Written by a group of friends, Seven Holy Women is a one-of-a-kind journey into the lives of seven women saints. Each section of the book includes a story from one saint’s life told vividly and imaginatively in the second person, additional information about the saint to give her context, a reflection on ways the writer, listener, and saint intersect on their journeys, personal surveys for the listener and a friend to complete, and a journal prompt that encourages the listener to explore and document her encounter with themes from the saint’s life.
Created as both a deeply personal and enriching communal experience, Seven Holy Women speaks directly to the listener, drawing her into the lives of seven saints as it invites her to look more closely and lovingly at her own spiritual journey and her friendship with the cloud of witnesses.
Melissa Elizabeth Naasko's spiritual father tells her that getting to know the saints is like meeting them at a dinner party. This is your invitation to the dinner party. And, like a dinner party, you encounter different styles and ways of speaking, but learn from each. Peaceful, thought provoking, challenging, and beautiful. One to read often. In the interest of full disclosure, I know several of the authors.
This was a mixed bag. Some of the chapters were quite well done but others seemed very forced. I was not drawn to many of the author's personal interpretations of these saint's lives. Most of the book club questions were traditional touchy feely cringy questions. We opted early on to just do them if we wanted to. I chose not to answer any. I probably wouldn't have finished the book had it not been for our little book club. However, it was nice "meeting" some lesser known saints and made us all want to learn more about them.
I appreciated this book because it introduced me to some lesser-known female saints, which is always a wonderful thing. However, some of the sections where the female authors reflected on their own lives were really compelling and gave a lot to think about, while others were misses for me. The writing prompts in particular swung wildly from good opportunities for reflection, to cringy and sometimes strange questions that didn't feel particularly helpful. Overall, a good tool to grow closer to the saints and take stock of our lives. I am planning to finish writing the prompts during Lent.
How can I describe this book? A journey. It invites you into the lives of seven women who loved Christ. Then, it invites you to apply their story to your life. Then, it invites you to make observations about a friend. The stories in the book always touched me. Each one was related to an aspect of life, as well as an element from the earth, such as river, stone, leaf, etc. These were used to further the way the Saints stories could be understood. Truly a beautiful journey. I recommend for every women. Period. You should buy it! It can be found on Ancientfaith.com then going to ‘store’
In reading the lives of 7 women saints of the Orthodox Church throughout history, one sees how God's strength can help ordinary women accomplish extraordinary things! Inspirational, and beautifully interactive questions for a women's book study group!
4.5/5! Loved reading this book with a friend, discussing each saint’s different story and relating it to our lives. Highly recommend to read with a bestie :)
A grand applause for Seven Holy Women! This well-written book is a collection of beautiful saint stories from long ago with a powerful engagement for the reader to walk the paths these humble saints did. The reader is given prompts to reflect on, not only the saints lives, but also her own life and is encouraged to converse with a friend about the stories of the past and present. Traveling back in time, and almost becoming the main character through the courageous stories, brings depth to the saintly relationships the reader encounters throughout. It brings forth the desire to build relationships with friends newly found from the past, and with friends of the present. Each story invites the reader to dig deep within their own hearts, to learn more about themselves, about a saint, all while reading, journaling, and conversing with a friend. The reader is pulled in immediately by the poignant writing each author is gifted with, feeling as if she is walking in the shoes of the saint. After learning some history of the saint, the reader is invited to journal using questions provided for deep reflection, a conversation with a friend and reflecting on one’s days, all while growing closer to Christ. These seven stories bring forth an understanding of faith, at a time of conflict in our world today, in a way where we can relate to the struggles these saints of our past endured for God’s glory. This book is an opportunity to look into our own hearts, our own daily struggles, and recognize that God allows the struggle for our salvation, for us to truly learn from these beautiful saints and their humble, God honoring stories. I recommend Seven Holy Women, written by seven, beautifully talented women. You will not be disappointed in reading this book. Be encouraged, as you strive daily for holiness, while embracing relationship.+
You are walking with the Saints. From the cliffs of Ireland to the hills of Greece, “Seven Holy Women” brings the reader into the stories of these bold women saints. In following their footsteps, we can clearly see our own paths. Every person has a pilgrimage here on earth, and “Seven Holy Women” brings the reader along for the journey. Invited into their stories, the reader is given the chance to see herself as a co-worker for Christ. Written in an engaging simple style, this book is mean to be interactive. The stories of each of the seven saints were written by different women. Rather than making the book feel like a disjointed anthology, this format lets the relationship of saint and author shine. It shows the reader that a relationship with the saints is important; knowing them is different than knowing about them. The journaling sections that accompany every chapter help us look within ourselves, asking probing questions that reveal how we share the same struggles as the saints. By asking the reader to reveal her own vulnerability, we see how the strength and grace of Christ fills us today, just as with His believers centuries ago. It is powerful that the reader is called to add her own story directly into the pages of this book. By journaling our struggles and weakness, we are transforming our own lives into a hagiography. Our sins are real, but so is the grace of Christ, as these saints show us. I cannot wait to share this book with friends. Its easy-to-read format helps keep the reader engaged, rather than overwhelmed. Once invested in the story of a saint, this book is nearly impossible to put down. I hope the book and the saints depicted within inspires and fills generations of women to come.
A very well written and well conceived concept! The reader can spend as much or as little time as she wants with each section which is designed for interaction with thought provoking questions and journal prompts. There is even space for writing your answers, should you desire. Each saint is introduced in a first person narrative that really draws in the reader. That is followed by a brief biography of the saint, then the author of the section writes about her own connections with the saint. Each section flows beautifully and can be read as stand alone pieces. This is a wonderful book group choice for any Orthodox Christian women’s group!
I am so grateful for this book, and for being introduced to these Seven Holy Women, who are now new-found friends—Ss. Morwenna, Kassiane, Ia, Nino, Piama, Margaret, Casilda. Reading through the stories blessed and edified me more than I anticipated. Even though they lived during times very different from today, their stories of faith empower and encourage life in the present. Each of the contributing authors present the stories with beautiful and vivid imagery, along with relevant modern examples to contemplate. I thank each of you for contributing to this amazing book.
“Faith is the great gift, and it has been handed down to me by my mothers like a strong garment that does not wear out, woven with the whispered words of prayer. Seek what endures. Build faith.” —pp. 127-128
This was my Advent devotional for the Nativity season! I was blessed to have a good friend who graciously decided to read it with me, and that made a huge difference. I learned a lot from this book, and I enjoyed its message and call to enter into the larger spiritual community.
Seven Holy Women is a seven-week (or longer, if you need) devotional where each segment is written by a different female author focusing on a unique and sometimes relatively unknown female, Orthodox saint. It includes a history of the saint's life, a snapshot of what a day might have looked like through their eyes, and a modern reflection followed by questions and exercises for the reader to help them further engage with the lessons they've learned. It also includes sections for friends to fill out for and about you as a way to walk through these spiritual journeys together. Community is a major theme of the book, and it is best enjoyed with a friend or study group.
I greatly enjoyed this devotional. It's artistic, deep, informative, engaging, and succinct. It's easy to read, not too technical or profound, and it isn't preachy or overly simplistic. The format fits easily into any woman's life with chapters that are small enough to digest and glean from even with a busy schedule. The reflection questions and questions for friends was a great touch. I think my biggest takeaways will be from the things my friend wrote to me!
I appreciated learning about these different, godly women. I didn't know any of their stories, despite the fact that I stand by an icon of St. Kassiani every service. Her life was astounding! I love how this book helped me to get to know her as well as the other six. Truly the lives of the saints are an encouragement to us as we face our own trials and temptations. Their stories help inspire us to keep going and clinging to Christ no matter what the devil throws at us.
I would absolutely recommend this to a women's study group or church group or a close group of friends looking to grow their faith together. You can do it by yourself, but it's richer with others, and that's how the book was written anyway. The seven-week format fits well during fasting seasons (I used it for the Nativity fast but it could also work well for Lent), but it can be enjoyed at any time and done as fast or as slow as a group needs. If you're looking for a good devotional for your friends or women's Sunday School, I'd give this one a try!
I have always struggled with my "relationship" with Saints. I always felt that they were unapproachable and in a special corner of Heaven where the "cool kids" sit and if I offered a prayer to them, they would smile and wave, but .... This book completely shattered that lifelong wall that that I had built between myself and the Saints. These stories about strong women saints are personal, inspiring, but most importantly, relatable. In the story of St. Casilda, Melissa Naasko talks about how meeting saints is like a dinner party where we meet others --- sometimes it is because we want to get to know them, sometimes a friend introduces us, and other times they want to get to know us. This book IS that dinner party where we are introduced to Sts. Morwenna, Kassiani, Ia, Nino, Piama, Margaret, and Casilda by the authors as if they are friends. Friends who want to help us on our Christian journey and to whom we can pray, talk and ask for their help and guidance. They will welcome us with open arms and intercede to the Father for us. But these stories are not just about the seven saints, they are about the seven authors who share their struggles, vulnerabilities, but ultimately their Faith in God and how the lives and stories of the Saints lead us towards Christ. It is an interactive book with thought-provoking questions and prompts for journaling or contemplation, but as the title says, it truly is a conversation with Saints and Friends.
Read this wonderful book on your own, or use it for a book club or a retreat. It’s not just a collection of stories of some lesser known women saints, but it’s a conversation, a way of getting to know each one beyond her story. Each section is written by a different author. It starts with a scene from that saint’s life, imagined from her perspective, a summary of her story, a personal reflection on that story, ideas for considering that saint’s life in your own life, and some questions to journal about or discuss in a group.
I loved being able to learn about many female saints I was not familiar with before. I never knew St. Morwenna until I read her story in this book. Her daily diligence, one rock at a time, to build a church, inspires me. I think about that every time I feel overwhelmed by large writing projects I’m working on that require so much research. I think about that every time I must make a difficult parenting decision, one my kids will hate me for now but will build their character later. But I think about St. Morwenna, one rock at a time, and consider how dangerous it was for her to carry that one rock up that English cliff every single day, and ask her for her prayers.
This is a great book to read on your own, but also a wonderful book for book clubs, church groups, and retreats. I will be recommending this book for my own church mom's group.
I love that Orthodox teachings are making their way in more experimental books, but in a way I felt that this book was too experimental. In trying to depart from traditional saints’ lives writing (hagiography) I felt like it lost the heart of orthodoxy. It felt quite western, I’m not sure why. It worked very well as a series of journal prompts, but the actual saints’ lives were very short and the sections from their perspectives were very imaginative and not quite hagiographical. By which I mean … they were presented as very ordinary people, rather than as inspiring saints. They were shown thinking about God rather than, I don’t know, having a real connection with God. I also didn’t quite follow the stories a lot of the time - many of them needed the saints’ biography to clarify what was actually going on. My favourite section in this book was Summer Kinard’s St Piama - very sensitive writing. Looking back on this review I can see that it sounds very critical, but it’s not really intended to be. Just an observation that many of the new orthodox offerings (books, podcasts etc) from ancient faith etc feel more evangelical than Orthodox. However I really like these authors’ individual writings. Laura Jansson’s book on pregnancy was so inspiring and comforting. Thank you to all the writers for bringing these saints’ lives to us.
Seven Holy Women was a lovely book for me to read. I listened to the Audible version which was about 4 hours long. Each chapter was written by a different Orthodox woman differing in background. All but one of the authors read her chapter aloud in the audiobook. A consistency in writing is important, so each woman reading about the Saint she had written on were easy transitions between chapters.
What I appreciate about this book is that each chapter begins a fictional scenario of each Saint inspired by true events in their lives. Storytelling has always been the way traditions are shared and passed down through all of human history. A story can exaggerate a little for the sake of impressing the intent into memory while the whole truth remains intact. With the mention of each Saints’ name I have implicit memory of her life, her miracles, her martyrdom or repose, and why we commemorate her. St Cassilda, a Spanish Saint, reminds me of roses. St Morwenna reminds me of rocky paths and large stones. St Ia reminds me of a leaf.
Each Holy woman evokes something with which we are all familiar: death of a loved one; a situation we never thought we would be in; feeling left behind; a broken heart. All things that most, if not all, of us have experienced. The brilliance of each life shared is the faithfulness of God, and their courage to remain faithful to Him.
At the end of each chapter is a space for group discussion. Questions related to the life of each Saint are followed by reflection questions for oneself and one’s friend in the group in light of the themes in each Saint’s life. I will be joining together with two women in my parish to go over this book over the next two months and I’m really looking forward to that connection and discussion.
I recommend this book first and foremost for women, especially for a group of women. Men can also read these Saints’ lives, of course, and perhaps adapt the questions for a man; however I am sure there is a male counterpart to this book to be found somewhere (or someone could write it? 😉) The audible version was pleasant for me to listen to as a very busy, working mom.
Seven Holy Women is a beautiful book that shares the stories of seven female saints, personal connections between the saints and each of the women who wrote about them, questions and prompts for the reader to think about and complete on her own, and questions to complete with friends. Something I deeply appreciated about this book was the raw honesty each of the writers used when sharing their own stories. Hearing about areas where they struggle with the faith or more broadly in their own lives was validating because it reminded me how we are all walking together on the journey of strengthening our relationship with God and deepening our faith. It also reminded me of the importance we have in supporting one another and taught me about so many strong female saints who are interceding for us. One story I especially loved was that of St. Kassiani: hearing her boldness in responding to the emperor even before she became a nun was so empowering. I highly recommend this book to any woman who wants to learn more about some of the incredible women we have interceding for us.
I enjoyed reading, studying, and discussing this book with a small group of Orthodox women from my parish. We did this by zoom furing the oandemic and I think it helped maintain our mental health as well as promote our spiritual growth and friendships!
After a rapid read with my book club, I will read this again, probably during Lent. Compelling stories of strong women throughout history paired with each author's thoughts and space for self-reflection.
3.5 stars. While I LOVED the saint stories and learning about saints I hadn't heard of before, I didn't always enjoy the authors' commentary and the journal prompts were a little cliche. Not my favorite, but will definitely be researching/reading more about the saints.
A beautiful and easy book to read with a group of women from church. I loved how unique the format was weaving together the saints stories with each author's personal and relatable experience.
I read this book for our women's book study for Lent this year and I was disappointed. I hope this is a helpful and honest review of the text.
For me, the most glaring issue was the format. I was not taken with the second person point of view that's provided for every story. I understand what the authors were trying to do, but for me, I was cringing. I was very uncomfortable and ended up skipping the last few second person accounts and went straight into the lives the of saints. I don't feel like I need to be told that I AM SAINT IA. I'm not even interested in pretending.
The authors' interpretation of the lives of these saints were okay. The worst part for me, and perhaps what felt the most sinister, was St. Kassiani's story. I think her life was written in such a way that it proved the point the author was trying to make in her interpretation. It reeked of modern sentiment; i.e., feminism. "We are always singing backup, aren't we?" "Women often serve less glamorous roles in the church." "But can we admit that it's still hard?" I get enough of this kind of thinking outside of church, so why is this even a thought in the Orthodox faith? The more we indulge the modern world, the more infectious it becomes. The author's "realization" at the end of her interpretation is ultimately correct, but I was not convinced she actually felt that way. "Maybe singing backup is the more glorious song, in the end." Everything she writes stems from the conviction that women are inferior.
Ultimately, Seven Holy Women is about feeling like these amazing saints are just like you and me. Does the following quote say more about the Mother of God, or about a modern mom?:
"The Mother of God was a woman, entrusted to the keeping of men, and probably exhausted from lugging around the toddler who would bring salvation to the world."
Wendell Berry says, "...the modern world abounds with heralds of 'a better future' and with debunkers happy to point out that Yeats was 'silly like us'... and so we are disencumbered of the burden of great lives, set free to be as cynical or as desperate as we please."
We are so tempted to place our modern burdens on people of the past. We want them to be "just like us!" or even worse than us. In a sense, yes, the Theotokos was a woman like you and me, but she is THE woman. Are you? No. May that be what sets you free. Free to live your own beautiful, Christ-centered life. Living in the hope of salvation and your own sainthood. And looking at these women's lives as guideposts rather than mirrors.
I really appreciated the way this book was set up. Each section was about a different woman saint by a different Orthodox woman author. The first part is written in the second person so you experience what the saint may have experienced. The second part is a more detailed version of the saint's whole life. The third part is how the author relates to the saint. Then there is a section of questions/prompts to help you relate to the what you've read. It worked really well reading and discussing it in the church's women's book study group which meets weekly.
I liked the format of each how each saint was presented. It was great for a small read each morning. I also read this with a ladies group at church, and the questions at the end helped foster conversation among us. A good read for women Orthodox or non. Cradle Orthodox to seekers. We all can connect to these saints in some way to our life.