What do you think?
Rate this book
Fearless: Stories of the American Saints
The lives of the saints who helped build the Catholic Church in the United States—Frances Cabrini, Isaac Jogues, John Neumann, Elizabeth Ann Seton, and Damien de Veuster, among others—are marked by strength, courage, determination, and sanctity. But as this thoughtful and engaging book points out, these saints also could be foolhardy, obstinate, stubborn, and dismissive. In other words, they were a lot like everyone, with a mixture of different qualities and characteristics.
What makes the stories of the thirteen men and women in Fearless so compelling is that a distinctly American way of holiness begins to emerge from their lives and their work. These were people who walked the streets of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Denver. They traveled along California’s coast and into the Southwest, penetrated the heartland of Indiana and Missouri, and reached out into the territorial islands of the United States.
Captivating illustrations for each saint highlight the depth of their souls, and give readers an idea of the strong characteristics exemplified by these men and women.
Fearless will bring the reader through the history of the Catholic Church in America in an intimate and personal way, with the stories of the saints and blessed who helped Christianity become part of this country’s fabric. These men and women did not set out to be saints, only to live out the Gospel as they best knew how. They followed their hearts and God’s will to build a better place for the people of the New World.
What makes the stories of the thirteen men and women in Fearless so compelling is that a distinctly American way of holiness begins to emerge from their lives and their work. These were people who walked the streets of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Denver. They traveled along California’s coast and into the Southwest, penetrated the heartland of Indiana and Missouri, and reached out into the territorial islands of the United States.
Captivating illustrations for each saint highlight the depth of their souls, and give readers an idea of the strong characteristics exemplified by these men and women.
Fearless will bring the reader through the history of the Catholic Church in America in an intimate and personal way, with the stories of the saints and blessed who helped Christianity become part of this country’s fabric. These men and women did not set out to be saints, only to live out the Gospel as they best knew how. They followed their hearts and God’s will to build a better place for the people of the New World.
216 pages, Paperback
First published September 17, 2014
9 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 14, 2018
Having an opportunity to hear Alice Camille, the author of Fearless, [co-author with Paul Boudreau] speak regarding their book before a fairly large crowd, I was interested in attending. 'Interested' turned out to be an understatement as Camille is a dynamic speaker as well as a coherent and intelligent writer. After the quite inspirational lecture, I hustled to get in line to buy not only this book but another one by Camille [the second one was not co-written with Boudreau].
I started Fearless when I arrived home and finished the approximately 200 pages the next day.
There are more than a dozen saints in Fearless who are considered in one way or another to be American. Per Camille, there are many more who have been Beatified and are awaiting Canonization. While this technicality may only be of relevance to Catholics, these saints whose stories are told in this book are fascinating to anyone and everyone. Names such as Katharine Drexel, Father Damien of Molokai, Native American Kateri Tekawitha, and Isaac Jogues are well-known to most, but the other saints stories are just as intriguing.
Additionally, there is a Bibliography, and referenced notes for each of the chapters in the back of the book. Well worth the small price of the book.
I started Fearless when I arrived home and finished the approximately 200 pages the next day.
There are more than a dozen saints in Fearless who are considered in one way or another to be American. Per Camille, there are many more who have been Beatified and are awaiting Canonization. While this technicality may only be of relevance to Catholics, these saints whose stories are told in this book are fascinating to anyone and everyone. Names such as Katharine Drexel, Father Damien of Molokai, Native American Kateri Tekawitha, and Isaac Jogues are well-known to most, but the other saints stories are just as intriguing.
Additionally, there is a Bibliography, and referenced notes for each of the chapters in the back of the book. Well worth the small price of the book.
March 23, 2017
This anthology of saints' lives looks at men and women who served the Christian faith and the people of North America. The stories range from the French Jesuits (Isaac Jogues and companions) who were martyred in what is now northern New York during the mid-1600s to the millionaire heiress (Katherine Drexel) who worked tirelessly to serve Native and African American communities during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
As a reader might guess from the title, many of these saints faced daunting tasks. Father Damien of Molokai volunteered to serve the Hawaiian community of lepers on an isolated peninsula for sixteen years. Junipero Serra was tasked to establish a few missions on the California coast and achieved twenty-one in spite of an ulcerated leg on which he had to walk up and down the countryside. Some of these saints were humbly obedient to their superiors, even when those superiors were unhelpful or even contrary. For them all, faith in God gave them the steadfastness to work on.
Surprisingly, only three of the fourteen saints were born in America. Most were immigrants from Europe, called by their religious orders or life circumstances to cross the Atlantic and work for the salvation of souls. The immigrant experience is one of the defining characteristics of American life. Like many immigrant stories, these show the dedication and hard work that constantly renews the American spirit and more so the Catholic faith in America.
Each story is ten to fifteen pages long, so none of them are very in-depth but they do give the highlights of what the saints did and a sense of their individual personalities. The book has a bibliography for further reading if a particular saint's story makes a reader want to find out more.
Recommended.
As a reader might guess from the title, many of these saints faced daunting tasks. Father Damien of Molokai volunteered to serve the Hawaiian community of lepers on an isolated peninsula for sixteen years. Junipero Serra was tasked to establish a few missions on the California coast and achieved twenty-one in spite of an ulcerated leg on which he had to walk up and down the countryside. Some of these saints were humbly obedient to their superiors, even when those superiors were unhelpful or even contrary. For them all, faith in God gave them the steadfastness to work on.
Surprisingly, only three of the fourteen saints were born in America. Most were immigrants from Europe, called by their religious orders or life circumstances to cross the Atlantic and work for the salvation of souls. The immigrant experience is one of the defining characteristics of American life. Like many immigrant stories, these show the dedication and hard work that constantly renews the American spirit and more so the Catholic faith in America.
Each story is ten to fifteen pages long, so none of them are very in-depth but they do give the highlights of what the saints did and a sense of their individual personalities. The book has a bibliography for further reading if a particular saint's story makes a reader want to find out more.
Recommended.
March 22, 2019
Boudreau and Camille present short snippets of the lives of the handful of American Catholic saints in this accessible read. I appreciated the reminders to consider their lives in the context of the time periods they lived in, as some of their actions or statements were somewhat questionable by today's standards. As a non-Catholic - in fact non-Christian - I did my best to keep my suspicions in check, but was won over by some of the saints, especially Frances Xavier Cabrini. These were men and women who put their faith into action.
January 13, 2018
Inspiring
These are stories of bravery, humility, and compassion committed by imperfect people within recent memory. If you want to understand the true meaning of “Saint,” read this book.
These are stories of bravery, humility, and compassion committed by imperfect people within recent memory. If you want to understand the true meaning of “Saint,” read this book.
May 31, 2021
I enjoyed learning about these saints. I didn’t know much about saints in general. I found this book to be educational and inspiring. It was neat to read about saints who carried out their missions in this country. Easy to read and a good introduction to these saints.
October 25, 2022
Great overview of American saints from the beginning of the country to the mid 1900s. Interesting blend of biography and history, painting intriguing pictures of 13 different Catholic spiritual leaders.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews