A Passion for Life: Fragments of the Face of God

by Joan D. Chittister, Robert Lentz

What makes a saint? Why do we need them? For Joan Chittister, saints are "people like ourselves, reachable figures, who have lived well through situations similar to our own as proof that we too, in all of our smallness, can stretch ourselves to the limits of the best in us. We call them saints, but maybe we should call them "heroes" or stars or icons." In them are reflected the many facets of the face of God.
In A Passion for Life the icons are male and female, Christian and non-Christian, married and single, religious and lay, from different times and diverse cultures. They are activists and mystics, their holiness recognized by due process, or acclaimed by those who lived in the shadow of their lives. Like us, they are not without flaws, but so luminous in their virtues as to be a light for the ages.
Joan Chittister presents some of these men and women to us, reveals their special gifts, encourages us to identify with them, and to follow their example. Robert Lentz's many stunning icons provide a third dimension for the reader, to feast the eye as well as the soul. A Passion for Life is a book of saints for our own time, and for all time.

Genres: Spirituality, Art

132 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1996

About the author

Joan Daugherty Chittister, O.S.B., is an American Benedictine nun, theologian, author, and speaker. She has served as Benedictine prioress and Benedictine federation president, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women.

Reviews

[Laurel]

I am not enamored of Chittister's texts, but I love Robert Lentz's twenty-one full-page, full-color icons and his expansive definition of holy people (everyone from Teresa of Avila to Oscar Romero to Mother Jones). My favorite is Lentz's icon of Eve as an old woman.