Radical Saints: 21 Women for the 21st Century

by Melanie Rigney

“The path to sainthood is varied for every individual, but a few common virtues and traits are shared by every holiness, strength, and courage. Join Melanie Rigney for a new perspective on the lives of many well-known saints and an introduction to new spiritual giants to accompany you on your own journey of radical love and faith.” —Lisa M. Hendey, author,  I'm a Saint in the Making
 
Radical 21 Women for the 21st Century  features twenty-one saints who walked the earth in the twentieth century and were canonized in the twenty-first. Each chapter tells the story of one woman’s radical gift and the world in which she lived. You’ll also find stories of everyday women who are living these gifts in ways large and small today. 
 
“Is there anything more radical than loving God with your entire being and loving your neighbor as yourself?” Rigney writes. “How about loving those who look different from us or who have betrayed us, injured us, or persecuted us simply because we’re told God loves them every bit as much as he loves us. Now that’s radical.”

Some of the women featured include Jacinta Marto, Elizabeth of the Trinity, Teresa of Calcutta, , Marianne Cope, Mary Mackillop, Gianna Beretta Molla, Katharine Drexel, Josephine Bakhita, and Maria Faustina Kowalska. 

 

Genres: Religion

152 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 2020

About the author

Author of several books of interest to Catholics. The latest is: 12 Unforgettable Men of the Gospels: Reflections & Portraits of the Apostles (Twenty-third Publications. Earlier: Unforgettable Women of the Gospels: 8 Unnamed Women in Scripture and Their Encounters with Jesus (2024); Menopause Moments: A Journal for Nourishing Your Mind, Body and Spirit in Midlife (2021); Radical Saints: 21 Women for the 21st Century (2020); Brotherhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration (2020); Woman of Worth: Prayers and Reflections for Women Inspired by the Book of Proverbs (June 2019); Blessed Are You: Inspiration from Our Sisters in Faith (2015); and Sisterhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration (2013) . I'm also a frequent conference and meeting speaker.

I'm a regular contributor to Living Faith, the Catholic devotional, and Women in the New Evangelization.

From 1998 to 2003, I was editor of Writer's Digest magazine and also served for a time as editorial director for Writer's Digest Books.

Reviews

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melanie Rigney introduces 21 saints who endured much and persevered in their commitment to God’s call in their lives. What makes these saints radical is not extreme beliefs or practices; it’s simply that they chose to love God and their neighbor without reserve. Anecdotes about Melanie’s contemporaries who embody the same values as these saints reinforce the concept that everyday women can embody the same gifts that the saints do. Let the radical saints of the 20th century inspire you to face the challenges in your lifetime. (ARC received from publisher for endorsement)

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book may be more for other people, but it wasn't what I was looking for.

There are 21 women saints listed in this book, and each of them has a brief biography, a couple Bible verses, a couple reflection questions, a prayer for intercession by the saint, and an example of a person in the author's life that she believes reflects that saint. I didn't think the biographies of the saints went into much detail at all, and in some instances, I didn't feel like there was enough of a biography to even illustrate the point the author was trying to make. In addition, some of the examples from people in the author's life seemed to be more in-depth than that of the saint.

I did really appreciate that there were saints from different regions of the world represented in the book-- it still heavily skewed toward European-born saints, but did include a handful of people from other places.

[Gypsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book consists of brief and very basic biographies of twenty-one modern female saints. In addition, the author includes a short paragraph about the world background of the saint, two verses that resonate with that saint's particular characteristic, one quote from the saint, and a few other resources and quotes; the entire chapter per saint is around five pages. The longest section of each chapter is called "Living Radically Today", in which the author attempts to connect the saint's calling to some incident in her life or the life of a friend. I mean no disrespect to the author when I say this, as I am certain she put her heart and soul into these, but I found these entries to be most often tenuous and not always relatable. It would have benefited from more details on the lives of these saints and how each one affected her world, along with more quotes (in context). On the plus side, I was introduced to many new-to-me saints that I would like to research more in depth.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for radical women in the spirit of Dorothy Day. This book covered radically spiritual women that for the most part had overcome great tragedy with grace. The book highlighted many women, so maybe if I would have dug into each woman more I would have found their great spiritual acts more inspirational. Many of the women started their own religious order, which I'm sure takes a lot of work and there were beautiful stories there. It just wasn't something I could have connected with. The author does tie in modern stories of women with similar challenges that were people she just encountered through her life. It was interesting, but I wonder if I would have just preferred to know more about the women the book was about. It was just a sad read, because of the obstacles they had to overcome.

[Claire McGarry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fascinating, comprehensive, and down-to-earth relatable. I’m not one to pick up a book on the lives of the saints, but this title drew me in. In her always engaging style, Rigney brings each saint to life by not only highlighting her key points, but by including little-known facts that round out the story. Packed with information, each chapter ends with several resources so we can learn more about the saints we connect with most.

What resonated with me was her tie in of a modern-day woman she knows who possesses the same traits as the saint featured in each chapter. It had me looking around in my own life to find women I know who are living out those same saintlike qualities. Definitely a great read!

[Doris Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well done! I did not recognize too many of the women. I did know Katharine Drexel, a lady from a very wealthy family. The family practiced substantial giving. Miss Drexel wanted to pay for a missionary to help the American Indians and the African-Americans. God in effect told her to do it herself. So she did and was very successful despite the efforts of the segregationists and the KKK. I liked Josephine Bokhita also. She was from the Sudan and was sold into slavery. She endured all kinds of trials but eventually came upon a convent where she found the Catholic religion, and she found her true purpose.

[Gerri Bauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book and will return to it many times because of the resource suggestions at the end of each saint's story. I want to learn more about many of the people profiled. More than that, I love how this book introduced me to saints new to me. We have such a rich communion of saints and it's growing all the time. "Radical Saints" does contain some profiles of well-known saints, but most of the profiles focus on saints you probably haven't heard of yet. Get acquainted with them!

[Bridget Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book with a group of ladies at my church. I enjoyed learning about the 21 radical saints (the basics, radical gift, world, path to holiness, wisdom, thoughts, bible verse & prayers). I did not like living radically today when the author wrote about 21 friends. I would have liked the author to tell us more about the 21 saints.

[Joey Moser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that this book has some obscure Saints I had not heard of! The questions were good but often it was the same question reworded.

The stories of the Saints themselves were inspiring and dripping with courage and bravery! It was so nice to meet some new Saint friends!

[Nicole Hopkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a really nice read. The format of each chapter - with saint's life, then into a real-life example, followed by questions and quotes made each chapter not only relatable to me, but also thought-provoking.

[Judy Welle · Rating 5 out of 5]

great present day stories to relate to each saint's life.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rated—G (my personal opinion based on content)

[Marie Zahnle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring stories of ordinary women living their faith.

[Susannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Modern anthology of strong women. Makes a great gift for women of all ages.

[Emma McCabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the informative and short chapters, mixed in with personal stories!

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

So encouraging to read about these incredible woman.

[Shannon Myers · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of the most poorly written and edited books I have ever read. Melanie Rigley did these incredible female saints dirty.