Blessed Among All Women: Women Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time

by Robert Ellsberg

Provides biographical portraits of female saints and notable religious women throughout history.

Genres: Biography, Religion, Nonfiction, History, Theology, Faith, Spirituality

316 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jeannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been enjoying the mini biographies of the great women in this book. Many of them I had not heard of. I would not say this is a book based on any religion. I have not finished it but will go back to it at another time to read more.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of inspirational women in this book. Throughly enjoyed reading about them throughout this year.

[Mary Helene · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Blessed Among Women" - apparently a popular title. I'm reading about one woman per day. The quality is uneven. It's hard for me to believe the same person wrote all these vignettes! Some of them are deep and wide; others read like fables. Their collective power sweeps one along into a new sense of women present.I especially appreciated his understanding of what it means to be "virgin" as a designation in the Catholic Church. My own understanding was that being virgin meant risking barrenness, being empty. Mr.Ellsberg reads it as being a woman uniquely free.(pg.203)

The final pages are stunningly moving.

[Mandy Havert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short histories provides insight into the lives of many women saints. The histories are arranged in alignment with the Beatitudes. The book offers a slower read as the histories may blur together if read in quick succession.

[Marypeitz peitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book surprised me. I knew it was about saints but Robert Ellsberg went beyond catholic saints to write about women who made a difference from a variety of religions and many walks of life. 136 women who tried to make a better world, help the poor, stand up to the male hierarchy of the church. Very inspirational stories

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pope Benedict said there are as many ways to God as there are individual souls. This book is a good portrayal of that, showing how women throughout the centuries have followed the call of the Beloved in many diverse ways.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so interesting. Defo worth a read. Kept this on my coffee table always at hand so i could read. Got my mind going. Planning on checking out more on Internet on various women that have interested me.

[Donna D'Angelo Struck · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

An incredible compilation. I am in awe of these women - every single one.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blessed Among All Women is subtitled "Women Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for our Time." Though Ellsberg is Catholic, and a number of the women included here are canonized saints, many of the women are not. Laywomen from all walks of life make it into Ellsberg’s second collection of "saints." He writes well, and the commentary that is rarely offered is thoughtful. Even though I didn’t agree with all of his choices, his explanations did at least show me why he picked them.

This book consists of two to three page biographies, arranged in chronological order by date of death; the chapter headings are the "blessed are..." statements from the Beatitudes. I found a great many of these women to have thought-provoking lives and words, and read these true stories hungrily. Blessed Among All Women is a great book, especially for use in devotional readings or small amounts of time (to allow for absorption and meditation).

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me a long time to read, but I absolutely loved that each biography was only 2-3 pages long. I read a lot of wonderful things and learned about many women whom I have never heard of before. I found this book to be very inspirational, and now I have a list of women that I want to read more about!

There were some entries that I honestly didn't quite understand why they were included, though. For example, the girls who were killed at a church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. I get that they were killed while attending Sunday School, but I struggled to understand what was inspirational about THEM. (Yes, their deaths were significant, but in this case and the case of several others included in this book, it seemed to be missing a "why we should look up to them" element.)

[Susan Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the stories of many spiritual women through the ages beginning in the first century AD up through the present. They are classified under each of the beatitudes of Matthew chapter 5. My daughter, Sarah, recommended it to me, and I began reading somewhat sceptically and ended up so blessed to have read the book. You'll find that many bold women in history have stood up for their faith in the face of many difficulties, and came through shining like the sun.

[Debbie Hoskins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume is dedicated to only women. Each section is based on a beatitude. The women in each section are listed chronologically. Robert Ellsberg includes "women of modern times," which I found to be more interesting than some of the other entries, but this might be because I could relate to them better.

[Judithosc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fully enjoyed this book. Ilearned so much and now I am interested to read more about some of the holy women that have lived during my lifetime. Such inspiration!

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice daily pick me up in the morning.... Beginning the day reading about simply good, are tick powerful women who have changed the world