Real Women, Real Saints: Friends for Your Spiritual Journey [Paperback]

Gina Loehr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2008

What would it take for you to become a saint? If you're thinking of quiet cloisters and hours in undisturbed prayer, think again. Real women who became real saints run the gamut from quiet to boisterous, single, married, divorced, post-abortive, social activists, hermits, academics, doctors and more. Among these women there is a friend for you, someone even a bit like you.

Sanctity will never fit into a formula, but the women in Real Women, Real Saints have this in common: their deep love for God and the determination to live life in harmony with his will. The brief biographies in this book will help you learn to abandon yourself to God, as these women did, and live a rich, full life in return.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Gina Loehr reveals the wonderful richness and diversity that is part of our living heritage as Catholics. --Ralph Martin, author, Hungry for God

…a lively, inspiring introduction to the diverse women included in the church's canon of saints. Loehr's gift for distilling the essence of these holy women in bite-sized biographies and her emphasis on the links between their lives and our own make this a valuable reference for Catholic women. --Colleen Carroll Campbell, author, The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy

As I travel the world, it seems there are so many people who are lonely in their spiritual journey, so many who feel they are in it alone. In Real Women, Real Saints Gina Loehr brilliantly introduces you to Friends for Your Spiritual Journey. Don't read it like a book. Approach this book as a companion for prayer. Read a passage and then turn to God in prayer asking: How do you want me to live these qualities in my life? --Matthew Kelly, author, The Rhythm of Life: Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose

About the Author

GINA LOEHR holds a master's degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville. She writes and speaks on Catholic topics, including the saints, the virtues, the sacrament of marriage and the vocation of women. Gina lives on a six-hundred-acre dairy farm in southeastern Wisconsin with her husband and baby.

Product Details

• Paperback: 166 pages
• Publisher: Servant Books (July 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0867168587
• ISBN-13: 978-0867168587
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #749,446 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gina Loehr is the author of three books, Choosing Beauty: A 30-Day Spiritual Makeover for Women, The Four Teresas, and Real Women, Real Saints: Friends for Your Spiritual Journey. A frequent guest on national Catholic radio programs including EWTN, Relevant Radio, and Ave Maria Radio, Gina writes and speaks on a variety of Catholic topics including the saints, the virtues, the sacrament of marriage and the vocation of women. Homeschooled in the primary grades, she went on to complete a degree in theatre studies and then served a year with the National Evangelization Team (NET). From there she earned her master's degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville. Gina currently teaches theology at Marian University in Wisconsin where she lives on a 600 acre dairy farm with her husband and their three young children.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars We Can Learn from Them January 5, 2009

By Carol Blank TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

In Real Women, Real Saints, Gina Loehr writes of 100 women who loved the Savior completely and lived in harmony with his will. She defines this "harmony-in-action" as virtue. Fittingly, the book's chapters are based on the theological and cardinal virtues: faith, hope, charity, prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. A definition of the virtue from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and a passage from Scripture open each chapter.

The women Loehr has chosen represent time periods from the first to twentieth century and myriad geographic locations, vocations, and personal circumstances. All are canonized or on the four-step path to canonization. Their stories, though often less than two pages long, highlight their special connection to the virtue under which they are listed. Loehr's theme is that we are all called to be saints, and those thus far recognized by the Church struggled with difficulties similar to those we face today. In short, we can learn from them. Clearly, this is a book for individuals and groups to browse according to their interests and needs. Following is an example from the Women of Temperance chapter.

Saint Monica (331-387) wife, mother; feast day, August 27. Her patronages include abuse victims, alcoholics, difficult marriages, and disappointing children. As a girl Monica developed a taste for wine, and drank in secret. She changed her ways "on the spot" when confronted by a friend. Though she was from a Christian family, her parents arranged for her to marry a pagan, who turned out to be nasty and unfaithful. And her live-in mother-in-law didn't like Monica at all. "Yet the young wife remained charitable and even tempered," Loehr writes. She won over her mother-in-law and eventually influenced her husband's conversion to Catholicism. As for the "disappointing children" patronage, Monica's youngest son, now known as St. Augustine, had a wayward spirit that led to an early life of "dissolution and selfishness." Monica prayed and begged till he came back to the faith.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Introduction to a Variety of Women Saints November 18, 2008

By Patrice Fagnant-macarthur VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Gina Loehr has compiled a wonderful collection of women saints' biographies in "Real Women, Real Saints: Friends for Your Spiritual Journey." Loehr, who has a master's degree theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville, writes that "sanctity will never fit into a formula. . . In these pages God's image is reflected in a hundred different forms. . . Every story in this book tells of a relationship between the Savior of the universe and a woman who loved him enough to live in harmony with his will."

Loehr divides the saints into seven major categories: Women of Faith, Women of Hope, Women of Charity, Women of Prudence, Women of Justice, Women of Fortitude, and Women of Temperance. In reality, however, the majority of these holy women exhibited many of these virtues. Loehr is to be commended for the wide variety of saints she has profiled. While the well-known saints no hagiographical work could be complete without have been included, such as Joan of Arc, Mary Magdalene, Teresa of Avila, Anne, Catherine of Siena, Clare, Rose of Lima, and Therese of Lisieux, Loehr has also included many lesser-known saints. Reading about these saints is fascinating and will encourage the making of new friends up in heaven. As Loehr states, "the Church recognizes the value of having specific role models and helpers to assist us during the course of our daily lives." These saints will provide much inspiration and will hopefully encourage readers to find out more about their favorite holy women. Among these pages, there are role models for every women from every walk of life.

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring June 26, 2010

By Ray Mcdermott

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Each story (very short) is inspiring and interest. Would have preferred a little more detail and would have given it a 5.