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My Life With the Saints

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My Life With the Saints

(58 customer reviews)

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ISBN13: 9780829426441
Condition: New
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Description

My Life with the Saints is at once James Martin's inspiring memoir of spiritual self-discovery and an homage to the Catholic saints who accompanied him every step of the way. From his lukewarm childhood Catholicism to the executive fast track at General Electric to the Jesuits and a life dedicated to God, Martin looked and prayed to the saints--from St. Peter to Pope John XXIII--to intervene and guide his life. As this witty, confessional, and surprising account unfolds, we see how saints can help us each find our way in the world. Winner of the 2007 Christopher Award and the Catholic Press Award for best spirituality hardcover book of 2007, and named one of Publishers Weekly's 100 Best Books of 2006.

Product Details

Author:	James Martin
Paperback:	414 pages
Publisher:	Loyola Press
Publication Date:	2007-10
Language:	English
ISBN:	0829426442
Package Length:	9.0 inches
Package Width:	5.9 inches
Package Height:	1.0 inches
Package Weight:	1.25 pounds
Average Customer Rating:	based on 58 reviews

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review: 4.5

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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

A different way to learn about saints Jun 27, 2010
An excellent introduction to many saints, including a few I had never heard of before. Martin always provides a short biographical sketch of the saint, but what is unique is his stories of how he was introduced to each saint and their involvement in his life. Martin is not afraid to show his own errors, so the reader never feels like an expert is lecturing to them. While not a theological treatise, the book does give you insight into why so many seek a saint's intercession through the narratives found throughout the book. His ends the book with descriptive recommendations for future reading/watching (he likes movies) instead of an exhaustive bibliography -- very helpful.

Didn't Get a Sense of the Author Jun 26, 2010
In general, I liked this book, but one major thing that bothered me about it was that I never got a sense of why Fr. Martin decided to enter the religious life. I don't think he gives much attention to this in the book, except to write about how he was feeling a sense of emptiness from his corporate job, and then watched a documentary on Thomas Merton. Making a decision to join the religious life involves so much self-introspection - from reading the book, it seems that Fr. Martin has this quality, but I feel he did not focus much at all on this aspect of his life. Perhaps one could make the argument that it was not a book about Fr. Martin, but about the saints -but the confusion I felt about Martin's own seeming reluctance to write about the process whereby he joined the Jesuit order influenced my feelings about this book.

I thought his descriptions of the lives of some of the saints were excellent, and I was especially moved by his writing about St. Thomas Aquinas, because it seems so few writers focus on this saint in this way, and try to understand him on a personal level.

I also felt that his description of his early childhood and adolescent years in the Catholic Church did not help me understand how he formed a real relationship with God during these years, enough to lead him to join a religious order. The stories he relates about plastic statues of saints hidden in drawers and other rather superficial stories do not amuse me (I seem to be in the minority regarding this, as most readers seemed to enjoy this...) but instead, made me feel rather embarrassed, and concerned that individuals outside the Catholic Church will have "fuel for the fire" regarding their belief that Catholics are obsessed with statues.

I guess my dilemma is this: this man has written a very intense and spiritually-deep book about the saints, and yet I don't have much of a sense of who he is as a person, and why he became a religious, and it seems to be important to me that I can make this connection.

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:

Wonderful Resource on the Saints, Life, and Love. May 23, 2010
Before this book, I had never once given much to the saints of the Roman Catholic tradition other than a simple respect for the lives they lived. It was a distant relationship, one that looked on praying to the saints with quite cynically. However this book, given as a Christmas gift, has totally reversed my view of the saints and, more importantly, forced my heart to grow a little more.

Fr. Martin takes on one saint a chapter, detailing the saint's life and accomplishments along with Martin's own interaction with the saint throughout his career. In each chapter one shall find quite brilliant wisdom, as well as healthy wit.

In his brief biographies of each saint, Fr. Martin truly brings them alive. They are not locked back in the distant path, but rather before your eyes come to life, even if they lived centuries ago. Moreover his own relationship to each saint often offers beautiful wisdom while also opening up a relationship for the reader.

As often happens with books, the chapter that most affected me was the one I least expected and least cared about. Though I am sure it will be different for every reader, for myself I was completely floored by Martin's chapter on Mother Teresa. For one reason or another, I was moved beyond words and simply found myself wanting to instantly leave my American life behind and find the quickest flight I could to a third world country. I do not promote this as the best chapter in the book (they are all wonderful!), but only offer it as an example of how moving some can be. If your heart is yearning for love and motivation, this book will fill it up.

And perhaps most importantly I shall offer this: Martin's book needn't exclude non-Catholics nor even non-Christians. While he does speak on intercessory prayer, which may well cause some people to protest in utter outrage, he speaks more of RELATING to the saint. This anyone can, and should do. You needn't believe St. Francis is in heaven praying for you to be moved by the message of his life, nor have faith in Jesus to find your heart moved by St. Peter's story.

What a wonderful resource we have in the lives of the saints! Fr. Martin's book is truly a wonderful gift, opening up a whole new world for readers.

Read it with your heart.

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

Communion of Saints May 04, 2010
Father Martin has set my heart on fire for the saints and their love of God. I am as one starving for more books about the saints. Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever!

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

wonderful spiritual journey Apr 22, 2010
This is a wonderful and inspirational spiritual memoir. It is filled with both biographic information on the lives of saints and Martin's reflections on their impact on his life. The book provides both a good read and material for meditation.