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The Loyola Treasury of Saints
Both children and adults will enjoy this beautiful collection of over 100 saint biographies. The Loyola Treasury of Saints by David Self contains vibrant stories, illustrations, and photographs that detail the lives of saints from the time of Jesus to today. Many of the saint biographies are accompanied by short explanations of historical and cultural settings as well as anecdotes about the times in which the saints lived.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published March 18, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 27, 2022
The Loyola Treasury of Saints serves as a satisfactory, if brief, introduction to a variety of different Catholic and Orthodox saints (as well as some generally recognized holy people). I especially appreciated the inclusion of so many saints from Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. None of the entries delve terribly deep into each saint, but it did at least help me recognize names and get some general facts about their life and deeds.
However, for some inexplicable reason, The Treasury includes neither dates nor places of origin for each entry (to say nothing of its lack of maps). Including these things would have taken almost no effort, and I was flummoxed as to why I had to guess at the general dates each saint lived, or else cross-reference them with another saint’s Life when you could...well, just have told me.
3 stars.
However, for some inexplicable reason, The Treasury includes neither dates nor places of origin for each entry (to say nothing of its lack of maps). Including these things would have taken almost no effort, and I was flummoxed as to why I had to guess at the general dates each saint lived, or else cross-reference them with another saint’s Life when you could...well, just have told me.
3 stars.
September 20, 2025
Worth the read. And yes nice to have pictures.
January 14, 2019
Scriptually incorrect.
February 5, 2021
The Loyola Treasury of Saints is, by far, the largest collection of saints I've found in my perusal of my local library's collection of children's books about saints. (I haven't dug much into their collection of books on individual saints yet.)
Divided into many sections, this treasury covers a ton of saints:
- The Gospels
- The early church (Peter, Paul, et c.)
- The persecuted church (starting with Polycarp)
- The church triumphant (Constantine, Helena, and so forth)
- The Western churches (Celtic lands and northern Europe)
- The medieval church
- The Renaissance and missionary church
- Saints and holy people of the modern age
- Angels and Archangels (Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael)
Each section is marked by a different border, and each spread (sometimes for one saint, other times for multiple saints) has a title. Saints' days are included alongside a selection of art, including mosaics and the other usual suspects of artwork. Occasionally, an image of something like sandals or grapes are included, with a caption connecting it to the story. The text is written with more creativity than other treasuries I've looked at. Dialogue is frequently included, and action is centered.
The section on modern saints/holy people includes Corrie Ten Boom, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and MLK, which I found impressive--trust a Jesuit publisher to include Protestants in a treasury of saints! My personal favorite, Oscar Romero, is included here, alongside Mother Teresa, Maximilian Kolbe, and others. Since this section concerns some folks who are not yet (or will never be) canonized, there is a note under the angel proclaiming the saint's day that these people are not saints. Often, a martyrdom date (such as Bonhoeffer's April 9) are included; Teresa's day of decision and death date are mentioned.
Brief referential biographies are included at the end, along with a calendar of saint's days.
Divided into many sections, this treasury covers a ton of saints:
- The Gospels
- The early church (Peter, Paul, et c.)
- The persecuted church (starting with Polycarp)
- The church triumphant (Constantine, Helena, and so forth)
- The Western churches (Celtic lands and northern Europe)
- The medieval church
- The Renaissance and missionary church
- Saints and holy people of the modern age
- Angels and Archangels (Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael)
Each section is marked by a different border, and each spread (sometimes for one saint, other times for multiple saints) has a title. Saints' days are included alongside a selection of art, including mosaics and the other usual suspects of artwork. Occasionally, an image of something like sandals or grapes are included, with a caption connecting it to the story. The text is written with more creativity than other treasuries I've looked at. Dialogue is frequently included, and action is centered.
The section on modern saints/holy people includes Corrie Ten Boom, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and MLK, which I found impressive--trust a Jesuit publisher to include Protestants in a treasury of saints! My personal favorite, Oscar Romero, is included here, alongside Mother Teresa, Maximilian Kolbe, and others. Since this section concerns some folks who are not yet (or will never be) canonized, there is a note under the angel proclaiming the saint's day that these people are not saints. Often, a martyrdom date (such as Bonhoeffer's April 9) are included; Teresa's day of decision and death date are mentioned.
Brief referential biographies are included at the end, along with a calendar of saint's days.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews