Customer Reviews

Butler's Lives of the Saints: Concise Edition, Revised and Updated

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book tells the stories of Saints in Catholic History. Although this book is not written for the young reader it is very interesting. The stories are told by the day of the year that the saint died. There is only one saint for each day and each day is represented. In the back of the book is a listing of Saints by name for cross reference. There was one thing that I did not like about the book: I would have liked to see the book have another cross reference whereby you could look up WHAT THE SAINT REPRESENTS ie. the patron saint of motherhood. I sometimes use Novena prayers and would have liked to use this book as a reference to find the name of the saint that I need. Otherwise I love the book. I have used it as a daily reading to give myself inspiration of these Saintly figures. Some of the stories represented are phenominal. You will find this a very interesting book well worth having. A must have for every Catholic bookshelf

Butler's Lives of the Saints: New Concise Ed., edited by Paul Burns, ISBN 0-8146-2903-2, Copyright 2003

Consider another book. Despite "Butler's" being in the title, it seems to bear no relation to the Butler's Lives of the Saints published in the 1950s and 1800s.

Defects:
1. There is no index or alphabetical list of saints. If you want to look up a saint by name, you have to scan the list of 366 saints in the table of contents, which is six pages long. An index would have provided quick access.

2. Saints are not listed under their actual commemoration day. Why? Because the saints did not "die on conveniently spaced dates" (page xi). Nothing in the description of the saint alerts you to the date being wrong. To determine the correct day, you have to closely read a paragraph at the beginning of the month.

3. The book does not bear an imprimatur from a bishop or "nihil obstat" showing that it's free from error. To illustrate why this is a problem, one-third of the entry for St. Maria Goretti is not about her; it's a critique of her sainthood and of the Church. Example: in "feminist circles ... Maria has been seen more as a martyr to patriarchal society" (p. 310).

I originally wrote a relatively favorable review for this book because it seemed to incorporate the best of the original Butler's Lives (a focus on meditating on the life of the saint) and the new calendar of saints (including many recent canonizations). While it does do the second, I am afraid to say that it is woefully inadequate regarding the first. In fact, it is probably just as bad as the Atwater/Thurston edition. For instance, here is part of the section from January 27th on St. Angela Merici: "Accounts of her [St. Angela Merici's] childhood make her pious, rebelling against the fashions of the age, devoted to the legend of St. Ursula, and the recipient of a vision showing a great company of virgins and other saints coming down from heaven to her. They included a dead sister, who invited her to form a great 'Company of Virgins,' which was what Angela had actually done by the time the account was written." In other words, the author wants to point out that the story "must" not be true because it wasn't written down until after the alleged vision had been fulfilled. Now, we are certainly not bound to believe all the accounts in the various lives of the saints, but I do not understand the point of drawing attention to the alleged falsity of a tale in the context of a meditative reading. If the work seeks to be encyclopedic, it is much too short and you should check on the 12-vol. counterpart, but for a daily meditation (which it seems reasonable to assume such a work is designed to be), such statements are misplaced. If the story is too absurd to be believed, just don't include it. As a result, it is disappointing because it would be useful to have a modern Butler's that can be used for a daily devotional or meditation. Instead, we are left with the old works that do not match the current calendar.

The good news is that Butler's Lives continues to be a popular brand name over 100 years after its first edition; the bad news is that many of its revised editions aren't worth the paper they are printed on. Not so with this red cover "concise edition" from 1985 (ISBN-10: 0060692510.) It retains the verve, clarity, and style of the original four volumes in a single-volume format. If you are an Anglophile or have an interest in English Catholicism, this edition is especially attractive; editor Michael Walsh includes many saints from British history, and the book comes with a foreword by the late Cardinal Basil Hume. Its main drawback is the inclusion of only one saint per day. This means, for example, that on June 22's memorial of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher just one man -- Fisher -- is described. No book or format is perfect, however. So look for the red cover, and learn to love your faith from the saints.

I just love this book. I bought McBrien's Lives of the Saints at the same time and this one is far superior in that it is scholarly without losing its spirituality. You get more than just a biographical sketch, you also get a sense of the spirit of each saint, including quotations. The quality of the paper, printing and binding is superior as well---this book will last for generations. I am now saving up for the 12-volume unabridged set!

This book is well-written and provides interesting short biographies of some of the most famous saints. The book is arranged in a chronological manner, ordering the saints by their feast days.

This book is not a particularly in-depth looks at the saints, however for those with an interest in the important figures in the Catholic church, and the history of the church, this book provides many interesting tidbits.

The entries for individual saints are well written and informative, but the book is absolutely unsuitable for use as a reference tool. The reason is that the only listing of saints is the Table of Contents, which follows a strictly chronological pattern. There is no index in the back (only a table chronologically listing saints by the year of their death). Thus, if you want information on St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, for example, you'd better know the date of her memorial or else you'll have to go through the entire table of contents, before you spot her name with the other December saints.

This is an abridged edition of Butler's four-volume set that sits on our shelves. This volume list one saint for each day of the year. The editor uses the day of their death, which has been restored as the principal occasion for liturgical observance of a saint's life, work, and virtue. The work has also been updated to list those blesseds who have been become saints as of 1956. The reduced number of biographies of the saints in this book has a slight bias to Anglo Saxon saints and the two wholly new saints are from the United States. The editor has also updated the entries and modified the language to modern English, He has also deleted pious exhortations allowing the saints achievements and eccentricities speak for themselves. Though a handy modern catholic beside book, it is no substitute for the original four-volume set.

The rating of 3 stars does not reflect THE BOOK - actually, I have another copy of this book and love it. However, I ordered (I THOUGHT) A LARGE PRINT EDITION. Your presentation on line was very confusing. I requested large print offerings, and, found that not everything that came up for perusal was large print. I made the mistake of selecting what I thought WAS large print only to find, upon receipt, that it was not. I was purchasing this book as a gift for my neighbor who desired a book about the lives of the saints in large print because he is legally blind and cannot read the normal type. For that reason I rated my experience as a 3 because I am disappointed. I AM STILL LOOKING FOR A BOOK ABOUT SAINTS IN LARGE PRINT AND WOULD APPRECIATE ANY HELP YOU CAN GIVE ME. R. Ford

I understand there is a CD rom available which contains four volumes. Has anyone used this?