One Hundred Saints: Their Lives and Likenesses Drawn from Butler's Lives of the Saints and Great Works of Western Art

by Alban Butler

In street and city names, churches and other, more personal, associations, the saints are with us. Also included are saints whose lives and work provide fascinating, at times horrifying, glimpses into their lives and deaths and into the traditions and beliefs that have grown because of them.

Genres: Religion, Art, Nonfiction, Biography, History

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Alban Butler was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiographer.

Butler's great work, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints ("Butler's Lives"), the result of thirty years study, was first published in four volumes in London, 1756–1759. It is a popular and compendious reproduction of the Acta Sanctorum, exhibiting great industry and research, and is in all respects the best compendium of Acta in English. Butler's magnum opus has passed many editions and translations.

Reviews

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

One Hundred Saints is a book that adapts the text from Reverend Alban Butler’s Eighteenth-Century treatise on the saints and various pieces of artwork from different places and times. It is organized in an unusual manner; instead of being alphabetical, the book is somewhat chronological. It begins with Saint Michael the Archangel and ends with Saint Therese of Lisieux.

The artwork is gorgeous and the text is very informative. It talks about how the person became a Saint in the first place and discloses the things that they are the patron of right under their name. Finally, the book also discloses their feast day.

So for example, we open the book to Saint Francis of Assisi. It lists his biography, tells us that his feast day is on October 4th, and mentions that he is the Patron Saint of Italy, Catholic Action, Ecologists, and Merchants. The biographies average a page in length.

The cover does not mention the author. Even the spine of the book says that it is by Bulfinch. The table of contents isn’t organized by what page the Saint is on, it is organized alphabetically by name of the Saint. These are the only real problems I have with the book and they aren’t even real problems.

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

[hold after St. Monica]

[Diana Kullman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been on my shelf for a long time. A Consecration To St Joseph led me to read multiple volumes that had only been glanced at over the years. This is an excellent book with great photos.

[treehugger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just looked up the saints I was interested in to read in detail and skimmed the rest, but it was a very informative book that was well organized and told me what I wanted to know - it got the job done :)

[Elvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

An in-depth look into the lives of 100 saints; the illustrations are stunning and beget a host of emotions!

[Stu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great illustrations accompanied with brief histories of 100 of the saints.
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Respectfully,
Stuart Moss

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Church... and not just for the great works of art.💗😔⛪️🕍🌌🌏