I don’t know many published authors. To be more accurate, I only know one. When I graduated from Florida State University and moved back down to the Orlando area, I met one of my best friends—and mentors, as all good friends are—Catholic author Bert Ghezzi.
Bert has been involved in one form or another with the Catholic publishing business for decades. Though he currently works as the Acquisitions Director for Our Sunday Visitor, he has written twenty books for many publishers with more to come (you can see a list of his books here). While many of his books focus on the daily spiritual life as a Catholic or on liturgical topics such as the Sign of the Cross or the Sacraments, some of his most recent books have focused on the Saints of the Catholic Church.
I think it is safe to say that Bert is one of the most knowledgeable “Saint-watchers” in the world, if only here in America. I know of few others who have devoted as much time as Bert to discovering, popularizing, and emulating these holy men and women throughout history.
“Voices of the Saints” (Loyola Press, paperback, 816 pages, $19.95) is the outflow of Bert’s expertise. The book is an exhaustive introduction to many of these heroes of the Church. While there have been hundreds of books written on these Saints throughout history, “Voices of the Saints” has some unique features that separate it from rest of the pack.
The most delightful feature of the book is that—as the title suggests—this book is more than just a compilation of dry, distant biographies detailing the lives of these Saints. The book is actually a collection of ‘voices’—almost every entry includes snippets of writing and quotes directly from the Saints themselves! As opposed to merely reading about these Saints, “Voices of the Saints” allows you to encounter them. This makes the entries warm and compelling and the Saints close—instead of admiration the book encourages friendship and emulation.
Each of the 365 Saints has two dedicated pages, and each entry follows a typical structure. Most begin with a half-page, popularized biography of the Saint written in down-to-earth language. Following this is a section containing the Saint’s own ‘voice’—usually a letter, a sermon, a poem, or a song. Finally, a short quote from the Saint or a short commentary from Bert closes the entry. In addition to the story and words of each Saint, each entry includes—when available—the Saint’s patronage (a place, activity, or person that the Saint is particularly connected to) and the date of their beatification or canonization (when they became ‘Blessed’ or a “Saint”, respectively).
There are multiple ways to absorb the riches within “Voices of the Saints”. The first edition of “Voices of the Saints” features the Saint ordered in alphabetic order; this makes it easy to find a particular Saint on the fly. The new edition of the book instead orders the Saints chronologically. I’ve found that reading the entries in this chronological order helps to introduce a fuller context into their stories; many of the Saints were actively engaged with the major issues of their day, so it helps to see where in history they fit in. The new edition also has an alphabetical index meaning that regardless of the edition you have, finding a particular Saint is simple and quick.
If you aim to read through all 365 Saints, there are a few ways to go about it. As mentioned above, two different methods for reading through the Saints would be to read one per day throughout the year. The entries can be read through alphabetically or chronologically. Another way— and the way I just finished reading through the book—is to follow the liturgical calendar in the book’s appendix. The Roman Catholic Church recognizes different Saints on particular days of the year on what are known as ‘feast days’. Most of the time a Saint’s life is celebrated on the day of their Earthly death; this, in a way, is their Heavenly birth, so in the truest sense we are celebrating their birthday! “Voices of the Saints” features a liturgical calendar which dates each Saint’s feast day. There is a warm feeling of solidarity knowing that you’re reading and celebrating a particular Saint on the same day as millions of other people around the world. The downside is that not every day is represented with a Saint while some days feature as many as six. So there needs so be a little creativity if this reading approach is used.
If you are looking for some shorter reading plans, you can use the topical index in the back of the book. Included in this index are themes such as “Child Saints”, “Feisty Saints”, “Meekness”, and “Passion for Purity”. Each theme features a small collection of Saints whose lives emphasized each category. If you are trying to grow in a particular way or in a distinct virtue, this is a great way to find companions that perfect those qualities.
Many older biographies of the Saints tended to use glorified language that relegated the Saints to almost angelic stature. This, of course, was a great disservice to the average reader because it created such a chasm between the reader and the Saintly life.
Bert’s book, however, really emphasizes the humanity of each man and woman. He really is intentional about showing their shortcomings and imperfections. Through this, he communicates repeatedly that the Saintly life is for us all. We are all to become Saints. In fact throughout my friendship with Bert, he has repeatedly confirmed to me this possibility of saintliness that we all share. He has reminded me of Thomas Aquinas’ assertion on the only requirement to be a Saint: “To will it.” And that’s what Bert’s book aims to do; to increase your will and desire to join this collection of Saints.
I recommend this book as one of the best out there for anyone who wants to not only learn about the Saints, but aims to become one themselves. The possibilities of saintliness are abundant and our examples of saintliness are plentiful. This book is filled with many that have made the decision to become holy. So, like Bert and Aquinas repeatedly echo, the only thing left to do for us is to “will” it. May we day by day make this choice.
(Click here to preview many entries from the book; it will allow you experience the power of hearing these Saint’s own “voices”. Also, to determine which Saint you are most similar to, take this five-question “Saint Quiz” at Loyola Press’ website—I got matched with St. Martin de Porres.)
UPDATE: Here are a couple of videos of Bert speaking about his book. The first is an introduction to the book itself while the second is an introduction to one of my favorite Saints, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.