My Life with the Saints (10th Anniversary Edition)


Book Description

“Martin’s final word is as Jungian as it is Catholic: God does not want us to be Mother Teresa or Dorothy Day. God wants us to be most fully ourselves.” —Washington Post Book World WITTY, WRYLY HONEST, AND ALWAYS ORIGINAL, My Life with the Saints is James Martin’s story of how his life has been shaped by some surprising friends—the saints of the Catholic Church. In his modern classic memoir, Martin introduces us to saints throughout history—from St. Peter to Dorothy Day, St. Francis of Assisi to Mother Teresa—and chronicles his lifelong friendships with them. Filled with fascinating tales, Martin’s funny, vibrant, and stirring book invites readers to discover how saints guide us throughout our earthly journeys and how they help each of us find holiness in our own lives. Featuring a new chapter from Martin, this tenth-anniversary edition of the best-selling memoir updates readers about his life over the past ten years. In that time, he has been a New York Times best-selling author, official chaplain of The Colbert Report, and a welcome presence in the media whenever there’s a breaking Catholic news story. But he has always remained recognizably himself. John L. Allen, Jr., the acclaimed Catholic journalist, contributes a foreword that shows how Martin has become one of the wisest and most insightful voices of this era. “An outstanding and often hilarious memoir.” —Publishers Weekly “One of the best spiritual memoirs in years.” —Robert Ellsberg “Remarkably engaging.” —U.S. Catholic One of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of the Year Winner of the Christopher Award Winner of the Catholic Press Association Book Award




The Autobiography of St. Margaret Mary


Book Description

Intimate insights from the saint to whom Our Lord gave the Sacred Heart revelations. Includes Our Lord's own words to her and tells how she sought out suffering for the love for God. A very famous book and one of only six saint's autobiographies in existence.




Autobiography of an Aspiring Saint


Book Description

Charged by the Venetian Inquisition with the conscious and cynical feigning of holiness, Cecelia Ferrazzi (1609-1684) requested and obtained the unprecedented opportunity to defend herself through a presentation of her life story. Ferrazzi's unique inquisitorial autobiography and the transcripts of her preceding testimony, expertly transcribed and eloquently translated into English, allow us to enter an unfamiliar sector of the past and hear 'another voice'—that of a humble Venetian woman who had extraordinary experiences and exhibited exceptional courage. Born in 1609 into an artisan family, Cecilia Ferrazzi wanted to become a nun. When her parents' death in the plague of 1630 made it financially impossible for her to enter the convent, she refused to marry and as a single laywoman set out in pursuit of holiness. Eventually she improvised a vocation: running houses of refuge for "girls in danger," young women at risk of being lured into prostitution. Ferrazzi's frequent visions persuaded her, as well as some clerics and acquaintances among the Venetian elite, that she was on the right track. The socially valuable service she was providing enhanced this impresssion. Not everyone, however, was convinced that she was a genuine favorite of God. In 1664 she was denounced to the Inquisition. The Inquisition convicted Ferrazzi of the pretense of sanctity. Yet her autobiographical act permits us to see in vivid detail both the opportunities and the obstacles presented to seventeenth-century women.




Thea Bowman


Book Description

Sister Thea Bowman spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ as only an African American born in 1937 in Yazoo City, Mississippi, could. Throughout her adult life, she embraced Catholicism and religious life and never abandoned the beautiful gift of her "blackness." It was her life's mission to share her rich cultural heritage and spirituality in song, prayer, teaching, and preaching. As a child, Thea Bowman converted to Catholicism, and as an adult chose a life as a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration. As a black religious sister in a predominantly white world, Sister Thea was able to cross cultural boundaries and share her cultural and spiritual gifts while learning and uplifting the cultural gifts of others. This book joyfully expounds the thoughts, memories, and reflections of this devoted Franciscan woman, a proud maiden of Mississippi, a prophetic preacher, and a tenacious teacher. Fourteen chapters include her insightful reflections on The Wisdom of the "Old Folks," The Giftedness of Children, On Being Black and Catholic, and The Power of Prayer. Join Sister Bowman as she shares her rich cultural heritage and spirituality In Her Own Words. View sample pages. Hardcover




St. Therese of Lisieux


Book Description

This is an autobiographical work by one of the most popular saints of the 19th century, St. Therese of Lisieux, who died in her mid-20s as a result of various maladies but impressed everyone with the power of her faith.




The Life of St. Gemma Galgani


Book Description




The Autobiography of St. Anthony Mary Claret


Book Description

Bares the soul of a saint and reveals the methods which were so successful for him in converting others. From age 5 he was haunted by the thought of the souls about to fall into Hell. This insight fueled his powerful drive to save as many souls as he could.




A Pilgrim's Journey


Book Description

Saint Ignatius of Loyola was a man who saw above and beyond his century, a man of vision and calm hope, who could step comfortably into our era and the Church of our time and show us how to draw closer to Christ. Ignatius' autobiography spans eighteen very important years of this saint's 65-year life...from his wounding at Pamplona (1521) through his conversion, his university studies and his journey to Rome in order to place his followers and himself at the disposal of the Pope. These critical years reveal the incredible transformation and spiritual growth in the soul of a great saint and the events that helped to bring about that change in his life. This classic work merits a long life. Apart from providing a splendid translation of the saint's original text, Father Tylenda has included an informative commentary which enables the modern reader to grasp various allusions in the text-and to gain a better view of a saintly man baring his soul.




The Book of Her Life


Book Description

"The Book of Her Life" is the spiritual autobiography of a Counter Reformation mystic and monastic reformer of sixteenth century Spain. Introduction by Jodi Bilinkoff.




The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila


Book Description

The life and many afterlives of one of the most enduring mystical testaments ever written The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila is among the most remarkable accounts ever written of the human encounter with the divine. The Life is not really an autobiography at all, but rather a confession written for inquisitors by a nun whose raptures and mystical claims had aroused suspicion. Despite its troubled origins, the book has had a profound impact on Christian spirituality for five centuries, attracting admiration from readers as diverse as mystics, philosophers, artists, psychoanalysts, and neurologists. How did a manuscript once kept under lock and key by the Spanish Inquisition become one of the most inspiring religious books of all time? National Book Award winner Carlos Eire tells the story of this incomparable spiritual masterpiece, examining its composition and reception in the sixteenth century, the various ways its mystical teachings have been interpreted and reinterpreted across time, and its enduring influence in our own secular age. The Life became an iconic text of the Counter-Reformation, was revered in Franco’s Spain, and has gone on to be read as a feminist manifesto, a literary work, and even as a secular text. But as Eire demonstrates in this vibrant and evocative book, Teresa’s confession is a cry from the heart to God and an audacious portrayal of mystical theology as a search for love. Here is the essential companion to the Life, one woman’s testimony to the reality of mystical experience and a timeless affirmation of the ultimate triumph of good over evil.