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Parents of the Saints: The Hidden Heroes Behind Our Favorite Saints
Discover the hidden heroes behind Sts. Faustina, Giana Molla, Josemaría Escrivá, Pope John Paul II, Maximilian Kolbe, Padre Pio, Thérèse, and countless others. Learn how over 100 parents formed their children into great saints by way of their virtuous lives, namely their seven sacramental life, surrender, sacrificial love, suffering, simplicity, solitude, and the sacredness of life. Each chapter of this book examines a particular hallmark in depth.
- GenresCatholicChristian Living
398 pages, Paperback
Published November 11, 2020
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137 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 14, 2026
This book is poorly organized, filled with typos, and trying to serve too many purposes. The only redemption is the subject (I love the saints!) and the excerpts from source materials that support their holy lives.
If this book is meant to be descriptive of traits that the saints’ parents shared, those traits are not memorable. The book is grouped by seven hallmarks grouped in eight chapters, which all start with S and have overlapping definitions. Surrender, sacrifice, and suffering all blur together.
If this book is meant to be biographical, then the scattered order of the saints makes no sense, because the saints’ lives are jumbled between the chapters. Information is repeated, and we don’t learn some of the foundational material until chapters 6 or 7 for saints introduced in an earlier chapter.
If this book is meant to be inspirational, then the hallmarks include too many examples that should not be followed by any parent.
The references to secular figures and history lessons were out of place and confusing. Is this book comparing holy parents of the saints to non-holy parents of the saints? To holy parents of non-saints (e.g. the mother of Margaret Sanger)? To the non-holy parents of non-saints (e.g. the parents of Martin Luther)? Why is Margaret Sanger in this book at all, let alone as a whole segment? Why is Martin Luther featured?
Not many saints’ lives are documented, let alone their parents’ lives. We’re left with a heavy dose of St Thérèse, a handful of other recent saints, and endless inferences and assumptions from the author.
St Faustina’s parents refused to visit her initially at the convent when invited. This is portrayed as a sacrifice to go without visits to their daughter, even though it was offered and they refused. (Page 151)
St Paul of the Cross’ father puts him in harm’s way smuggling drugs and is imprisoned, which is portrayed as suffering. This is not true suffering, especially when compared to St Zélie’s daughter dying suddenly in her arms! Yet the author makes such a comparison. (Pages 169, 186)
St Maximilian Kolbe’s mother abandons the father and children for the convent, to fulfill her own spiritual desires, and that’s portrayed as surrender rather than selfishness. The father is suffering from the sudden separation, while Maria Kolbe, who abandoned her vocation as a mother, is painted as a saintly influence. (Page 94)
I thought the book would never move past the Martins. While St Thérèse’s family life is well-documented, the book could have been retitled, “The Seven Hallmarks of St Louis and Zélie Martin, with some other familiar saints sprinkled in.”
If this book is meant to be descriptive of traits that the saints’ parents shared, those traits are not memorable. The book is grouped by seven hallmarks grouped in eight chapters, which all start with S and have overlapping definitions. Surrender, sacrifice, and suffering all blur together.
If this book is meant to be biographical, then the scattered order of the saints makes no sense, because the saints’ lives are jumbled between the chapters. Information is repeated, and we don’t learn some of the foundational material until chapters 6 or 7 for saints introduced in an earlier chapter.
If this book is meant to be inspirational, then the hallmarks include too many examples that should not be followed by any parent.
The references to secular figures and history lessons were out of place and confusing. Is this book comparing holy parents of the saints to non-holy parents of the saints? To holy parents of non-saints (e.g. the mother of Margaret Sanger)? To the non-holy parents of non-saints (e.g. the parents of Martin Luther)? Why is Margaret Sanger in this book at all, let alone as a whole segment? Why is Martin Luther featured?
Not many saints’ lives are documented, let alone their parents’ lives. We’re left with a heavy dose of St Thérèse, a handful of other recent saints, and endless inferences and assumptions from the author.
St Faustina’s parents refused to visit her initially at the convent when invited. This is portrayed as a sacrifice to go without visits to their daughter, even though it was offered and they refused. (Page 151)
St Paul of the Cross’ father puts him in harm’s way smuggling drugs and is imprisoned, which is portrayed as suffering. This is not true suffering, especially when compared to St Zélie’s daughter dying suddenly in her arms! Yet the author makes such a comparison. (Pages 169, 186)
St Maximilian Kolbe’s mother abandons the father and children for the convent, to fulfill her own spiritual desires, and that’s portrayed as surrender rather than selfishness. The father is suffering from the sudden separation, while Maria Kolbe, who abandoned her vocation as a mother, is painted as a saintly influence. (Page 94)
I thought the book would never move past the Martins. While St Thérèse’s family life is well-documented, the book could have been retitled, “The Seven Hallmarks of St Louis and Zélie Martin, with some other familiar saints sprinkled in.”
November 13, 2021
2.5. I wanted to like this book but I just could not handle how badly edited it was. I'm not talking grammer and spelling, I mean paragraphs that change thought midway through. Whole sections revolve around a single idea when suddenly the author changes course with no transition. The content was good and the idea for this book is very much appreciated. The stories are engaging, however the author loves to share his own opinion halfway through. Godly actions speak for themselves, you don't have to put down everyone who doesn't have a dozen plus kids. Church teachings survive regardless of the trends of each generation. The question I wanted this book to help me with is finding the most effective ways of conveying the Church's truths to my children, regardless of their number and my walking distance to a Church that offers daily Mass. Instead I got list of good examples and another tirade against millennials. I feel I would learn more doing research on these saints myself.
December 27, 2024
DNF—or really just skimmed the last half or so so I could call it finished for the year. Great idea for a book, and I had really high expectations. If you took this almost-500 page book and whittled it down to 150 maybe, cut out all the preaching and tangents and stuck to the actual examples of saintly parents, and had a good editor for all the awkward transitions and clunky sentences, it would be worth it. As it is it had some good quotes and a few stories that I was interested in and learned something new, so two stars.
August 13, 2025
Maybe like 2.5??? This was a tough one. The idea is nice but then it’s also kinda like…. Follow these steps to have the perfect family for Saints and I’m like I think you’re forgetting Grace a little bit. I don’t know. It was interesting to read the stories of the Saints background in light of their parents… it was poorly written and poorly edited and the theology was like dodgy and so watered down it seemed in genuine. This was a weird book. I might give it one star.
October 26, 2023
What a unique twist to saint bios! The author cleverly organizes various parents of saints by themes of virtues and weaves them together by segueing in chronology (e.g. 300 years after this saint passed in the same country). Really love learning more about family life, or a behind-the-scenes view of the canonized saints. Highly recommend it to new parents.
August 14, 2025
This book was spectacular & the perfect read for my book club! I love Patrick’s writing style and the bite sized stories were great for pacing. My one complaint would be that the same few parents were revisited quite often, but it makes sense why because we only have so much information on parents of saints. Easily one of my favorite reads of the year!!
May 11, 2022
This is a rich book filled with practical wisdom on the vocation of parenthood. I am a new mom and I have gained understanding on what biblical, spirit led parenthood looks like thanks to this enjoyable read. I highly recommend it!
February 7, 2025
I cannot emphasize enough how valuable this book is. I’m so grateful to have come across it and to have read it. I pray that I can soak up all the wisdom it holds and that it pours out into my parenting. This is a book I want to reread over and over again.
August 17, 2021
Interesting stories and well researched but poorly edited.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews