, this captivating collection recounts the extra-ordinary legends, heartrending stories, joys, and sorrows of the most beloved saints, from the famous to the mysteriously obscure. Beautifully illustrated with historical pictures from prayer books and missals, this elegant keepsake is packaged with a padded cover, gilded edges, and a ribbon marker—a joy to have and to give.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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182 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
March 21, 2024
A beautiful book! I loved the images in here and learned quite a bit! Loved the addition of lesser known saints, as well! ✨
February 24, 2025
The perfect book to read on All Saints' Day. Many of these saints were put to death, mostly in gruesome ways. I enjoyed reading about all the ways these people, all regular humans, were able to act in ways to make the world better. Some of my favorites featured in this book were Anne (grandmothers, booksellers, and lace makers), Catherine (intellectuals, philosophers), Christopher (travelers), Dorothy (gardeners), Francis of Assisi (animals and ecology), Francis of Sales (writers), and James the Elder (hikers).
March 30, 2022
This is a beautiful little book-it tells a brief history of 92 saints and includes lovely holy cards of each of the saints. I would love to have seen more saints included in this book, but it is a nice book to pick up and read about a saint a day-I chose to do this rather than devouring the whole book at once.
August 17, 2023
tuun palaamaan tän pariin vielä tuhansia kertoja! niin paljon infoa, tosi interesting. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
November 11, 2020
While it was informative, this book was a disappointment in the saints in included. I expected to learn about wonderful people like St Julian of Norwich and St Hildegard of Bingen. However, this book included very obscure (and uninteresting, as mean as that sounds), while wonderful ones weren’t included. I learned a lot but wish I had learned about different people.
February 12, 2015
The Little Book of Saints
Love being able to read about the Christians that came before us, the struggles they faced, and their devotion to God and the Catholic Church.
Love being able to read about the Christians that came before us, the struggles they faced, and their devotion to God and the Catholic Church.
September 26, 2017
As you open this book, on the left is a short one page description of the saint's life, saint day, and what he/she is known for. On the right, is an image of the saint.
This book was perfect for what I was looking for - a brief overview of the saints. It was an interesting book to read whether or not you are religious. The saints are depicted in art work all over the world. It's interesting to read about their history and why certain images are used to depict them.
Reading it, added to my understanding of the imagery used in many pieces of art work I've seen.
This is a physically beautiful book - the cover is padded, the pages are gold trimmed and there is a lovely ribbon bookmark built into the book. It would be a nice gift for someone.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in a brief overview of each of the notable saints. I would not recommend it to a reader looking for an in-depth review of any particular saint. It's a good overview though...and small enough to fit in your pocketbook on a trip to a museum.
I read a little of this book each day while enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning. I found it was a very pleasant way to read the book.
I also read "Little Book of Angels" by this author. I enjoyed it and learned a lot reading it. I've seen angels depicted in art work all over the world. It added to my understanding and appreciation of the images of angels I've see. In fact, I purchased this book in the Metropolitan Museum of Art gift shop!
This book was perfect for what I was looking for - a brief overview of the saints. It was an interesting book to read whether or not you are religious. The saints are depicted in art work all over the world. It's interesting to read about their history and why certain images are used to depict them.
Reading it, added to my understanding of the imagery used in many pieces of art work I've seen.
This is a physically beautiful book - the cover is padded, the pages are gold trimmed and there is a lovely ribbon bookmark built into the book. It would be a nice gift for someone.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in a brief overview of each of the notable saints. I would not recommend it to a reader looking for an in-depth review of any particular saint. It's a good overview though...and small enough to fit in your pocketbook on a trip to a museum.
I read a little of this book each day while enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning. I found it was a very pleasant way to read the book.
I also read "Little Book of Angels" by this author. I enjoyed it and learned a lot reading it. I've seen angels depicted in art work all over the world. It added to my understanding and appreciation of the images of angels I've see. In fact, I purchased this book in the Metropolitan Museum of Art gift shop!
July 8, 2021
This is a short book consisting of mini-biographies of popular Christian saints.
Besides providing a brief introduction into their lives, this book was useful to me because it gave a general picture of the lives of people the church has chosen to uphold has exemplary throughout its history. Most of them lead lives guided by humbleness and piety, held the courage of their convictions in spite of tremendous adversity, and dedicated their lives to helping people in poverty.
Another interesting aspect for me was learning the roots of popular Western names, and their backstory. For instance, Christopher, meaning "bearer of Christ", after Saint Christopher who according to his story carried Christ across a river as a child.
Inevitably, depth is always sacrificed in these types of books, which limits the upside potential of them in my view, but overall a nice short read.
Besides providing a brief introduction into their lives, this book was useful to me because it gave a general picture of the lives of people the church has chosen to uphold has exemplary throughout its history. Most of them lead lives guided by humbleness and piety, held the courage of their convictions in spite of tremendous adversity, and dedicated their lives to helping people in poverty.
Another interesting aspect for me was learning the roots of popular Western names, and their backstory. For instance, Christopher, meaning "bearer of Christ", after Saint Christopher who according to his story carried Christ across a river as a child.
Inevitably, depth is always sacrificed in these types of books, which limits the upside potential of them in my view, but overall a nice short read.
August 12, 2023
A lovely collection of vintage pictures of various saints accompanied by short and concise hagiographies. For a non-Catholics a good basic resource on the "saints" part of the Catholic history and a visual study of what our ancestors found appealing to look at. For Catholics, a nice "keep by the bed" or a "Christmas stocking filler" book. For me personally also a souvenir from the Melrose Abbey in Scottland.
February 10, 2025
I really enjoyed this little anthology of saints. It is a great resource for short introductions to various saints and what they are known for. It also includes a beautiful vintage artwork for each saint, giving a face to the name.
My only critique is that the English translation was poorly done. This, however, did lead to many good laughs and the overall message was not greatly affected.
My only critique is that the English translation was poorly done. This, however, did lead to many good laughs and the overall message was not greatly affected.
September 15, 2023
Interesting and informative. So many Saints that I have not heard of or their lives and deaths. They gave all to be what God wanted them to be. Some of their lives were so interesting. I’m glad I read this. VeryGood book.
February 24, 2025
Beautiful pictures, portraits taken from religious art. I used them to decoupage prayer candles. For example, sent the patron saint of librarians to my friend who is a librarian. The selection of saints could have been much more diverse and weird.
June 25, 2017
I think maybe it was a translation thing, but there seems to be come confusion between "worship" and "venerate." Great pictures though.
January 18, 2019
I love this book! It is so cute and the pictures are awesome! All my siblings love it as well!
May 23, 2022
Delightful little book of stories and pictures, giving an interesting overview of a few notable saints.
October 30, 2024
A charming book, beautifully bound. Omits many Saints however.
June 14, 2025
Short, simple, and sweet! Loved a good overview of many of the saints. It will be a great resource for years to come with the index in the back.
December 6, 2025
A nicely simple book that tells concise stories of 90 different saints.
July 29, 2017
Simple and sweet little book. Maybe it is precisely because I'm Lutheran, and not Catholic, that saints and relics and all of that are so fascinating to me. Full review to come.
+++++++++++
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Perhaps in a past life I was Catholic - maybe even Catherine of Aragon herself, ha! - if I believed in that sort of thing, given the fact that I am actually Lutheran and we don't. But wouldn't that be kind of ironic in itself? Maybe it is precisely because I am Lutheran that saints and relics are all so fascinating to me.
This little gem is one I picked up on BookBub and I am so glad I did. It is a short volume, containing brief - very brief in some cases, when there are not a lot of hard facts to begin with - summaries of the lives of each saint and how they came to be a saint in the first place. I truly know nothing about any of the saints, I don't even know if they are all included in this text, but what I did read was very engaging and made me want to know more about the lives of many of those I read about. The unfortunate side effect is that since so many of these people lived before 1600, finding out any more information than what is contained here is quite unlikely. The search is half the fun though, isn't it?
Overall, this is a simple and sweet little volume that I breezed through quickly in terms of reading. The photos of the cards are equally as interesting, especially the details in how each saint is often depicted - usually with either an item relating to their works, or the way in which they died or were martyred. I only had a copy on my Kindle, so I'd like to have seen a hard copy to have a better look at the plates themselves larger and in color. Definitely recommended.
+++++++++++
http://allthebookblognamesaretaken.bl...
www.facebook.com/AllTheBookBlogNamesA...
www.twitter.com/SarahsBookNook
Perhaps in a past life I was Catholic - maybe even Catherine of Aragon herself, ha! - if I believed in that sort of thing, given the fact that I am actually Lutheran and we don't. But wouldn't that be kind of ironic in itself? Maybe it is precisely because I am Lutheran that saints and relics are all so fascinating to me.
This little gem is one I picked up on BookBub and I am so glad I did. It is a short volume, containing brief - very brief in some cases, when there are not a lot of hard facts to begin with - summaries of the lives of each saint and how they came to be a saint in the first place. I truly know nothing about any of the saints, I don't even know if they are all included in this text, but what I did read was very engaging and made me want to know more about the lives of many of those I read about. The unfortunate side effect is that since so many of these people lived before 1600, finding out any more information than what is contained here is quite unlikely. The search is half the fun though, isn't it?
Overall, this is a simple and sweet little volume that I breezed through quickly in terms of reading. The photos of the cards are equally as interesting, especially the details in how each saint is often depicted - usually with either an item relating to their works, or the way in which they died or were martyred. I only had a copy on my Kindle, so I'd like to have seen a hard copy to have a better look at the plates themselves larger and in color. Definitely recommended.
July 8, 2012
Saints fascinate me - Some may say, you should go to the source, but I've thought - why not use a specialist if it makes sense.
Using 92 beautifully printed holy cards dating from late 19th and early 20th century, the author gives a quick overview of the story of each saint, what each is a patron of, and his/her feast day. Quick read, and I had a few ahas, but several - ok, I don't get why they are a saint?
Looking on line, I see there are 100s of saints, so this only captures the 92 cards the author found. Images of the 92 cards are lovely, and the color fabulous on either iPad or KindleFire.
Using 92 beautifully printed holy cards dating from late 19th and early 20th century, the author gives a quick overview of the story of each saint, what each is a patron of, and his/her feast day. Quick read, and I had a few ahas, but several - ok, I don't get why they are a saint?
Looking on line, I see there are 100s of saints, so this only captures the 92 cards the author found. Images of the 92 cards are lovely, and the color fabulous on either iPad or KindleFire.
April 11, 2012
Though not Catholic, I was interested in the tales of martyrdom and miracles that the saints experienced or were said to experience throughout history. Notable to me were St. Francis of Assisi, St. Helena the mother of Constantine, St. Patrick, and the disciples. Many of these individuals were born into wealth or beauty and chose to live a life of simple devotion to God and his people.
July 27, 2012
This is a lovely gift book with beautiful color plates of each saint. A very small bit of information on each entry is given leaving my curiosity aroused in many cases. A non-catholic, I am not as familiar with many of the listed saints and could have used more details on many of them. I did find the book very interesting, but left with more questions than answers.
April 4, 2017
Precious little book of saints
Loved it. Informative. Straight to the point.
Beautiful iconography. Contains following infomatiom:-
Saint name, date of birth & or place of birth. Brief history,
Achievements & feast days.
Table of content-search by name or month.
Loved it. Informative. Straight to the point.
Beautiful iconography. Contains following infomatiom:-
Saint name, date of birth & or place of birth. Brief history,
Achievements & feast days.
Table of content-search by name or month.
June 9, 2014
The prints (holy cards) alone are worth 5 stars. The accompanying text is dry and short, simply whetting one's interest.
December 1, 2014
Cute little book with a wide variety of saints. Some of these saints I had never heard of! The biographies give a good idea of why each saint is a saint.
January 9, 2016
Very informative
I have heard of some of these saints but there are many new ones. The history behind becoming saint is interesting
I have heard of some of these saints but there are many new ones. The history behind becoming saint is interesting
February 1, 2017
So gorgeous, but entirely empty-headed! (Like a Hollywood beefcake, but with gilded edges)
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews