Books on the Saints

The JPII Field Guide: An 8-Day Retreat with St. John Paul the Great invites you to spend eight days with the mountaineering, adventurous, courageous saint who led the Church into the third millennium. Catholic speaker and songwriter Jackie Angel draws on St. John Paul II's life and words to help you grow in virtue, courage, and bold faith through daily reflection, prayer, and practical challenges.

St. Bernardine of Siena was a fearless Franciscan preacher who set out to reform the moral and social life of fifteenth-century Italy. Crowds gathered in city squares to hear him, and his words were written down as he spoke. In these sermons Bernardine confronts factional hatred, the poison of slander, and the lure of worldly vanity with striking clarity and genuine pastoral care. His devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus shines throughout, and his practical wisdom speaks just as directly to rea...

Advent with the Saints is a simple daily companion for the season of Advent and the Octave of Christmas. Franciscan Fr. Gregory Friedman pairs each day's Mass readings with a short reflection, a prayer, and the witness of a saint, helping you slow down, pray, and prepare your heart to welcome Christ. Inexpensive and pocket-sized, it is perfect for parish giveaways and family use.

Available in English for the first time, The Lives and Deaths of the Biblical Fathers offers a rare window into early Christian scholarship through the voice of St. Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636), Doctor of the Church and one of the most learned men of his age. Drawing on Scripture and ancient tradition, Isidore gathers the lives of the great figures of salvation history, from Adam to the Apostles, into one chronological collection. He brings familiar names to life, highlighting their virtue...

The nineteenth century saw a remarkable revival of the Catholic Faith in Great Britain, gathering momentum after the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 lifted the penal laws that had burdened Catholics since the Reformation. Newman famously called it "the Second Spring." In Saints of the Second Spring, Joanna Bogle presents nine key figures of that revival, the priests, religious, and lay men and women whose holiness and courage rebuilt the Church in Britain. A short, inspiring introduction to...

The Miracle Man of Notre Dame: The Life and Legacy of Br. Columba O'Neill, CSC tells the story of a humble Holy Cross brother whose deep devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus made him a beloved figure at the University of Notre Dame. Thousands sought Br. Columba's prayers, and many reported remarkable healings and renewed faith. Historian Fr. Richard E. Gribble, CSC, draws on archival sources to present a careful and inspiring portrait of his life and lasting legacy.

Stay with Me, Lord: 30 Days with Padre Pio, part of the Great Spiritual Teachers series, invites you to spend a month praying with St. Pio of Pietrelcina. The Capuchin friar known for the stigmata, for long hours in the confessional, and for his fatherly care of souls speaks here through short daily readings, reflections, and prayers on suffering, trust, and closeness to Christ. A gentle and powerful retreat in everyday life.

Part of TAN's Saints and Sacramentals series, this beautifully illustrated picture book tells children the story of St. Catherine Labouré, the humble French nun to whom the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in 1830. Young readers follow Catherine from her simple childhood to the night Our Lady showed her the design of the Miraculous Medal, and they learn what the medal means and how to wear it with faith and love for Mary. A lovely gift for First Communion, Marian feast days, or any child's booksh...

As a boy growing up during the Great Depression, Aloysius Schwartz dreamed of being a hero like the ones in his comic books. He became something greater: a missionary priest whose love for the poor changed countless lives. When Father Al arrived in South Korea after the Korean War, he found people who were not merely poor but starving, and orphaned children living in the streets. He gave everything he had to help them, founding homes, schools, and hospitals that later spread to the Philippine...

Plan your year around the rhythm of the Church with the 2027 Saints Calendar and Planner. This 16-month planner begins in September 2026 and runs through December 2027, giving you room for appointments, notes, and daily tasks alongside the feasts of the liturgical year. Saints' days, traditional fast days, and the Sundays of both the Ordinary and Traditional calendars are marked throughout. A spiral binding lets it lie flat on your desk.

From the villages of Old Castile to the austere cells of the reformed Carmel, The Life of Saint John of the Cross tells the story of one of the Church's greatest mystics and Doctors. Drawn from the 1680 Speculum Carmelitanum, one of the earliest surviving accounts of the Carmelite reform, this rare biography preserves a voice close to the saint's own time. It follows John from a childhood filled with love for God and Our Lady through miracles, imprisonment, and poetic genius to heroic sanctity.

Bring the beauty of the faith into your home all year with the 2027 Mary and the Saints Wall Calendar, featuring classic Old Master artwork of the Blessed Mother and the saints. Each month marks Catholic feast days, fast days, major saints' days, and the Sundays of both the Ordinary and Traditional liturgical calendars, with generous space for writing in your own plans.

The Whole World Will Love Me presents the life of St. Thérèse of Lisieux in her own words, drawn from Story of a Soul into one intimate and flowing narrative. With simplicity and honesty, the Little Flower tells of her childhood, the loving influence of her holy parents and sisters, her bold entry into the Carmel at fifteen, and the "little way" of trust and love that made her one of the Church's most beloved saints and a Doctor of the Church. A moving introduction for newcomers and a fresh e...

"Many of us give up on prayer when we don't get the answer we want WHEN we want it." For nearly two decades, Saint Monica prayed for her wayward son. Years and years of prayers, seemingly unanswered. Countless tears shed with no relief. Yet she would not give up. That very act of persistent prayer blessed the entire Church, for we have all benefitted from the conversion of her son, Augustine, who became one of the most revered saints of all time. Parents of any age or at any stage can cultiva...

In the heart of faith, amidst trials and tribulations, lies the inspiration of the Eucharistic martyrs--men, women, and children whose love for the Blessed Sacrament led them to the ultimate sacrifice. Martyrs of the Eucharist: Stories to Inspire Eucharistic Amazement is a profound collection of twenty-nine stirring stories, curated into four distinct sections: those who died attending Mass, those who died celebrating Mass, those who risked their lives defending or protecting the Eucharist, a...

In his masterful 12th-century work, The Twelve Degrees of Humility and Pride, St. Bernard of Clairvaux--the "Doctor Mellifluus" or "Honey-Sweet Doctor"-- eloquently crafts a soul's guide to spiritual ascent and descent. With his deep understanding of human nature and his own monastic experience, St. Bernard outlines a path that leads away from the self-deception of pride towards the liberating embrace of humility.St. Bernard illustrates humility as the foundation of a life anchored in truth, ...

The Acts of St. Sebastian and His CompanionsIn his illustrious life, Saint Sebastian was the senior commanding officer of the elite forces for the greatest military power on the planet--the Roman Empire. By his glorious death, he became a commander in the greatest military power in the universe--the communion of saints of the Roman Catholic Church. Throughout the Church's history, countless martyrs have offered their lives to Christ rather than deny Him. One of the most revered is Saint Sebas...

This unparalleled introduction to St. John Henry Newman--mind, heart, soul, and personality--brings the great cardinal to life before our eyes, and with him the charged air of nineteenth-century England. Drawing from his letters, writings, and journal entries with precision and poetic flair, the book is one of Ida Friederike Görres' masterworks. While famous for his brilliance, Cardinal Newman did not hide in an ivory tower. His life was one of risk, sacrifice, and immense charity. His sharp ...

With such a great cloud of witnesses, we have much to learn from the saints. Allow the saints to be your child's example for meeting Christ in the Eucharist.' In Eucharistic Saints, your children will encounter stories of saints they may already know, like Pope Saint John Paul II and St. Thomas Aquinas, and they will become familiar with saints they may not know yet, like St. Peter Julian Eymard and St. Tarcisius. This book also introduces your children to holy souls who were their own age, l...

While many Catholics are aware of great female saints such as Catherine of Siena and Thérèse of Lisieux, a view persists that, over the centuries, women played a limited role in the development of Catholic traditions and institutions. In this innovative survey of Church history, Bronwen McShea demonstrates instead that faithful women have always been at the heart of the Church's common life, shaping it and the course of entire civilizations.In Women of the Church, McShea presents a wide array...

Winner of a 2025 Excellence in Publishing Award from the Association of Catholic Publishers: Inspirational (Second Place). Every educator needs encouragement and support when facing the challenges of teaching—whether it’s managing a noisy classroom, handling a tough parent conference, or navigating staff meetings and lesson planning. In A Saint Squad for Teachers, veteran teacher Amy Cattapan introduces forty-five saints ready to accompany and intercede for educators through every season of t...

St. Frances of Rome (1384-1440) displayed mystical gifts from childhood. Though she longed to remain a virgin, her parents arranged a marriage for her, and, as a wife and mother, she led a devout life that mirrored that of a consecrated religious, through fervent prayer and tireless works of charity. In fact, she founded a community of Benedictine oblates who live according to the Rule of St. Benedict, each according to her own state in life; the community now counts thousands of members worl...

Teresa of Ávila, Spain, was born into a wealthy family in 1515. She loved Jesus very much and became a Carmelite nun. When she received the Eucharist, she could feel his great love and grew stronger in her faith and friendship with Jesus. Teresa felt the nuns needed more quiet time and more time for prayer and so she started a new Carmelite convent. The nuns prayed for the Church, for sinners and people who did not love God. She was also known as Teresa of Jesus. She is the patron (October 15...

Many are well aware of St. Thomas Aquinas's intellectual prowess -- his genius in metaphysics and supernatural theology that pierced the depths of truth. However, few know about the private spiritual life of this illustrious Doctor of the Church. This work, written by Msgr. Martin Grabmann, a foremost authority on Aquinas, is unique in its telling of the holiness of St. Thomas's priestly soul. Neither a purely devotional nor a strictly scientific treatment of the interior life of St. Thomas, ...

Discover what it means to become a man of faith through the lives of ten male saints and their experiences pursuing holiness. In Holy Grit, Catholic life coach Paul George invites men to confront the challenges of modern life—struggles in marriage, parenting, suffering, and purpose—and take concrete steps toward the life God created them to live. Many men grow up with an image of masculinity shaped by tough guys on TV—boxers, cowboys, gangsters, fighter pilots—the fastest gun in the West. The...

A vital part of the treasury of the Divine Mercy message and devotion, this edition of God is Mercy, a short work by St. Faustina's confessor Bl. Michael Sopocko (1888-1975), introduces us to the place of Divine Mercy in salvation history. Enriched by Dr. Robert Stackpole's expert commentary, this special edition of a Divine Mercy classic belongs on every Catholic's shelf.

"Women Mystics" by Louis Bouyer explores the lives and contributions of five women mystics who have significantly influenced Christianity. Through the stories of Hadewijch of Antwerp, Teresa of Avila, Thérèse of Lisieux, Elizabeth of the Trinity, and Edith Stein, Bouyer illustrates the unique and creative spiritual missions of these women, emphasizing their role in shaping and steering Christianity. Highlighting the continuity and individuality of their experiences, Bouyer presents these myst...

St. Francis Solano: A Captivating Story of Adventure! Parents and children alike will be captivated by the incredible stories of St. Francis Solano, the amazing 16th-century Jesuit saint. From his unparalleled ability to convert thousands of slaves on a sinking ship with just one sermon to his own selfless acts of healing the sick and lost, even finding a spring in the desert, this enthralling book is sure to entertain and inspire children 10 and up. With detailed illustrations, captivating n...

Written by a foremost expert on the life of the beloved St. Thérèse of Lisieux, this work is widely considered as the most definitive and popular presentation of her life. St. Thérèse is the most popular modern saint of our times.Who was this young French Carmelite who died in 1897 of tuberculosis at age twenty-four? At a time when extreme physical penance was widespread in many religious orders, Thérèse would have none of it. Her passionate love of Jesus led her to concentrate entirely on hi...

This book explores the transformative encounters with Christ that shaped the lives of the saints and set them on the path to holiness. Through the lives of Mary, St. Joseph, St. Paul, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Augustine, and others, Kristina Olsen traces how grace works patiently through struggle, conversion, and growth to form mature Christian souls. Rather than presenting idealized figures, the book highlights the real human journey of faith: moments of doubt, interior conflict, mystical exp...

In a culture marked by confusion and spiritual decline, Franciscanism: The Answer to Modernism presents the life and spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi as a path back to truth and renewal. The book proposes Franciscanism as a remedy to the errors of Modernism, inviting readers to recover a faith rooted in humility, simplicity, and fidelity to Christ.

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini crossed oceans to spread the Gospel and serve the poor. She also wrote oceans of letters to her religious sisters as she travelled all over the globe. Frances suffered from health problems all her life. Despite her many limitations, she bravely faced persecution, poverty, and dangerous sea voyages to establish new schools and orphanages for her religious order, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. To keep in contact with her spiritual daughters throughout h...

In sixth-century Ireland, the memory of the great missionary Saint Patrick was strong, but so was the influence of the old pagan religion. There was still much work to be done to spread the Christian faith.This book tells the story of one of the greatest saints of the Emerald Isle after Patrick, Saint Kevin, whose monastery at Glendalough was a beacon of light for eight hundred years. Saint Kevin worked miracles, communed with animals, and inspired thousands to leave everything to follow Chri...

This book introduces the reader to thirteen Christian spiritual classics that illustrate the ordinary steps we can take toward living the Gospel life more fully.Drawing on the rich teaching of a particular saint or mystic, each chapter helps us grow in a different aspect of holiness, of intimacy with God. Archbishop Hughes offers an itinerary for becoming a good disciple of the Lord, giving the reader access to an impressive spiritual library that can support and strengthen progress in discip...

The spiritual wisdom of Saint Benedict has endured for centuries and quite literally shaped Western culture from its inception. Tenets of the order, like its motto and Saint Benedict's Rule, are just as influential for lay people as they are for the Benedictine monks and nuns. The cross and medal of St. Benedict is also among the gifts bestowed by the Benedictine Order. For centuries, it has been a conduit for God's power against malicious spirits.The history of this cross and medal--how it f...

Italian Carmelite Antonio Maria Sicari''s vibrant biographies of saints--from Augustine to Catherine of Siena to Faustina Kowalska--have been read across Europe for decades. In How Saints Die, Sicari turns to the most difficult challenge in the life of a Christian: the hour of death.What he uncovers in this darkest moment, however, is not desolation, but inexplicable joy. I have recounted the death of many saints, he writes, but all of them have confirmed for me the truth of this ancient Chri...

St. Francis of Assisi is one of the greatest and most recognizeable saints in the history of the Church. His life was a mirror of the life of Christ. In a decadent age, filled with corruption, Francis became not merely an impetus for reform, but a living image of Christ in his virtue and in his flesh through the stigmata. Candide Chalippe's work is not merely biography, it is a spiritual classic written by an author filled with piety and love for Christ and His Church. This new publication ed...

St. John Henry Newman, regarded as the most important English theologian of the nineteenth century, poignantly reflects on the thoughts that tormented Jesus as a result of His friends' betrayals and the anguish of His Heart in willingly suffering all for love of us. These penetrating meditations will enable you to enter more deeply into our Savior's Passion through multiple vantage points.This work features three of Cardinal Newman's most esteemed classics: Meditations on Lent: Hope in God, R...

Meet a Doctor of the Church whose wisdom on health and nutrition will aid you in everything from better digestion and sleep to improved mood, memory, and pain relief. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a mystic and scholar who chronicled more than six hundred pages of visions, wrote cantatas, and even devised her own language. She authored The Book of Divine Works, Causes and Cures, and Scivias and corresponded with the greatest intellectuals, theologians, and royals of her time.As a pioneer...

Protect your family! Entrust your family to St. Joseph. Why? Because God, Himself, did. God entrusted the Holy Family to St. Joseph to keep them safe, and so should you. Drawing on the wealth of the Church's living tradition, Fr. Donald H. Calloway, MIC and co-author Scott L. Smith, Jr., call on all of us to turn to St. Joseph, entrust ourselves, our children and families, our Church, and our world to our spiritual father's loving care. Watch for wonders when the Universal Patron of the Churc...

St Bruno was born in Cologne around 1030. He studied at the university in Rheims, where he later taught, and was Rector of Studies for nearly twenty years. Chosen in 1080 as the new Archbishop, Bruno had other plans ̶ he had decided to follow Christ to the desert ̶ and with six of his companions settled in a mountainous and uninhabited spot in the lower Alps, in a place named Chartreuse, under the guidance of the young bishop of Grenoble, Hugh Châteauneuf. They built an oratory with small ind...

What happened to the Apostles? How did the early Christians live? Why did the Romans and other peoples try to destroy them with such brutality? Those answers are all provided in Fr. Pedro de Ribadeneyra, SJ's Flores Sanctorum, carefully translated by Mrs. Anne Hope. Lives of the Early Martyrs not only traces the most ancient testimony to where the Apostles went, and where they won their crowns of martyrdom, but their disciples as well. It carefully elucidates the lives that the early Christia...

St. Felix of Cantalice was a Capuchin Franciscan in the 16th century. Placed among great personages such as St. Philip Neri, St. Charles Borromeo, and others, St. Felix lived a life of poverty and fidelity to the rule of St. Francis. Born in 1515, he lived as a farm worker until he was 28, when he became a Capuchin. He not only begged alms, but gladly distributed them to the poor. It was said that his alms sack was as bottomless as his heart. He walked bare-foot through the streets of Rome, a...

This 2nd edition of the classic spiritual portrait of Mother Seton, newly edited with introduction by Sister Betty Ann McNeil, D.C., traces the spiritual journey of the 19th-century American wife, mother, educator, and religious leader, who became the first native-born canonized saint of the United States.This work is exceptional and unique because it is the only in-depth exploration and analysis based on the actual archival documents of Seton's life, conversion, spiritual growth and developm...

Saint John of the Cross is the Church's premier teacher on contemplative prayer. Catholic tradition even calls him the Mystical Doctor. The sixteenth-century Carmelite priest not only wrote four massive treatises on the spiritual life, along with some of the finest poetry in the Spanish language, but also worked alongside Teresa of Ávila in renewing the Carmelite order. Thérèse of Lisieux claimed she found no other spiritual reading that could satisfy her soul like John of the Cross.Yet the v...

 "Blessed be the Child who today delights Bethlehem. Blessed be the Newborn Who today made the humanity young again. Blessed be the Fruit Who Bowed Himself down for our hunger. Blessed be the Gracious One Who suddenly enriched all of our poverty and filled our need." Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373) Ephrem was born in the Mesopotamian city of Nisibis toward the end of the third century. An outpost of the Roman Empire, Nisibis and its Christian citizens were to be formed by the reign of Constant...

Pope John Paul II called Elizabeth of the Trinity “a vibrant prophet of the presence of God.” This book enters deeply into her life and spirituality to show why her message remains urgently relevant in a secular age. Attractive, lively, talented, and deeply human, Elizabeth was not a plaster saint. Her life shows how God works patiently with our real nature, transforming us gradually into Himself when we surrender to His grace. Far from presenting holiness as something reserved for religious ...