Who needs celebrity tosh, when you can read about Catholic saints? St Francis of Assisi was a real party boy in his time, and Durham’s own St Cuthbert (buried on the island of Lindisfarne where he spent most of his life as a hermit) used to guard sheep. He even passed laws to protect eider ducks, and is regarded as ‘the world’s first environmentalist’. It’s said that he became a monk after witnessing angels carrying St Aiden (the monastery’s abbot) to Heaven.
Pray for Us is a unique and interesting book that explores the lives of 75 lesser-known saints who sinned and suffered and struggled their way to holiness. This book will stretch anyone’s notions of holiness when they read of a chain-smoking socialist, teenage video gamer, opium addict, satanic high priest, disabled beggar and self-absorbed mean girl, who all became saints.
This book highlights the sorrows and struggles of broken people, who turned their lives around and dedicated themselves to God and his work. Through these edgy profiles with fresh and fascinating stories, the author explores the universal call, and shows how God can transform anyone (from grouchy theologians to bratty teenagers) into saints. Anyone can become a saint if they trust in the Lord! Among those you’ll meet are:
- Blessed Carlo Acutis (an Italian teen who enjoyed video games and loved the Eucharist) but refused to waste time on things that weren’t pleasing to God.
- Blessed Sara Salkahazi (a chain-smoking socialist from an upper-class Hungarian family) who exposed the plight of the working class, and smuggled Jewish people to safety during World War 2.
- Blessed Victoire Rasoamanarivo (a married women who defied her family’s opposition to lead the church in Madagascar).
- St Dulce Pontes (the daughter of a wealth family in Brazil) who decided to serve the poor by becoming a nun, and teaching literary to children and their parents in the slums.
- Blessed Bartolo Longo, a satanic priest who returned to the Church and worked to bring people back to Christ. He also founded schools for the poor, established orphanages and created Rosary groups.
- St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, a Christian opium addict who never got clean, but still had the courage to die a martyr’s death for his beliefs, during the Boxer Rebellion in China.
What a diverse collection of captivating stories. These are not dull saccharine accounts, stringing together bare facts and dates, as most saint collections do. These stories of relatively unknown saints will make your heart come alive. Get this book for any person who thinks saints are boring. Brandon Vogt
About the Author
Meg Hunter-Kilmer is a Catholic writer, retreat leader and missionary who has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Notre Dame.
