Customer Reviews

Lives of the Saints

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Father Butler's famous Lives of the Saints ranks only after the Bible, the Missal and The Imitation of Christ as the all-time most popular and authoritative Catholic book. This handy one-volume edition is taken from the many volumes of the highly revered Father Alban Butler (1710-1763), an English Catholic priest and scholar, who devoted almost 30 years of meticulous research to the lives of the Saints and whose work was originally published in the 1750's. This present edition contains no debunking, as do many other editions; thus, it conveys Fr. Butler's spirit of profound faith in and reverence for our saintly traditions. Additional Saints have been added, however, who have lived since the author's time-including St. Theresa the Little Flower, Pope St. Pius X, St. Catherine Labouré, etc. Based on the traditional Catholic calendar as of 1955. Gives approximately one page per saint, one or two saints per day, plus a brief Reflection based on the virtues of the saint. Extremely valuable to read daily in order to put oneself in tune with our holy Catholic traditions and to develop a truly Catholic approach to life. Shows the fruits of the Catholic Faith as borne out in the lives of its greatest adherents. Excellent for the whole family!! 428pp. PB. Imprimatur.

"Lives of the Saints" was originally titled as "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints". Its author was Father Alban Butler, who lived from 1735-1763. It is, as the original title indicates, a book mostly of the priests, bishops, cardinals and popes of the church who were saints as well as of the martyrs and other saints. It was written during the 30 years that he was a professor of philosophy and theology, and was written for adult readers. It contains a concise but good biography on about 400 saints, at least one on his/her feast day for each day of the year. It has a 29 page appendix of more recent saints by a more recent author.

This is not Butler's "Lives Of The Saints". It is "Lives Of The Saints With Reflections For Every Day In The Year Compiled From The 'Lives Of The Saints' By Rev. Alban Butler'. It is not an edition of Butler's. Even to call it an "abridgement" would really be pushing it, but if it had been marketed as such, I would have avoided it in the first place and not have wasted my time purchasing it and then obtaining a refund.

Most saint books today leave out the extraordinary (most especially any talk of miracles), and paint a rather bland, ordinary life of a saint. That is, not to make a saint look too saintly. But not this book. This book is rumored to have been Fr. Alban Butler's personal favorite -- and is a version not gotten hold of by modern skeptical editors who strike any reference to the supernatural. Yes, the biographies are short, but that's so the book can be read in a few easy minutes each day. But perhaps the greatest strength of the book are the short meditations which are actually able to inspire those to read them to imitate the virtues of a saintly life. I have read this book every day for ten years (though based on the old Catholic calendar), and would recommend it again and again.

Simply put...this is a great resource. It is concise and interesting information compiled in one book that we found fascinating. A great reference book and the profiles will whet your appetite to know even more on the subjects. But we read it because it's just plain interesting!

For a short history of the saints this is a good book. I would have rather read a longer description of each saint and their history.

I love this book. I read it almost every night. It's awesome to have a saint to intercede for you each night. It's also great to see the suffering and endurance of our past Christians and to witness to the 2,000-plus-year-old history of our church.

I highly recommend this book to someone who is searching for a few role models on our daily journey to Christ. A saint a day is good for the soul.

Concise and inspiring meditation for the daily trials facing a human esp. in a nation fixed on entitled greedy gimmee folks wanting free over fair. This nation is still one "under God."

Ive always loved the saints and this book is a great intro to our saints and a vast store of knowledge that every Catholic should own.